All or Nothing: Local runners race to individual, team honors at state
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
MISSOULA — An overcast sky and cool temperatures Saturday made for ideal running conditions at the state cross country meet at the University of Montana golf course. Golden yellow and bright orange leaves draped from limbs, fell and then scattered across green fields, providing a scenic backdrop as hundreds of runners blurred the landscape.
The day was also a perfect ending for what has been a season full of personal bests and high-place finishes for teams in the Mission Valley.
St. Ignatius
“If you would have told me at the beginning of last season what Mission cross country, and specifically these athletes, would achieve in just two years of running, I would have had a hard time believing it,” Mission head coach Patrick Murphy said. “These kids are proof of the success that is possible with hard work, commitment and dedication.”
Mission’s Paden Alexander led his team with a fifth-place finish in a time of 16:37. Alexander also earned all-state honors for the second year. The Mission boys placed 18th out of 27 full teams competing.
Alexander jumped five spots higher than his previous finish of 10th place last year, with his sights set on doing even better next year.
Stuart Grant was 107th (19:37); Raymond Matt was 122nd (19:56); Karl Daniels finished 128th (20:04); Dylan Evans placed 130th (20:07); Jamie Mullins was 131st (20:07); and Patrick Eichert crossed the line for 171st place (22:36).
“I’m already looking forward to next season, as we won’t lose any of our varsity runners,” Murphy said. He added if the boys train in the off-season, they could make some huge strides as a team.
On the girls’ side, Ashley Courville missed out all-state honors by a fraction of a second, .58 seconds, and recorded her best time of 20:11. Rose Bear Don’t Walk was 31st (21:12), Jane Makepeace was 33rd (21:22), Courtney Heath finished 49th (21:57) and Kaylie Durglo placed 63rd (22:30). The girls’ team placed fourth out of 18 teams.
“I could not be more proud of how our girls raced on Saturday,” Murphy said. “They raced ‘as a team,’ and ‘for each other,’ exemplifying what it means to be a team in cross country.”
The team loses three seniors, Courville, Bear Don’t Walk and Makepeace.
“We are going to sorely miss our three seniors who have provided us with solid leadership, winning attitude and the dedication that has allowed us to be so successful this year,” Murphy said.
Murphy looks forward to building off of the hard work of Heath and Durglo next year.
“I already look forward to the successes they will achieve and the improvement that I know are going to (happen) next year,” he said.
Arlee
Arlee’s boys’ team entered the state meet without their number two and three runners, Al Plant and Michael Brown. But the rest of the team stepped up and ran well, especially Donovan McDonald, who ended up finishing 11th overall (17:23:19).
“All-State honors was not something we were expecting,” head coach Katea Dreiling said. “It was a great surprise. I was very excited for (McDonald).”
Dakota Paul is the only senior on this year’s team, and Dreiling said he did a great job at state, improving his previous course record by over a minute.
“The exciting part is nine of the 10 guys can return next year,” Dreiling said. “They’ve been building a strong base and have been gaining a lot of experience.”
But the Arlee girls’ team will need to rebuild their foundation next year. The team will lose Jenna Pablo and Desirae Nault. Tayla Desjarlais will return next year with a wealth of experience.
“(She) has been running since her freshman year,” Dreiling said. “She’s built up a lot of experience and will be a great person to introduce new runners to the sport.”
Polson
Pirate cross country coach Matt Seeley couldn’t be prouder of the way his boys and girls competed at state. Claudia Hewston capped off an impressive season to finish in third place with a time of 18:47.
“Claudia had another incredible state race in which she gave absolutely everything she had,” Seeley said. “When Corvallis’ Sadie Henderson broke away at the start, Claudia quickly reeled her in and battled side-by-side for almost two miles.”
Claudia briefly took the lead with a bold move on the big hill, but the effort was too much and she slowly lost contact over the last mile, Seeley added.
“I have never seen a runner with such fearless determination and willingness to push her body to the limit in the middle of a long race,” Seeley said. “With her muscles completely spent, Claudia got passed in the last few steps as she staggered across the finish line, but she was very proud of her race.”
Polson had nine of their 14 runners finish with season best times and many of them lifetime bests. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams ended up eighth in a field of 19 Class A teams. Even though this was a little further back than expected, Seeley said, it was still satisfying against some very strong competition.
“We had a great team effort yesterday,” Seeley said. “It was pretty impressive to see so many dig deep and deliver great performances at the most important race of the year.”
Tegan Bauer finished ninth with a time of 19:25, finishing her best time of the year, moving up one spot from her 10th-place finish last year.
“She started strong and was in the top five for much of the race before losing a few spots in the last mile,” Seeley said. “Tegan is a great competitor who ran tough in every meet all year and will be back to lead the team again next year.”
Hallie Hovenkotter finished 43rd with a time of 20:54, while Alisha Jore took 75th place in 21:59. Amanda Stobie finished 84th with a time of 22:21; Ceara Snyder finished 101st with a time of 23:23; and Kristin Young took 103rd with a course time of 23:29.
On the boys’ side, Travis Hayes led the Pirates with a 31st place finish in 16:55, while Jimmy Bjorge was close behind, taking 36th place with a time of 17:01.
“Jimmy struggled to drop his times this year, but he took charge and led the team through most of the race,” Seeley said. “His time was a full minute ahead of last week.”
Alex Nystrom took 44th with a time of 17:20, wrapping up his senior season with another strong run and fast time.
“He has been a great leader for the team all year and really helped bring out the best in the other boys,” Seeley said.
Jared Rubel took 45th place with a time of 17:21, while Tel Motichka finished 57th in 17:34. Reed Hovenkotter finished the race in 18:36 in 99th place, and Chaz Brewer, the only freshman on the state team, took 102nd with a time of 18:42.
Ronan
In the Class B race, the Ronan boys took fifth overall, while the Maiden runners took seventh. Leading the boys was Danny Romero, who took eighth place with a time of 16:52, while Brady Oakland was close behind, securing 21st place with a time of 17:39. Kollin Wroblewski finished in 58th place with a time of 18:21, while Jaden McNair finished 79th with a course time of 19:10.
Nate Rogers secured 86th place with a course time of 19:17, while Edmund Dupuis was close behind, taking 87th in 19:18.
Leading the Maidens was Ashley Grandchamp, who took 28th with a time of 21:00, while Jade Gray finished in 41st with a time of 21:43.
Rachel Hardy took 51st with a course time of 22:00, while Kianna Howell finished 74th with a time of 22:58. Finishing in 101st place was Lindsey Rogers, who ran the course in 24:30.
