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by John Dye
The streak was on everyone's mind as this race started -- Flathead
to defend it (5 straight state championships) and Helena to break
it. Just two weeks ago at the Helena Preview on this same course,
Helena became the first Montana team to beat Flathead anywhere since
1996, but it took the 6th man to break a 35-35 tie after five runners.
Everyone expected it to be just as close today.
Helena has a tight pack, and they went out hard. After 2 miles,
the Bengals of the capital city had a clear advantage, with their
first five runners ahead of the Flathead Braves' fourth. But in
the third mile, Flathead moved up as Helena faded a bit. After Bozeman
sr Daniel Driscoll won individual honors, Flathead's top pair Matt
Parker and Caleb Ambrose were 2-3, and when Flathead's fifth, freshman
Elliot Welder, came in 17th, it was over as Helena was still looking
for its third runner.
Paul Jorgensen, Flathead coach for the last 32 years, likes U.
of Colorado coach Mark Wetmore's style of taking it easy early in
the race and then moving up steadily in the late stages. "The
last mile here is tough, so it can hurt you if you go out too fast,"
Jorgensen said.
Jorgensen admitted he thought this might be the year for Helena
to break the streak. Then, as the results sank in, he said, "Whew,
that was fun."
Helena was left to wait until next year, and coach Kelly Gilbert
already likes the Bengals' chances. Six of his seven top runners
return, led by soph Jon Metropoulos, who was fourth today, and Flathead
graduates three of its five scorers. Gilbert didn't think the fast
start hurt his team. "We did about what we needed to do,"
Gilbert said. But he did regret the injury to top runner Casey Lofthouse,
who pinched a nerve lifting weights Tuesday and finished 19th in
16:23 today, 27 seconds slower than his time at the Helena Preview.
But even a top performance by Lofthouse would not have been enough
to stop the Flathead surge.
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