Jefferson High’s cross country team finished up its season Saturday at the State Cross Country Meet in Helena. As a team, the JHS boys took 17th out of 22 teams, tallying 477 points. Top honors in the race went to Manhattan with 53 points, followed by Glasgow with 63 and Townsend with 96.
In a field of 171 runners for the Class B Boys race, Hunter Henschel led the Panthers with a 57th place finish in a time of 19:30.04. Noah Anspach also crosses the finish line in the top 100, coming in 92nd at 20:36.70.
Other Panther boys and their finishes: Gabe Gilmore 105th in 2:00.88; Andrew Johnson 106th in 21:01.72; Hunter Gilbert 117th in 21:28.61; Alex Wise 131st in 22:07.56; and Drew McManus 133rd in 22:09.71.
The Panther girls also earned a team score by having five runners compete. The team was 17th out of 19 teams with a score of 504. Manhattan was also the top team in that race, compiling an impressive 36 points and earning All-State honors for each of the five girls included in that score. Bigfork took second with 99 points, followed by Colstrip at 121.
Grace Alexander, a freshman, was the leader for the Panther girls, crossing the finish line in 62nd place in the field of 143 runners in a time of 24:18.70. Laurynn Armstrong entered the finish chute in 86th place at 25:55.33. Emme Rosenbaum was 112th in 27:01.48; Abbie Supalla ran 116th in 27:25.34, and Renee Yu rounded out the Panther efforts at 128th in 28:30.38.
The JHS cross country contingent this year was one of the largest groups in several years, and many are underclassmen, engendering hope the program will continue to flourish in the immediate future.
