Chiefs, Maidens cross country compete in three meets in six days

Staff Reports

The Ronan Chiefs and Maidens cross country team has had a busy last couple of weeks, competing in three meets in six days.

The Chiefs and Maidens made up a meet in Whitefish last Tuesday for the Kalispell meet that had been canceled earlier in the month due to smoke. Then, this past Saturday, the Chiefs and Maidens competed at Mountain West in Missoula with several state teams and Idaho and Washington teams.

At the Whitefish Invitational Meet, the varsity boys placed fifth with 107 points, just behind the host team, who had 103 points.

“Just having two days off since the Hamilton Meet the Saturdaybefore and Thompson Falls that Thursday, I felt that we bounced back well and clocked some of our best times of the season,” Chiefs, Maidens’ coach Noelle Decker said.

Leading the Chiefs were James Normandeau, placing fourth in a time of 17 minutes, 24 seconds and teammate Nate Dennis, not far behind in 9th place with a personal best of the season of 17 minutes, 53 seconds.

“Nate looked the best I’ve seen him all year,” Decker said. “The course had some good hills and he powered right through them.”

Freshman teammate Michael Irvine clocked in at a time of 19 minutes, 20 seconds, placing 29th.

Kiry Detwiler and Christian Silgen rounded out the Chiefs top-5 runners for the day, with times of 19 minutes, 28 seconds and 19 minutes, 48 seconds, respectfully.

Maidens turn in solid performances

On the girls’ side, freshman Lindsey Brooks finished 15th overall with a time of 22 minutes, 5 seconds.

Teammates Penni Weyant and Kinsley Barney finished in 36th and 48th place, recording times times of 24 minutes, 25 seconds and 26 minutes, 37 seconds.

On Saturday in Missoula at Mountain West, The Maidens turned in solid performances again. Lindsey Brooks was 28th overall in the JV girls’ field of approximately 250 runners with a time of 21 minutes, 56 seconds.

“She is a strong, young runner who is learning how to compete and develop strategies throughout a race,” Decker said. “She just gets better each week. Her teammates, Penni Weyant and Kinsley Barney competed in the JV race, as well. We only have three girls but they work well together and enjoyed the running and team atmosphere, which is what’s most important. Penni is a leader and Kinsley is focused on becoming a stronger and faster sprinter but will admit she hasn’t minded this distance running “stuff.””

Chiefs finish 36th at Mountain West

The Chiefs cross country team finished 36th out of 52 teams.

“There are so many AA teams with large teams that are deep, often with 30 plus runners,” Decker said. “This race is a fun one for the atmosphere and the competition. It’s on a whole different level than we experience at other meets. The kids get a kick out of seeing some of the most talented runners come together on the same course, often with 500-750 competitors in each race.”

James Normandeau was the top finisher in 105th place with a time of 17 minutes, 44 seconds; Nate Dennis was in 134th at 18 minutes,1 second; a season best for freshman Michael Irvine in 217th at 18 minutes, 43 seconds and Kiry Detwiler clocked in a time of 18 minutes, 58 seconds. Brant Heiner finished in 19 minutes, 20 seconds. Christian Silgen and Michael Koehler also ran varsity for the Chiefs.

“We fielded a complete JV team as well with runners Terrell Stump, Jacob Dresden, Tyler Joachim, Caden Rhine, Xavier Nolen, and Dar Dominguez,” Decker said. “We’ve had some shuffling on the boy’s team each week. We have some fairly young kids that are showing real growth as runners.”

Decker said she felt some of the younger runners have also elevated their level.

“Freshman runners Michael Irvine and Brant Heiner are both freshman and have stepped in this year to fill some pretty big shoes,” Decker said. “They have been consistently running varsity for the past few weeks. As our last week of regular season is upon us, we will see what shakes out and how well we can fair at Conference Championships. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of closing the gap between our 2nd runner and 3, 4 & 5 runners, as well as practiced pulling those kids up on our training runs. That will be the key to our success.”