Polson runners have record-setting day at conference championships
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LIBBY — It was a record-setting day for the Polson cross country teams Saturday with 13 of the 14 members of the varsity squad setting new personal best times at the Northwestern A Conference Championship.
All seven of the Lady Pirates turned in times under 22 minutes as the team finished second behind Whitefish with a total of 34 points (Whitefish had 24).
The Pirates had the same kind of record-breaking day as all seven runners finished under 20 minutes to lead the team to a third-place finish.
“This is a new thing for me,” Polson head coach Matt Seeley said. “Going out to a big meet and having all of my runners come through on the same day, it’s a great thing to see. It was probably the most satisfying day in my seven years of coaching.”
For the Lady Pirates, the finish was even more satisfying as they were once again without top runner, freshman Aja Starkey.
Starkey continues to battle the Achilles problem that has plagued her for the past few weeks and was once again held out of the race in Libby Saturday.
“Aja is frustrated right now. She wants to be out there with her team but we just don’t want to run the risk of her making the injury worse,” Seeley said. “We want to be smart and wait for her to heal before we make her run again. “The thing with Aja is; if she steps onto the course then she had a real chance of winning state. With another freshman, you might hold them back and wait for next year, but Aja has a serious chance of winning the race even with the injury.”
Without Starkey in the field of competition, the remaining Lady Pirates found a way to step up and push their limits Saturday.
Freshman Claudia Hewston once again led the way for the Lady Pirates, shaving 49 seconds off her previous personal best to finish second with a time of 18:14, just six seconds behind the winner from Whitefish.
The team’s senior leader, Mesa Starkey, beat her previous best by 58 seconds to finish third with a time of 18:39.
“Having two girls run in the mid to low 18’s is just amazing,” Seeley said. “Most teams don’t have a combination like that.”
Tegan Bauer took 1:04 off her previous best to finish seventh with a time of 19:19, Whitney Zimmerman beat her best by 1:34 to finish 10th with a time of 20:35, Alisha Jore beat her old record by 1:47 despite missing the last few races due to injury and finished 12th with a time of 20:58. Laura Barta beat her old record by 1:16 to finish 22nd with a time of 21:52 and Hallie Hovenkotter beat her record by 20 seconds to finish 23rd with a time of 21:59.
“To go against Whitefish and be this close without Aja is quite a showing. It should make for a very interesting race at state,” Seeley said. “We are optimistic about getting Aja back this week, so the dream of a Cinderella state championship still lives. We have runners that are capable of getting us a state title, we just need a very special run at state to pull it off.”
The Pirates also turned in a great performance as the nearly inseparable trio of Jimmy Bjorge, Travis Hays and Alex Nystrom took fifth, sixth and seventh for Polson.
Bjorge took 51 seconds off his previous best to finish fifth with a time of 16:28, Hays beat his best time by 1:04 to finish sixth with a time of 16:29 and Nystrom beat his best by 1:01 to finish seventh with a time of 16:31.
Mike Bournstein finished 24th with a time of 18:16, beating his old personal best by 40 seconds. Reed Hovenkotter beat his personal best time by 34 seconds to finish 27th with a time of 18:25, Tel Motichka beat his best by 36 seconds to finish 29th with a time of 18:32 and Cash Sisler turned in a time of 19:35 to finish 33rd.
With the great finish, the Pirates are looking to make waves at the state meet in Helena Saturday.
“All three top boys could finish all-state (top-15),” Seeley said. “Our boys were 17th last year, this year I want a finish in the top ten. I would be happy with that.”
The state meet will be held at the Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena on Saturday. Class A girls will run at 1:10 p.m. while the boys will race at 2:20 p.m.
