Mead's Gardner streaks to Mountain West record - The Missoulian

A few Saturdays ago, Missoula was a clamor over a certain streaker.

This Saturday, the masses were gawking at a different kind of streaker.

His name is Andrew Gardner. And man, can this boy run.

Gardner, of Mead High School in Spokane, was a figurative streak as he won the boys' varsity race in record time at the 2011 Mountain West Classic cross country race at the University of Montana Golf Course.

Gardner, a junior, defended his individual title by crossing the finish line in 14 minutes, 38.4 seconds to clip the old record by nearly nine seconds. What's more impressive is Gardner wasn't really trying to break the record.

"I was planning on getting it next year," said Gardner, while pulling on his sweat pants - the direct opposite of the Grizzly game day streaker - after beating the rest of the field by 23 seconds. "But after the first mile I thought 'I guess I'll try it this year.' I was feeling good. Let's just go get it."

Gardner ran a sub-5 minute mile on the first leg of the three-mile course, but slowed down in the middle section before picking it up again at the end.

"The last mile was hard," said Gardner, who still averaged 4:53 per mile. "I tried to do even splits, but the hill kind of got to me."

Gardner won last year's boys' race in 15:05.87, which was the third fastest time in Mountain West Classic history. Former Kalispell Flathead standout Kurt Michels had the previous record at 14:47.21. Gardner was actually shooting for the 14:58 mark Shadle Park's Nathan Weitz posted in 2009.

"I was going to try and get the third fastest, second fastest and then, next year, the fastest overall time," he said. "But I decided to go for it. If I didn't get it, I still have another year."

Kalispell Glacier junior Troy Fraley came in second in 15:01.5 and Missoula Hellgate junior Adam Peterman was third at 15:03.1. Both of those times would have registered in the top three of the event's all-time marks in previous years. In fact, the top six boys' placers from this race are among the top 12 finishers in MWC history.

Columbia Falls senior Derrrick Williams finished in 15:15.6 to edge Mount Spokane's Hunter Johnson by one-tenth of a second for fifth place.

Gardner's teammate Daniel Schofield cracked the top 10, but Mead finished fifth in the team standings with 191 points. Fellow Greater Spokane League members Mount Spokane (100) and University High (138) took the top two spots, while Bozeman (144) finished third and last year's champ Lewis & Clark (159) of Idaho was fourth.

This marks the fifth straight fall that an out-of-state team has won the boys' title at the Mountain West.

"We hoped we'd be in there, mixing it up, and I think we did," Bozeman coach Clint May said. "I'm pretty happy with our performance, but by no means satisfied.

"I love that the Spokane Valley teams are here, because we think we can compete with them."

On the girls' side, Bozeman won it's second straight MWC team title and fourth in five years. The Hawks placed three girls in the top 11 and five runners scored in the top 25 on their way to 68 points.

Missoula Hellgate (105) was second, Billings West (238) third and Missoula Big Sky (259) took fifth.

"I felt we could win this (meet) again," May said. "Hellgate is still a team to watch, but I'm confident we can win any race. I think seven out of our seven girls can say we had a great day."

Individually, Bigfork freshman Makena Morley won the varsity girls' race in 17:10.4, which was more than 33 seconds ahead of the next fastest runner Dani Aragon of Billings Senior. Hellgate junior Paige Gilchrist finished a little over a second behind Aragon in 17:45.1.

Like Gardner before her, Morley had very little competition coming down the homestretch.

"I try not to look around," she said, "but if anyone gets next to me, I'll run with them."

Morley did her own version of streaking by shedding roughly 23 seconds off her personal-best time. Aside from winning, Morley's goal was to finish in under 17:20.

Saturday was Morley's first crack at the UM course in high school and she wasted little time making an impression. Morley's time was barely 10 seconds off the course record, set by Flathead's Zoe Nelson in 2004.

"I loved it," she said. "It's probably my favorite course ever."

