Ronan boys and girls cross-country teams started well

RONAN - Ronan's boys and girls cross-country teams started the new season on a positive note at Libby last Friday. The Maidens put four runners in the top 20 in the varsity girls division and placed second in the team race behind Flathead, while the boys also put four runners in the top 20 en route to a fourth place finish in the varsity boys division.

Freshman Terinee McCready's time of 20:25 over the three-mile course led the Ronan girls. She was followed by sophomore Brianna Malmquist in 10th place with a time of 20:49, freshman Kaneesha Benson in 11th with a time of 20:50 and junior Christa Salomon, who clocked a 21:38 for 19th place in the field of 57 girls.

Junior Britney Maddox finished out the varsity scoring with a 37th place and a time of 23:18.

Kelsey Salomon, another freshman, ran to a second place finish in the junior varsity girls race with a time of 22:09. Felicia Danielson, Holly Oakland and Annie McDonald also placed in the top half of the runners in the junior varsity race.

Senior Zanen Pitts nearly broke the 16-minute barrier in the boys varsity race with a 16:01, which was good for third place. Teammate Michael Fisher ran a personal best 16:33 for fifth place. Pitts and Fisher led all Class A runners in the field. Andrew Graham, Erick Stedje and Dion Brown completed the boys team.

"My girls surprised me a little bit with how well they ran this early in the season," coach Gale Decker said. "I knew we had some experienced runners in Christa Salomon, Malmquist and Maddox, but I wasn't sure how the freshmen would perform.

"All three of our returners ran over a minute faster than they did at state last fall, so that gives us something to really build on. Our boys were missing Buddy Cheff, but Dion Brown did an admirable job of filling in for him. I think our boys' team will gain momentum as the season progresses."

Next up for the Ronan teams is the Flathead Invitational Meet in Kalispell this Saturday.