Ronan cross country teams bring home state titles

MISSOULA — The boys' and girls' cross country are Class A State Champions for the first time in Ronan High School history.

The driving force behind their victory was the simple fact that they came in second last year.

"This year, second place wasn't going to be good enough," said head coach Gale Decker. "That was the motivation that put us over the top."

Prior to the meet, Decker braced the boys to out race last year's defending State champs Browning, while the girls were going to prevent Havre from winning the title two years in a row.

"We knew those were the teams we had to hurdle to get to the top," he said.

The boys beat Browning by a long shot. In fact, Browning found themselves in fourth. Dillon, the runner up, lost by 19 points. Dillon's Lynn Reynolds was neck and neck with Michael Fisher. Reynolds came in first with 15:43.82. Fisher was a little over a second behind with 15:44.67, good enough for second.

Andrew Graham was in the top 30 slipping into the 12 spot with 16:35.58. Buddy Cheff ran 16:58.33 for 21st. Cameron Barber came in 30th with 17:08.29.

However, the girls had good reason to fear Havre. It was a close race, but the Ronan girls picked up their feet to get ahead by six points. Terinee McCready came in second with 18:47.80, right behind Livingston's Heather Haug who nabbed first place by a fraction of a second with 18:47.12.

Sadie McMillan came in fourth with 19:28.96. Kaneesha Benson came in 20th with 20:20.25 and Briana Malmquist was the last of the Ronan girls to be in the top 30 coming in 23rd with 20:35.59. Christa Salomon ran the best time of the season with 20:56.58. Kelsey Salomon (21:47.85) and Ali Anderson (23:09.6) rounded out the top five.

"The state championships were extremely close," Decker said. "We didn't know who won until 10 or 15 minutes after the race. It was that close."

Decker explained that the team's combination of maturity and determination beat out the competition.

"The team was a little more mature this year. The workouts were a little more difficult," he said.

Decker said that once he got his athletes prepared physically, it was a matter of prepping them psychologically.

This isn't Decker's first time getting a State title. He led the girls basketball team to a State victory in 1992. Since then, there has been a long dry spell, but he is now extremely satisfied to get another big win.

The boys will find themselves without four of their five top placers next year. Fisher, Graham, Erick Stedje and Buddy Cheff will be lost to graduation. However, Decker has spotted some talented younger athletes that will fill the hole.

As for the girls, they're losing only one, Christa Salomon.

Decker has high hopes for next year saying that they'll be young, but competitive.

Results

Boys (80)

2. Fisher 15:44.67, 12 Graham, 16:35.58, 21 Cheff 16:58.33, 30, Barber 17:08.29, 31, Stedje 17:08.82, 61, Justin Grandon 17:56.96, 125, Sterling Green 2458.00.

Girls (80)

2, McCready 18:47.8, 4, McMillan 19:28.96, 20, Venson 20:20.25, 23, Malmquist 20:35.59, 31, Krista Salomon 20:56.55, 58, Kelsey Salomon 21:47.85, 93, Ali Anderson 23:09.6