Valley runners descend on Missoula for Mountain West Classic
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MISSOULA — Hundreds of cross country runners were in action Saturday as a record number of competitors vied for the top spot at the Mountain West Classic on the University of Montana campus.
All classes of Montana schools were represented at the meet, which also saw runners from Idaho and Montana.
In Class A boys action, the Ronan Chiefs finished 38th out of 46 teams with a total of 1,060 points and an average time of 18:39.24.
“Our boys put in a difficult week of practice, so we were not expecting them to drop much time between last week and Saturday,” Ronan head coach Gale Decker said. “For the most part, we ran faster than at Flathead, but not significantly faster. We have a ways to go before we are where we want to be, so we have some work to do.”
Kevin Wroblewski was the top finisher for the Chiefs, coming in 172nd with a time of 18:09.05. Cody Johnson finished 177th with a time of 18:13.41. Justin Dusty Bull finished 225th with a time of 18:43.27, Brady Oakland was 278th with a time of 19:24.75, Danny Romero was 292nd with a time of 19:35.71 and Robbie Hocker was 310th with a time of 19:53.95.
Ronan had just one varsity girl running Saturday, Ashley Grandchamp finished 236th with a time of 23:16.64.
The Mission boys finished 45th overall Saturday with a total of 1,503 points and an average time of 20:30.40.
“It was a big step up in competition for us. We just haven’t seen that level of running so far,” Mission head coach Patrick Murphy said. “All in all, I think we did pretty well. It was a challenging course with one very big hill that kind of did a lot of our runners in.”
Paden Alexander was Mission’s top runner, finishing 198 th overall with a time of 18:26.47. Bryan Schock was 270th at 19:09.47, Mauro Grosso was 326th at 20:45.85, Rune Grumsen was 332nd with a time of 21:47.65 and Dakota Matt was 338th with a time of 22:22.53.
“I think that we are right where we need to be at this point. We just need to focus on what we have been working on from week to week and keep working hard to get better,” Murphy said.
The Mission girls were one runner short of a full team due to illness and did not receive a team score for the meet.
Ashley Courville was the top runner for the Lady Bulldogs, finishing 140th with a time of 21:44.81 while Rose Bear Don’t Walk was 238th with a time of 23:29.29, Jane Makepeace was 281st with a time of 24:40.48 and LaGlen Mitchell was 301st with a time of 26:48.30.
“Being at a meet like this is good motivation to keep doing what we have been working on,” Murphy said. “It’s good to see a race where the last mile is filled by spectators on both sides. That is something we are not going to see at most races. It makes you realize that people really do care about this sport.”
The Arlee Warriors finished 46th at the meet with a team score of 1,550 points and an average time of 20:26.67.
Jesse Pfau led the Warriors with a 259th-place finish and a time of 19:00.34 while Trae Burland was 312th with a time of 20:07.92, Al Plant was 318th with a time of 20:25.69, Nicholas Morigeau was 327th with a time of 20:49.47 and Dominic Burland was 334th with a time of 21:49.92.
“Our kids always seem to enjoy running at the Mountain West Classic,” Arlee head coach Katea Dreiling said. “It is different from what we usually see at a meet. The Athletes are phenomenal and the pace if fast, but it is always good to see as many fans as there would be at the state meet.”
Arlee also had a pair of girls running at the meet as Kristyn Adams finished 308th with a time of 30:18.82 and Desirae Nault was 312th with a time of 31:43.98.
