On the Rise: Area runners fare well at Mountain West Classic
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MISSOULA — The pace was fast at the Mountain West Classic this weekend, pushing several local runners to break school records and personal best times.
Mission’s Ashley Courville finished 66th and set a new school record with her time of 20:27. Paden Alexander was 42nd with a time of 16:14 and he beat the school record by 51 seconds. In the JV division, Karl Daniels had a personal best time with 20:58 and Patrick Eichert improved his time to 22:23.
Polson’s Claudia Hewston ran an impressive time of 18:41 to take 13th place overall, while Travis Hayes led the Pirate boys with a time of 16:28 to take 58th.
The Ronan Chiefs were led by Danny Romero, who finished in 158th place with a time of 17:34, while Kiana Howell led the Maidens with a time of 22:08 to capture 174th place.
Overall, in the boys varsity division, Andrew Gardner of Mead High School in Spokane, Wash., erased the old record by nine seconds and finished in 14 minutes, 38.4 seconds. Gardner also won last year’s race in 15:05:87. Finishing second was Kalispell Glacier’s Troy Fraley and Missoula Hellgate's Adam Peterman was third. On the girls’ side, the times were also fast with Bigfork freshman Makena Morley winning in 17:10.4.
Polson cross country coach Matt Seeley says he welcomes the challenging competition for his runners' experience, as it helps their mental image to train for the state competition, which will be held at the same course in four weeks.
“Our kids ran very hard and we saw some great performances,” Seeley said. “The Mountain West Classic was a great chance for the Pirate runners to test themselves against top competition.”
The girls finished 28th out of 38 teams, while the boys captured 23rd place out of 50 teams.
For the boys, Travis Hayes led his team with a season best of 16:28 for 59th place. Teammate Jimmy Bjorge finished a minute later, finishing the course in 17:23, while senior leader Alex Nystrom struggled on the course, but battled it out to finish fourth for the Pirates with a time of 17:43. Tel Motichka closed out the scoring for his team, running a solid time of 17:52.
“The boys finished behind some key Class A rival teams,” Seeley said. “So they have some work to do between now and state.”
On the girls' side, Claudia Hewston continued her impressive season with a very fast 18:41 to finish 13th and second among Montana’s Class A runners.
“Claudia has established herself as the leader of our conference and a top contender at state,” Seeley said.
Tegan Bauer followed behind, finishing in 69th place with a time of 20:27, while Hallie Hovenkotter ran a personal best 22:29 for third among her team. Also scoring for the Lady Pirates was Kristin Young, who made a two-minute improvement to finish in 23:22.
“Kristin has been training hard and this race really showed what a great runner she has become,” Seeley said.
“I was very pleased with how well our runners competed this weekend,” Arlee Head Coach Katea Dreiling said.
Reece Pierce and Ontequa Matt both improved their season records by six minutes.
“That’s an unbelievable improvement in one season,” Dreiling said. “People were feeling good and they ran early enough that the heat wasn’t a factor.”
According to Dreiling, Al Plant ran a strong race with a 6.00 first mile that allowed him to maneuver around the large packs to keep a steady 6.30 pace the rest of the race.
“This is Plant’s career best and I expect to see him in the 18 minutes more often this season,” Dreiling said.
Dreiling said Michael Brown had a harder time getting out the first mile, but made up some time during the remaining two miles. Zach Felsman ran a consistent seven minute mile and has moved up on the Arlee team from fourth to third place varsity runner spot. Dakota Paul ran his meet in Missoula and Dreiling said he ran well for such a large meet. The boys placed 27th out of the 58 teams in the JV division.
Jenna Pablo paced the girls finishing with a time of 24.43. The girls did not have enough runners to place because the top five scores are totaled as a team. But Dreiling praised the girls’ team and pointed out Pablo’s leadership.
“Jenna has been a strong leader for the girls and has consistently been improving her times,” Dreiling said. “This is her first year running cross country but you wouldn’t be able to tell because she is very confident on the courses.”
Arlee JV Boys
104th Al Plant 18.59
159th Michael Brown 20.42
171st Zach Felsman 21.16
178th Josh Reed 21.48
182nd Jordan Keltner 22.32
194th Reece Pierce 25.35
196th Dakota Paul 27.03
Arlee JV Girls
Jenna Pablo 24.43
Ontequa Matt 27.06
Desirae Nault 28.03
Tayla Desjarlais 29.17
Mission Varsity Girls
66th Ashley Courville 20:27
194th Rose Bear Don't Walk 22:26
203rd Jane Makepeace 22:36
218th Kaylie Durglo 22:52
229th Courtney Heath 23:10
Mission Varsity Boys
42nd Paden Alexander 16:14
Mission JV Boys
175th Stuart Grant 19:28
306th Karl Daniels 20:58
365th Raymond Matt 22:05
377th Patrick Eichert 22:23
Ronan Varsity Boys
158th Danny Romero 17:34.0
210th Brady Oakland 18:09.7
267th Jaden McNair 18:47.2
284th Timmy Woll 19:00.3
Ronan Varsity Girls
174th Kiana Howell 22:08.9
195th Jade Grey 22:27
204th Ashley Grandchamp 22:39.3
218th Rachel Hardy 22:52.3
Polson Varsity Boys
59th Travis Hayes 16:28.0
155th Jared Rubel 17:32.6
176th Alex Nystrom 17:43.9
182nd Tel Motichka 17:52.2
Polson Varsity Girls
13th Claudia Hewston 18:41.1
74th Tegan Bauer 20:27.0
199th Hallie Hovenkotter 22:29.2
236th Kristin Young 23:22.8
