Ronan x-c brings home Divisional championship

So much for that nagging pain from his Achilles heel. Ronan High's Zanen Pitts shrugged it off and ran away with the boys' Northwest A divisional title last Saturday at Libby.

Pitts clocked a time of 16:04.55 to win the event and lead Ronan to the boys' team title.

Ronan's girls also pulled off a team championship to secure a sweep by the Chiefs.

iIt's nice to win the divisional title because in the past it seems that the top teams out of this division have done very well,i Ronan coach Gale Decker said. iUsually, if you do well in this division you have a shot to do well at state.i

Pitts is among a group of four runners who should battle for the title at Saturday's state meet in Helena, according to Decker. The favorite is probably T.J. Strange Owl of Colstrip, who finished second last year at state and won a big invite in Missoula earlier this season. However, anything's possible during a state meet.

iZanen is capable of winning,i Decker said. iHe'll have to be healthy. But with cross country, each day and each course can be different for an individual. It usually boils down to who feels good that day.i

Although Pitts wasn't at peak performance during last Saturday's divisional, it didn't hinder him much. Pitts slipped past teammate Michael Fischer by eight seconds to claim the meet victory.

iZanen had a little Achilles problem last week,i Decker noted. iWe wanted him to back off a little last Saturday, but he should be fully recovered to battle for a state title.i

Fischer posted a time of 16:12.77 to finish second overall and give Ronan an advantage in the team race. The Chiefs slipped past runner-up Polson 33-52 in low-team scoring.

Ronan's Andrew Graham also cracked the top 10 with a time of 16:56.15 for seventh place overall.

The Chiefs also capitalized on the performances of Erick Stedje and Buddy Cheff to sock away the team title. Stedje and Cheff placed 11th and 12th with respective times of 16:59 and 17:02.

Polson was paced by Logan Torgison's fourth place finish. Torgison clocked a time of 16:47 and was joined by teammates Olin McCrumb and Grant Casey in the top 10. McCrumb and Casey finished sixth and eighth with times of 16:55 and 16:65.

In the girls' race, Terinee McCready finished second with a time of 19:12 to help lift Ronan to the team title. Ronan used its team depth to defeat runner-up Polson 28-54.

iOur girls have been running a little better each week,i Decker said. iAt the divisional, our fifth girls placed ninth. That's a pretty good team effort.i

Briana Malmquist finished fourth overall with a time of 20:02, followed by Ronan teammates Kaneesha Benson (sixth, 20:32), Kelsey Salomon (seventh, 20:36) and Christa Salomon (ninth, 20:50).

Salomon clocked a personal best time at the divisional meet.

Bigfork's Brooke Andrus won the girls' meet with a time of 18:36. Samantha Campbell led Polson by placing third at 19:45. The Pirates also netted a top 10 effort from Alex Noble, who was fifth at 20:05.

Kali Cook clocked a time of 21:03 to finish 11th.