Chiefs, Maidens finish 4th at conference championship
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LIBBY — The Chiefs and Maidens picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes Saturday as they ran in the Class A Northwest Conference cross country championship.
Several Ronan runners turned in personal best times in the race. The Chiefs finished in fourth place with 83 points, behind Whitefish (40), Columbia Falls (50) and Polson (69). The Maidens also came away with a fourth-place finish with 103 points, behind Whitefish (24), Polson (34) and Columbia Falls (68).
“I think we ran pretty well this weekend. We had several kids turn in season best times. I am happy with what both the boys and girls were able to do in Libby,” Ronan head coach Gale Decker said. “Overall, I think it was a good day. We were a little disappointed in the team scores, though. But when the kids run as well as they can, you can’t ask for much more. Things just didn’t quite shake out how we wanted on the team side of things.”
Cody Johnson led the Chiefs in their race, coming in under 17 minutes for the first time in his career to finish 11th with a time of 16:47. Kevin Wroblewski finished 16th in the race with a time of 17:22, Danny Romero was 17th at 17:29, Brady Oakland finished 19th with a time of 17:37 and Jordan Franklin set a new personal best of 17:52 to finish 20th. Edmond Dupuis ran an 18:24 to come in 26th and Eric Malmquist was 31st with a time of 18:44.
“I keep thinking that the boys should have a breakout race some time this season. They are capable of running much better than they have been,” Decker said. “Will that breakout race come at state next week? I don’t know.”
The top three runners for the Maidens had a solid race once again Saturday. Ashley Grandchamp ran under 21 minutes for the first time, Jade Grey was under 22 minutes and Kiana Howell came in under 23 minutes.
Grandchamp just missed All-Conference honors with an 11th-place finish after a wrong turn near the finish line dropped her out of the top 10. Even with the mistake, she finished with a career-best time of 20:48.
Grey turned in a time of 21:30 to finish 18th for the Maidens while Howell was 23rd at 22:54.
Rachel Hardy finished 25th for the Maidens with a time of 24:02, Halley Walston ran a 25:40 to finish 26th in her first-ever varsity race while fellow first-time runner and German exchange student, Emily Harenburg finished 27th with a time of 26:29. Christen Falcon finished 29th in the race with a time of 26:50.
“Ashley, Jade and Kiana have been steady for us all year, we have just had a hard time finding those fourth and fifth runners,” Decker said. “We just never could quite get the right combo figured out.”
The season concludes for both teams next week as the Chiefs and Maidens run in the state meet. The state meet will be held at the Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena Saturday. Class A girls will run at 1:10 p.m. while the boys will race at 2:20 p.m.
No matter what the result in Helena, Decker says he is happy with the performance of his teams this season.
“It’s been a good season for us. We have seen a lot of improvement in the runners and their attitudes have been good. They all have been working really hard all season,” he said. “No matter what happens at state this weekend, we will consider this season a success.”
