Northwestern A Divisional Championships Day 2 Whitefish, Montana 83 degrees, hot, hot, hot! Girls 800 Meters 1. Lauren Kuennen, 12 Whitefish 2:22.5 (splits: 1:09.5, 1:13.4) 2. Carly Schwickert, 9 Whitefish 2:25.3 (pb) (splits: 1:10.9, 1:14.4) 4. Stella Holt, 9 Whitefish 2:25.6 (pb) (splits: 1:10.6, 1:15.0) . Kelly Beiser, 11 Whitefish 2:38.8 (pb) (splits: 1:13.8, 1:25.0) Boys 800 Meters 2. Drew Coco, 11 Whitefish 1:57.3 (pb) (splits: 56, 1:01) 3. Michael Samdahl, 12 Whitefish 2:04.7 (pb) (splits: 58, 1:06) . Dylan Rice, 12 Whitefish 2:11.3 . Byron Bard, 12 Whitefish 2:11.8 (pb) . Dalton Rice, 11 Whitefish 2:12.5 (pb) Girls 3200 Meters 2. Lauren Kuennen, 12 Whitefish 12:20.9 (splits: 6:00, 6:20) 3. Bailey Eaton, 9 Whitefish 12:22.8 (pb) (splits: 6:00, 6:22) 4. Clare Miller, 12 Whitefish 12:24.5 (pb) (splits: 6:00, 6:24) 5. Loni Hanson, 10 Whitefish 12:25.2 (splits: 6:00, 6:25) 6. Jackie Cassidy, 9 Whitefish 12:27.8 (pb) (splits: 6:00, 6:27) Boys 3200 Meters 1. Drew Coco, 10 Whitefish 9:51.3 (splits: 4:59, 4;52) . Patrick McGunagle, 11 Whitefish 11:50.0 (splits: 5:18, 6:32)

Yeah, She ran a 59.8 in the 400 to break up the Polson foursome that would have gone 1-2-3-4. That added 6 points to our score and subtracted 4 points from their total. A swing of 10 points. The Ladies won the team title by nine points over Polson. It helped us win, but did have a cost. Lauren was tired from the extra event, and I think it took a bit of steam from her 800 in the morning, even though she won. It may have had a larger effect when she experienced a leg cramp 1.5 laps from the finish in the 3200. She came to a complete stop on the track, kneeled down, and then got back up and started jogging. Once Bailey came up to her, she picked up the pace and finished it up to finish in second place. It was actually quite amazing because her four teammates were all right there coming up on her, and they were all hungry to earn their trip on the bus to state. In the end, Loni just was able to pull away from freshman Jackie Cassidy in the final 200 to secure her spot. Normally, I'd like to think that I'd enjoy watching five whitefish girls running together like that for so long, but it was always in the back of my mind that one wouldn't make it to state. It's tough to watch a runner like Jackie run a personal best by 20 seconds in 80+ degree weather running 12:27 and still not make it in. I'm happy for the others, but I would have liked to have seen her, and Jess (5:52 - 1600) make it as well. Next year!!!! It was pretty cool to see this group of five, green clad, Whitefish girls running in this tight pack, basically surrounding the Bigfork girl. They were so closely packed that you could see the bumping going on. They passed the halfway point this way at 6:00 even, so even though it looked under control the pace was actually quite quick. Then when it did finally strecth out with the Bigfork runner and Lauren heading out to the front, the others seemed to stretch out in this green line, with no-one willing to conceed. With 600 to go, Loni was hanging just off the back of the line, and I was thinking, "you know, Loni isn't known for her blistering finishing kick." She did a good job running hard all the way to the finish. Next stop, Altitude of the Bozone (Bozeman)! Bill

Haha Clare don't worry, I forgive you! But if I do remember correctly, your little jump in front of me at the finish line resulting in me missing out at the 1600 at state... which was actually probably a good thing but my point is that you are still going in both, right? YAY CLARE! Wish I could have been there... it sounds incredible.