Chiefs, Maidens cross country prepares for Helena
THE RONAN High School cross country team poses for a photo as they prepare for the Class A state cross country meet Saturday in Helena. The Chiefs, Maidens cross country team hopes to maintain is long tradition of excellence in cross country at the state event. The Chiefs look to expand on its tradition of excellece in past state meets as they’ve continued to run well throughout the 2017 campaign. The Chiefs, Maidens hope to bring home a couple of state-placers in this season’s meet. Last season the Chiefs cross country team had Jackson Duffey who finished 11th and was a state-place…
The Ronan Chiefs and Maidens concluded their regular season cross country season at the Western A Fall Classic held at the King Ranch Golf Course in Frenchtown.
The Ronan Chiefs team clocked in personal bests for the season, with each team member running their fastest time of the season yet. The course was flat and the conditions for running, made it the perfect day to do so.
Leading the Chiefs was James Normandeau with a time of 17 minutes, 12 seconds, placing him 13
overall and claiming All-Conference honors. Teammates and seniors, Nate Dennis and
Kiry Detwiler finished not far behind James with times of 17 minutes, 41 seconds, and 18 seconds, 1 seconds, respectfully.
Rounding out the Chiefs varsity team was football players/cross country runner, Brant
Heiner, running a time of 19 mintues, 2 seconds, followed by Christian Silgen, Michael Koehler, and
Terrell Stump with times of 19 minutes, 11 seconds, 19 minutes, 38 seconds, and 19 minutes, 40 seconds.
Freshman, Michael Irvine claimed honors in the JV race, by clinching the number 4
place with a time of 18 minutes, 33 seconds. Teammates in the JV race, Jacob Dresden, Tyler Joachim,
Xavier Nolen, Trey Don’t Mix, Zach Gainan, Julian Schonbrod, and Dar Dominguez, all
also ran personal bests on this course, to end their season on a very positive note.
Our boys team worked well together this season. They pushed one another at each meet, and shuffled themselves in our number 5 - 8 positions, which is just what you
want as a coach. Overall, we are a fairly young team with a bright future for next season.
On the girls side, freshman, Lindsey Brooks received All-Conference honors, placing 12th overall and running a time of 20 minutes, 18 seconds, her season best. She was followed by teammates Penni Weyant, and Kinsley Barney, running 24 minutes, 24 seconds, and 26 minutes. The girls
team, though small, had a nice season. These three girls are focused, work hard, and are very coachable. Penni, being the veteran runner of the group, was instrumental in leading her two younger classmates and taking them under her wing with regard to
cross country running.
As we head to the State Meet in Helena this next weekend, we are looking to make a
positive debut back into the ranks of Class A, which we’ve had an absence from for
several years. It has been a transition for sure, coming up from Class B, back to A. I’ve
been please overall, how our kids have adjusted, and they have held their own each
meet. There are a lot of great runners in Class A, and yesterday the kids truly saw the
level of competition with both the Northwestern and Southwestern A conferences combined.