Mountain West Classic

At University of Montana Golf Course

Saturday

BOYS

Team scores - Mount Spokane 100, University High 138, Bozeman 144, Lewis & Clark 159, Mead 191, Helena High 207, Missoula Hellgate 211, Deer Park 271, Billings West 293, Corvallis 401, Missoula Sentinel 416, Billings Skyview 428, Livingston 458, East Valley 460, Kalispell Flathead 484, Billings Senior 492, Hamilton 512, Gonzaga Prep 522, Missoula Big Sky 528, Browning 586, Belgrade 605, Kalispell Glacier 612, Polson 705, Helena Capital 713, Columbia Falls 726, Havre 749, Lewistown 751, Whitefish 762, Manhattan 770, Laurel 800, Loyola Sacred Heart 827, Butte 837, Great Falls CMR 859, Dillon 940, Frenchtown 964, Hardin 1078, Billings Central 1086, Dodson 1119, Plains 1123, Big Timber 1123, Ronan 1140, Great Falls High 1150, Thompson Falls 1175, Libby 1185, Wolf Point 1256, Cut Bank 1267, Twin Bridges 1279, Whitehall 1487, Manhattan Christian 1518, Jefferson 1556.

Top 30 individuals

1, Andrew Gardner, Mead, 14:38.4; 2, Troy Fraley, Gla, 15:01.5; 3, Adam Peterman, Hgt, 15:03.1; 4, Summer Goodwin, LC, 15:07.0; 5, Derrick Williams, CF, 15:15.6; 6, Hunter Johnson, MtS, 15:15.7; 7, Jakob Woodland, Boz, 15:18.5; 8, Matt Barker, Hel, 15:22.7; 9, Jake Hombel, UHi, 15:24.7; 10, Daniel Schofield, Mead, 15:25.5; 11, Joel Estelle, LC, 15:26.0; 12, Daniel Amann, DP, 15:28.0; 13, Dayde Collins, DP, 15:30.5; 14, Kees Von Michalofski, MtS, 15:32.3; 15, John Dressel, MtS, 15:34.7.

16, Matthew Fry, UHi, 15:37.7; 17, Carter Montgomery, Pla, 15:44.4; 18, Cody Edwards, EV, 15:47.5; 19, Drew Gottman, Hgt, 15:51.6; 20, Colby Henderson, Cor, 15:53.0; 21, Chase Stoker, Cor, 15:53.9; 22, Monte Cole, Liv, 15:54.3; 23, Kit Mayer, LSH, 15:55.3; 24, Davis Mathieu, LC, 15:55.3; 25, Emerson Connelly, Brwn, 15:56.2; 26, Jacob Vandenberg, MtS, 15:56.7; 27, Matt Brown, BS, 15:57.5; 28, Doug Raymer, Dar, 15:59.8; 29, Hunter Guthrie, Sent, 16:00.2; 30, Preston Franck, Boz, 16:00.3.

Other western Montanans (in top 100): 42, Paden Alexander, StI, 16:14.1; 47, Hunter Schutt, Fla, 16:19.2; 48, Easton Albert, 16:19.7; 50, Chris Herrick, Hgt, 16:20.8; 57, Madison Bolton, BS, 16:26.3; 58, Ben Moon, Fla, 16:26.5; 59, Travis Hayes, Pol, 16:28.0; 64, Anthony Schmalz, Ham, 16:31.8; 66, Tazio Scariano, Hgt, 16:32.6; 68, Morly Jessop, Cor, 16:35.2; 73, Jacob Thomas, Lib, 16:40.9; 78, Nick Hamilton, Sent, 16:42.8; 81, Tyler Jorgenson, Hgt, 16:44.9; 82, Brandon Minster, Sent, 16:45.1; 90, Fischer Gangemi, Wf, 16:50.4; 92, Ty Rather, BS, 16:51.5; 98, Christopher Everett, Hgt, 16:58.4; 100, Jace Kalbfleisch, Wf, 16:58.7.

