The 61st Montana state high school cross country championships take place Saturday at the University of Montana Golf Course in Missoula. Temperatures are predicted to be in the 50s with partly cloudy skies. 2023 team champion: Great Falls Bison 2023 individual champion: Nathan Neil, Bozeman (graduated) Start time: 2 p.
m. 2024 storylines: Kalispell Glacier junior Owen Thiel is the runner to beat in the battle for individual supremacy. He had the fastest 5,000-meter time by a Class AA runner by five seconds this season, running 15 minutes, 31.
8 seconds in the Flathead Invitational on Sept. 6 in Kalispell. It's also worth noting he won the Mountain West Classic at the UM Golf Course on Sept.
28 with a time of 15:41. A field of 493 runners participated in that race. Thiel has made a big jump this season after taking ninth in the State AA meet last year in Kalispell.
Also expected to contend for individual honors are Helena sophomore Milo Kauffman and senior Elliot Stimpson along with Missoula Sentinel senior Tyler Inabnit. Kauffman took 10th last year and Stimpson 11th in the state showcase. Bozeman is looking for its second team title in three years and appears to be a front-runner along with Helena.
The Hawks, who own the second-most all-time state titles at 15, underscored the Bengals in winning the Bozeman Invitational earlier this season but by just seven points. In that event, Kauffman, the son of former Clemson runner Mike Kauffman, took first. Stimpson took second.
Bozema.
