Alexander running strong for Griz

MISSOULA — Paden Alexander may be a freshman at the University of Montana, but he’s been racing like a seasoned veteran for the Grizzlies’ cross country team.

Alexander, who hails from St. Ignatius, has become one of the more consistent runners for the Griz this season.

“He has the maturity of an upperclassman,” Vicky Pounds, the first-year Montana cross country coach said. “I don’t know if that came from his coaching beforehand or if he’s just a smart guy and he can pick up on that.”

That’s high praise for somebody who was passed over by the Grizzlies’ previous coaching staff. Alexander had committed to the University of Great Falls before Pounds saw him run for the Mission track program in the spring.

“When I picked up on Paden it was a bit late and I was just going off of his track side,” Pounds said. “We were saying, ‘You need to be at a Division I program.’”

Alexander, who finished second in last year’s Class B state cross country meet, has flourished after adjusting to the longer collegiate races (eight kilometers rather than five).

“It took me awhile to get used to the running. I was really used to the three-mile pace,” he said.

After the initial adjustment, though, the freshman has taken off. He finished 13th at the Grizzlies’ home meet on October 4 and dropped more than a minute from his personal best at the Santa Clara Invitational in Sunnyvale, Calif. on Oct. 19, turning in a 24:49. That effort was enough for tops on the Griz team.

Last weekend, Alexander ran 39th overall at the Big Sky Conference championship meet in Bozeman. He ran second on the team there.

Part of the reason Alexander has run stronger as the season has gone on, Pounds said, is that he doesn’t over-train.

“He can run within himself and he always runs well in races,” she said. “You see a lot of freshmen come in and they get burnt out pretty quick. … It’s easy to get caught up in having people to run with.”

Pounds said she expects big things from him in the coming years.

“There’s something about Paden,” she mused. “He has his best races in front of him.”

After some growing pains, Alexander is starting to hit his stride in the classroom as well. He already knows what he wants to study—wildlife biology—and what he wants to do: become a tribal game warden and coach running sports in Mission.

“I just want to help out my old school,” Alexander said. “They’ve all been so supportive of me.”

All that is years and miles in the distance, though. For now, Alexander and the young Griz team are just looking to climb the ladder in the Big Sky rung by rung. “Our team is still a young team, and we’ve got a ways to go yet, and [Paden will] just be along for the ride,” Pounds said.

The next stop is Ogden, Utah, where the Grizzlies will compete in the NCAA Mountain Regional on November 15.