MISSOULA — The largest field in the 33-year history of the Mountain West Classic cross country meet brought with it an avalanche of success for Kalispell Glacier runners.

Sophomore Lauren Bissen won the 5-kilometer varsity girls race at the UM Golf Course in 18 minutes, 22.6 seconds. Junior teammate Owen Thiel won the varsity boys race in 15:41.00.

Bissen's time was the fastest across all Montana girls classifications this season, according to athletic.net. She took second in the State AA meet last year behind Bozeman Gallatin senior Claire Rutherford, who took eighth in Saturday's race in 18:58.50.

"This is pretty big for me," said Bissen, one of more than 3,000 athletes competing from 165 teams representing three states. "I haven't won Mountain West ever and it's been a goal since middle school.

"I was in fourth for a bit of it today and at the hill (almost two miles in) I took over first, and that was good. I've had some wins and second places this year and it's all progress toward state."

Bissen says there's really no secret to her spike in success this season.

"You just run, and I ran a lot," she said of her summer. "I did a bit of strength training but also I kept up my nutrition and made sure I was reframing to a healthy mindset so I can keep doing this.

"This meet is huge for me. Everybody is here and it's really fun. I like all the competition and tons of people."

Bissen, whose family runs but not competitively the way she does, has taken on the mantle as State AA favorite, with her win Saturday coming two weeks after she mined individual gold in the 27-team Bozeman Invitational. The state meet will be held at the UM Golf Course in four weeks.

Gallatin's Isabel Ross took second in the 407-runner girls field Saturday in 18:43.81. Polson's Morgan Delaney was third in 18:44.13 and Marina Tulloch of Plains took fourth in 18:45.28.

Missoula's top girls finisher was Gia Petrini of Hellgate. She took 15th in 19:17.62.

Bozeman took top honors in a field of 52 complete girls teams with 15 points. Gallatin was second with 130, followed by Hardin 187, Gonzaga Prep 243, defending State AA champion Hellgate 252 and Glacier with 276.

Thiel, like Bissen, has made a big jump this season after taking ninth in the State AA meet last year. His time Saturday was not his fastest of the season, but his joy in winning was off the charts.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so happy," he said. "I was going into this saying, I have to do it. My sister (Ada) is going to win for middle school and I was like, she cannot show me up."

Ada Thiel actually took second in the one-mile girls junior high event in 5:47.3. The only runner to finish faster was Addison Kegel, who was competing unaffiliated and clocked 5:36.6.

Owen now has something special to talk about around the family dinner table. For him, placing first in a field of 493 runners Saturday was the ultimate —at least so far.

"It's like my two previous wins were about here," he said, placing his hand even with his chest.

"Mountain West is like a whole different league," he added as he raised his hand to the top of his head. "It's crazy."

The boys race was much closer than the girls varsity event. Helena's Elliot Stimpson took second in 15:50.8. Billings Central's Grey Piseno was third in 15:53.4 and Livingston's Finn Schretenthaler fourth in 15:54.5.

"It was so close," Thiel said. "Going into the start of the hill (around two miles) it was like, we (pack of five) were all right there.

"Going up the hill, I kind of put on a surge on the top and that kind of caught me up with the top three. Then it was a dogfight that last 1K. I felt them for sure, running pretty scared."

Helena took top honors in a field of 66 complete boys teams with a score of 99. Lewis and Clark (Idaho) was second with 107 and Billings West third with 198. Hellgate took fourth with a score of 210.

The top Missoula finisher was Tyler Inabnit. He took 17th in 16:16.5.