HELENA – The favorite in the boys Class AA state cross country race will wear a Kalispell Flathead jersey and own a familiar last name.
Ben Perrin has won every race he has entered this fall, going a perfect six for six heading into state. He captured a Kalispell city title at the Glacier Invite on Wednesday. He set a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 25 seconds at the Butte Invite on Sept. 20.
His victories also include the prestigious Mountain West Classic, which was run on the same course where the state meet runs in Missoula next week. And he dealt with the change in weather well, when he crossed the line first at the Helena 7-of-7 Invite last week.
“Conditions were tough to run in,” said Perrin. “I guess good practice for if it ever happened again. So, obviously it was cold, but just wanted to try to get out there and get it done, try to do the hills hard and just compete.”
Perrin took sixth place at state last year. He finished 12th as a sophomore and 17th as a freshman.
He’s trying to join his older brothers Jake and Zach, who each won state cross country titles as seniors. Jake captured the crown in 2015, Zach in 2012.
The all-class state cross country meet will run at the University of Montana Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 20.