GIRLS

Team scores - Bozeman 68, Missoula Hellgate 105, Billings West 238, Gonzaga Prep 242, Missoula Big Sky 259, Corvallis 266, University High 273, Helena High 281, Billings Senior 290, Mead 314, Missoula Sentinel 333, East Valley 378, Mount Spokane 421, Havre 438, Billings Skyview 473, Kalispell Flathead 475, Lewistown 498, Columbia Falls 530, Butte 542, Billings Central 559, Hamilton 611, Great Falls CMR 622, Deer Park 640, Whitefish 648, Kalispell Glacier 667, Browning 671, Hardin 676, Polson 695, Dillon 715, Belgrade 740, Helena Capital 749, Livingston 772, Loyola Sacred Heart 774, Great Falls 789, St. Ignatius 829, Townsend 891, Ronan 937, Jefferson 1,126.

Top 30 individuals

1, Makena Morley, Bf, 17:10.4; 2, Dani Aragon, Sen, 17:43.9; 3, Paige Gilchrist, Hgt, 17:45.1; 4, Leah Esposito, Hel, 17:50.1; 5, Caroline Hardin, Boz, 17:51.9; 6, Chiara Warner, Twn, 18:17.5; 7, Hailey Jacobson, Hgt, 18:20.8; 8, Andie Creel, Boz, 18:22.8; 9, Sadi Henderson, Cor, 18:27.9; 10, Keisha Stensby, West, 18:29.7; 11, Michelle Cline, Boz, 18:37.4; 12, Megan Denzin, EV, 18:40.0; 13, Claudia Hewston, Pol, 18:41.1; 14, Molly Cole, MtS, 18:54.3; 15, Selene Johnson, BT, 18:56.3.

16, Breanna Jaynes, Sent, 18:57.0; 17, Danielle Maldonado, Mead, 18:57.2; 18, Paige Bouma, Fla, 18:58.9; 19, Alexa Horrell, BiC, 19:00.7; 20, Josey Smiedala, Hel, 19:04.4; 21, Cyra Carlson, Gon, 19:08.2; 22, Cambria Hassell, CMR, 19:09.7; 23, Sabrina Sterbis, BS, 19:10.7; 24, Olivia Wood, Ana, 19:11.0; 25, Taylor Cherry, Gon, 19:13.2; 26, Katie Stephens, Boz, 19:13.8; 27, Brigid Bradshaw, Boz, 19:15.3; 28, Scarlet Kaplan, Hgt, 19:19.0; 29, Alyssa Harmon, EV, 19:25.0; 30, Bridgett Creel, Boz, 19:25.3.

Other western Montanans (in top 100): 32, Isabella Pape, Cor, 19:29.2; 27, Gilia Patterson, Hgt, 19:33.1; 38, Haley Rogers, Sent, 19:38.2; 39, Erynn Boyer, BS, 19:38.4; 42, Ellen Ipsen, Hgt, 19:46.9; 48, Maggie Mitzel, LSH, 19:56.0; 50, Jinise Osborne, CF, 19:57.0; 53, Kaycie Stewart, Cor, 20:02.4; 57, Bailey Hughes, Fla, 20:10.2; 64, Rachel Langland, BS, 20:16.2; 67, Rachel Lindley, BS, 20:22.2; 69, Chelsey Olson, Bf, 20:22.7; 72, Lakyn Connors, Cor, 20:24.8; 73, Addie Melvin, Hgt, 20:24.9; 74, Tegan Bauer, Pol, 20:27.0; 75, Ashley Courville, StI, 20:27.0; 80, Sara Amish, Ham, 20:30.0; 84, Meredith Stolte, CF, 20:31.3; 89, Ali Laird, Sent, 20:37.0; 98, Jess Diehl, BS, 20:42.0

25 Sep, 2011

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