Lewistown’s Rodgers edges Polson’s Hewston in photo finish
Brook Rodgers wasn’t about to let anyone deny her a third straight state championship.
The Lewistown senior dove past a pair of runners at the final moment Saturday, crossing the finish line first by a nose to capture the state Class A girls individual cross country title in arguably the most exciting finish of the day at Bill Roberts Golf Course.
Rodgers, second-place finisher Sadi Henderson and Claudia Hewston in third all finished with an identical time of 18 minutes, 51 seconds. Rodgers’ lunge forward proved to be the difference.
“You don’t beat me,” Rodgers responded, when asked what was going through her mind as she made the final push. Still, she credited Henderson for helping her run strong.
“I had this girl right here pushing me and that was actually my motivation, because I felt like I was dead at the top of the hill and I was dry heaving,” she said.
Whitefish collected its fourth consecutive team championship with 78 points, followed by Lewistown in second with 86 and Corvallis third with 120 points.
Rodgers was near the front of the pack at the 2-mile mark but said she never planned to take over the lead until the very end.
“My strategy was just to stay behind the first runner and hopefully take them at the end. That’s just kind of how I run,” said Rodgers, whose time of 18:51 was her best finish at a state meet.
Rodgers said she already had a jacket made up in advance that said three-time state champ, showing her confidence. Yet her performance was all the more remarkable considering she’d been out much of the year with Iliotibial Band Syndrome, a knee injury often associated with running and cycling.
“It basically causes my knee cap to slide off,” explained Rodgers, who had blue tape covering both of her knees and strung down her legs. “It hurts in my hip and my ankle, too.”
She wasn’t complaining Saturday, and didn’t appear to be in too much pain as she was congratulated by family members and teammates.
“I felt really good the whole race,” Rodgers said. “I was just kind of in the zone today.”
Class A girls results
Team scores: Whitefish 80, Fergus 88, Polson 100, Corvallis 126, Glendive 137, Havre 218, Browning 236, Columbia Falls 244, Laurel 246, Belgrade 303, Frenchtown 312, Billings Central, 339, Hamilton 345, Dillon 352, Anaconda 359, Custer 397, Livingston 414, Hardin 416, Ronan 475, Sidney 536.
1, Whitefish, 80 points, 20:05 average
2, Fergus, 88, 20:09
3, Polson, 100, 20:10
4, Corvallis, 126, 20:20
5, Dawson County, 137, 20:45
6, Havre, 218, 21:20
7, Browning, 236, 21:32
8, Columbia Falls, 244, 21:27
9, Laurel, 246, 21:29
10, Belgrade, 303, 21:50
11, Frenchtown, 312, 21:55
12, Billings Central, 339, 22:09
13, Hamilton, 345, 22:18
14, Beaverhead County, 352, 22:25
15, Anaconda, 359, 22:23
16, Custer, 397, 22:28
17, Park, 414, 24:01
18, Hardin, 416, 22:60
19, Ronan High School, 475, 23:58
20, Sidney, 536, 25:50
Top 25 individuals
1, Brook Rodgers, Fergus, 18:51 ; 2, Sadi Henderson, Corvallis, 18:51 ; 3, Claudia Hewston, Polson, 18:51 ; 4, Kaycie Stewart, Corvallis, 19:03 ; 5, Jessica Sagen, Whitefish, 19:33 ; 6, Carly Schwickert, Whitefish, 19:33 ; 7, Olivia Wood, Anaconda, 19:43 ; 8, Mesa Starkey, Polson, 19:45 ; 9, Jinise Osborne, Columbia Falls, 19:46 ; 10, Tegan Bauer, Polson, 19:54 ; 11, Stella Holt, Whitefish, 19:54 ; 12, Katie Hawkins, Dillon, 19:56 ; 13, Jackie Cassidy, Whitefish, 19:59 ; 14, Taylor Condon, Laurel, 20:00 ; 15, Emily Schall, Frenchtown, 20:00.
16, Ingrid Stansberry, Fergus, 20:02 ; 17, Sara Amish, Hamilton, 20:20 ; 18, Katie Christainson, Havre, 20:21 ; 19, Esperanza Battrick, Fergus, 20:24 ; 20, Dalainy Tedesco, Fergus, 20:24 ; 21, Alicia Leininger, Belgrade, 20:25 ; 22, Melissa Lynn, Glendive, 20:27 ; 23, Aja Starkey, Polson, 20:31 ; 24, Rio Frame, Glendive, 20:34 ; 25, Kailey Grover, Laurel, 20:40.
Other Western Montana finishers
27, Ellen Hollifield, Dillon, 20:50; 34, Dana Anderson, Anaconda, 21:08; 38, Hanna Smith, Corvallis, 21:14; 40, Paige Squire, Corvallis, 21:15; 42, Annie Jessop, Corvallis, 21:16 ; 44, Jade Grey, Ronan, 21:24; 45, Bailey Eaton, Whitefish, 21:26; 50, Nicki Moser, Columbia Falls, 21:36; 51, Laura Breidenbach, Frenchtown, 21:38; 54, Tori Price, Columbia Falls, 21:46; 55, Jenny Smith, Hamilton, 21:47;
56, Whitney Zimmerman, Polson, 21:47; 58, Alexas Young, Columbia Falls, 21:53; 60, Chelsi Clarke, Corvallis, 21:56; 62, Sarah Del Rae, Hamilton, 21:59; 65, Ashley Grandchamp, Ronan, 22:01; 69, Maja Holmquist, Frenchtown, 22:13; 73, Cami Casazza, Columbia Falls, 22:15; 76, Alisha Jore, Polson, 22:21; 78, Anne Gustenhoff, Whitefish, 22:24; 79, Miranda Blake, Frenchtown, 22:25;
84, Kaylin Carvey, Columbia Falls, 22:39; 85, Ari Watt, Corvallis, 22:39; 88, Emma Marchetti, Whitefish, 22:42; 90, Janet Moore, Dillon, 22:45; 93, Tessa Cowan, Columbia Falls, 23:01; 94, Chelsea Hayes, Hamilton, 23:02; 98, Lana Temple, Frenchtown, 23:17; 99, Laura Barta, Polson, 23:18; 100, Shelby Belford, Anaconda, 23:20; 101, Morgan Peterson, Dillon, 23:27; 104, Hayleigh Garrett, Anaconda, 23:36; 108, Andrea Jones, Frenchtown, 23:46; 112, Stephanie Schell, Frenchtown, 24:04; 114, Micaela Moreni, Anaconda, 24:08; 116, Kiana Howell, Ronan, 24:11; 117, Kaurie Albert, Hamilton, 24:21;
118, Rachel Hardy, Ronan, 24:42; 121, Carleigh Garrett, Anaconda, 25:03; 122, Biz Griffin, Dillon, 25:05; 123, Samantha Zetler, Dillon, 25:18; 124, Ashleigh Rhea, Dillon, 25:26; 127, Olivia Livoni, Hamilton, 26:18; 128, Caitlyn Sullivan, Anaconda, 26:23; 129, Whitney Cleveland, Hamilton, 26:35; 130, Kaitlyn Reinstma, Libby, 27:18; 132, Hayley Walston, Ronan, 27:32; 133, Emilee Harenburg, Ronan, 27:43; 134, Christen Falcon, Ronan 28:21; 137, Kari Lindgren, Libby, 32:24.