Chiefs, Maidens' cross country hopes to come up big against Kalispell

RONAN — Ronan High School cross country runner Jackson Duffey knows the level of mental dexterity it will take to compete in the Montana High School Association Class B State Cross Country meet Saturday at 12 p.m. at Rebecca Farm in Kalispell.

Duffey expressed confidence heading into the final race of the season and has some specific numbers in mind on what he thinks it will take to give him the best opportunity to compete in the race.

“You just have to go in with the mindset that I am going to run the fastest time that I’ve ran all season,” Duffey said. “I would like to win (the state title) or at least be up there in the top 3. My goal going into the race is running 15 minutes, 40 seconds or faster for the first three miles and that should put me in a good position.”

Last year, Duffey said his experience at the state meet in Great Falls was “eye opening.”

“The state meet really helped me realize what it takes to be one of the top runners,” Duffey said. “I finished second in Divisionals last year and I was pretty confident that I would receive all-state honors (at state). I didn’t end up getting all-state honors. I learned in last year’s state meet that everyone peaks at this time of year and there will be kids at the front that I might not even thought would be there.”

Duffey said the state experience motivated him to train harder.

“Last year in the summer, I didn’t train much for cross country, we were running decent times, and I think I placed 20th at state,” Duffey said. “After last year’s state experience, I think I had the mindset that I had to go out there and run every day knowing how much it would help me.”

This summer Duffey trained with his grandfather and former Ronan cross country coach Gale Decker, and every Tuesday he trained with a running group in Polson led by Jason Delaney.

“My grandfather used to be the Ronan cross country coach for a lot of years, and I just followed his training program and did every single thing he said to do every day,” Duffey said. “Every Tuesday I would train with the Polson crew and that really helped a lot with my strength and conditioning. Running with faster people just pushed me harder to become better.”

For Duffey and his 16 other Chiefs’ teammates, they will try to balance individual achievement and contributing to the team’s scores.

“Pretty much throughout the race, we are just focused on where we are going to be as a team,” Duffey said. “You have to worry about yourself, make sure you run the best time you possibly can, and make sure you run well on race day. That will help your team the most.”

According to Chiefs and Maidens Coach Noelle Decker, her team “struggled” with the elevated pressure of state because of an unpleasant experience earlier in the season with last year’s course in Great Falls.

“We went over in September to Great Falls and our kids ran the course,” Decker said. “It was horribly hot that day and we came away from that meet with an attitude of ‘that is such a horrible course, we hate it’ and now we have to run that horrible course again,’” Decker said. “Running is such a mental thing. If they have a good attitude and a good experience with the course, there is a lot to be said for that.”

This year, Decker said she has conditioned her team hard to make a strong push to peak at the state meet.

“Last year, we kind of set them to peak at conference,” Decker said. “That was probably our best bet as far as last year goes. This year we figured out that we will be running for a trophy and we know going into state we will have an outside chance. This year we knew we needed to peak at state rather than conference and we’ve been working them pretty hard and breaking them down throughout the season. This past week, we’ve kind of backed off and we are hoping to see some runners have PRs. We have worked them pretty darn hard this season. That is the right approach we took this year by hoping that we peak coming into Saturday (at state).”

Decker said she felt her boys and girls cross country runners will have an edge because of the familiarity with the course.

“We are kind of at an advantage from that perspective having run this course the second meet of the season,” Decker said. “We ran it in September and that gives us a little edge. We know what to expect on the course, and the boys and girls actually ran really well in that meet. They like the course, we know what to expect, and that gives us a little bit of advantage from that perspective.”

Decker said she felt her Chiefs’ boys cross country team has “shot at a trophy.” The boys have 17 members. The girls have three total members so will not be able to compete as a team but will as individuals.

“You know the boys do have a shot at a trophy,” Decker said. “I don’t know if we can beat Glasgow, Manhattan, and Broadwater. They will be pretty tough but we match up well against them. We will be pretty evenly matched as far as capability goes, and we can take anywhere from second to fourth place. If the boys run extremely well, you never know what can happen.”

Girls ready to compete as individuals in Kalispell

Maidens’ runner Ashley McCready said she felt the most difficult aspect of competing in the state cross country meet is overcoming the mental pressure of the event.

“I think the mental part is the toughest part about running,” McCready said. “When you get tired you have to continue to push yourself to go further, go the distance to meet your times, and catch the person in front of you.”

