The Flathead girls cross-country team dominated their own meet at Woodland Park on Friday, finishing 10 runners in places 2-11.
"We had seven people under 20 (minutes)," said coach Paul Jorgenson. "I have never had that many in all my years' coaching."
The impressive results for the Bravettes in Friday's meet against Eureka and Polson were similar to those of the much larger invitational the week before, which featured more than 20 teams. The Braves finished the day with a total of 26 points, beating second-place Big Sky's total of 120 by a margin of 94.
Sophomore Lauren Keithly finished second with a time of 19:06, followed by fourth-and fifth-place finishers junior Kari Hill and senior Keegan Rumsey, both timed at 19:27.
"It was my personal best," Keithly said of her 19:06 time. "I felt good about it."
The Bravettes have more depth on their team this year than last and are hoping to improve on their second-place finish at state last year.
"The team is looking a lot stronger because a lot of people ran over the summer," said Hill.
Senior Kelly Hayden, recovering from an injury, placed sixth with a time of 19:44. Finishing close behind was senior Julie Hanson, who took seventh place with 19:51.
It was the first race for Hayden since the end of the 1994 season, when she place third at state.
"It's good to be back running for the team," said Hayden. "Our girls team looks really strong."
For the Braves, senior Shane Ackerly ran his personal best of 15:06 to claim first place Friday, breaking his old mark by four seconds.
"I felt really good throughout the entire race," Ackerly said after the meet.
Like the Bravettes, the Braves competed in the larger invitational the week before.
Ackerly placed first with a time of 15:10 and sophomore Brett Winegar finished runner-up (15:35). North Central High of Spokane edged out the Braves for the team title with a total of 61 to Flathead's 65.
Good practices have lead to these strong results for the Braves and Bravettes.
"We encourage each other to run harder in practice and when it is time to run the race, we run together in groups," said Winegar, adding:
"It's more like a team effort."