Because of the lack of numbers this season disqualifying the Maidens from competing as a team at state, McCready said her concentration is on herself as an individual headed into state. The lack of numbers also doesn’t allow her to run as a pack with her teammates.

“You get really nervous before a meet and before a meet, you just usually try to relax and start warming up,” McCready said. “You try to find things to take your mind off running before you have to compete.”

Despite the lack of numbers, McCready said she still relies heavily on her team for moral support.

“The thing about cross country is that it’s an individual sport and focusing on your personal best in this meet is more than you normally would,” McCready said. “Basically, our team members are a really great support system and not having to focus on a team score probably takes the pressure off a little bit to really try and do better.”

McCready said she likes the mental aspect of running.

“I feel like people don’t think about cross country or view us the same as other sports like basketball or football,” McCready said. “However, cross country is really hard and running is a thing that pushes your body to go faster than you think it could. It’s an amazing sport, you get to push yourself, and your teammates are always there with you.”

Decker said she is “optimistic” her three girl racers will compete well in the race.

“McCready should finish in the top 15 and I’m hoping that she gets all-state honors,” Decker said. “Penni Weyant is hoping to be in the top 25. She’s a junior with another year and that is the goal that she has set for herself.”

Bulldogs cross country qualifies six runners for state

ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission Valley High School boys and girls cross country teams both qualified for the Class B State Meet in Kalispell.

The Bulldogs cross country team will have six representatives from the boys and girls teams (two boys runners, four girls). Varsity boys Troy Matt placed 11th in Thursday’s Divisionals in Thompson Falls.

Troy Matt fell just out of the top 10 to and nearly captured all-conference honors with a time of 17 minutes, 52 seconds. Wacey McClure ran an improved time of 21 minutes, 15 seconds.

Karolyna Buck placed 18th with a new personal record of 22 minutes, 24 seconds. Elsa Kylen placed 31st with a new PR time of 24 minutes, 22 seconds. Yvonne Baty placed 33rd with a new course PR of 24 minutes, 46 seconds, and Shaniya Decker placed 35th with a new course PR of 26 minutes.

“All of my runners qualified for state and I wish to also add Amy Dillard and Keisha Dillard to my girls team (at state),” Lady Bulldogs cross country coach Chris Eichert said. “It was a great day for my all of my athletes and I feel they have all competed well. I’m extremely proud of each and every one of them, They have really worked hard this season and their times keep improving.”

Scarlets, Warriors gear up for Kalispell

ARLEE —Arlee High School cross country coach Brett Sproull has had to make some adjustments in his first season transitioning from the middle school to high school cross country level.

Sproull talked about the difference in intensity level between middle school in high school. Sproull coached middle school for six seasons prior to his promotion to high school.

“Oh yeah its quite a bit more work than junior high,” Sproull said. “Its rewarding and like I said the kids (in high school) are playing for much higher stakes.”

Sproull said his first-ever experience at state will be “intense.”

“These kids care so much I am having dreams and nightmares about cross country,” Sproull said. “My gut is kind of tight just thinking about state.”

The Warriors boys cross country team is loaded with runners that have improved their time since the course of the season, according to Sproull.

“We came in with a lot of young runners and the majority are sophomores and juniors,” Sproull said. “Our big goal this season was to break 20-minutes and when we started we were racing around the 21,22, 23-minute marks and now we’ve kind of reached our big goal and we are going to try to represent well at state.”

Boys that will participate in state are boldied include: Ivory Brien, James Crazyboy, Jason Miller, Brendan Ryan, Skyler Titsworth, Gage Sanchez, Madiah Morin, and Francois Pepion. Sequoia Wiley is also a member of the team.

According to Sproull, the girls have a couple of top prospects at state. Volleyball player and cross country runner Natalie  Yocum and Shawntaya Nelson are both top prospects.

Members of the girls team include: Naomi Plant, Summer DarcAngelo, Malachi DeRoche, Shawntaya Nelson. Alice North, Ashley Potts, Frankie Wright, Yocum, Melaia Matt and Mary Sampson. The runners that will be participating in state are listed in bold.

“We will probably not win but we are hoping for a top-3 finish as far as the team scores go,” Sproull said. “Yeah I've been looking at our practice records yesterday was our best practice of the entire year. At the time trail.”