MISSOULA - Hundreds of runners from across the Pacific Northwest gathered at the 2010 Mountain West Classic last Saturday in Missoula and a freshman from Polson nearly led them all. Aja Starkey finished fourth (17:59.27) and helped lead the Lady Pirates to 10 place. Three more Polson girls placed in the top 70 to get a big boost in scoring.

"This is the best Polson team finish at Mountain West since the mid-90's," Polson head coach Matt Seeley said. "Among class A Montana schools, we were a clear second place and I like our chances for a high finish at state, but Whitefish [who placed fourth] is still the team to beat."

Freshman Claudia Hewston finished 50th (20:08), senior Mesa Starkey was 64th (20:28) and freshman Tegan Bauer finished 69th (20:35)

"It is a real rush for kids to compete in such a large field of runners," Seeley said. "The hype really builds just before the start with teams chanting and psyching themselves up."

Ronan head coach Gale Decker thought that the region's best talent was on hand for the meet.

"Mountain West is probably the premier cross country meet in the Northwest. It's a great opportunity to see the talent not only from

Montana, but Washington and Idaho as well," he said.

The Ronan boys' cross country team saw two runners finish in the top 200 with Cody Johnson placing 172 (18:09) and Brady Oakland finishing 192 (12:22). Junior Ashley Grandchamp finished 236 (23:16) in the girls' varsity race.

"Our boys are doing significantly more track work than previous teams," Decker said. "We are running two sessions weekly on the track, and one session is a morning practice followed by an afternoon practice. Our team is made up mostly of juniors and seniors, so they are stronger and hopefully will be able to handle a larger work load. We won't know for two or three weeks if the extra track work is going to translate into significantly faster race times."

Arlee cross country coach Katea Dreiling said that the team placed second among Class C schools at the meet, with Joliet, who won the 2008 state championship, taking the first spot.

"It's one of the meets that you can get a good idea of what state is going to be like," Dreiling said. "They can get use to pacing themselves instead of running in the pack."

The Polson boys' top finishers were junior Alex Nystrom at 142nd (17:43) and sophomore Jimmy Bjorge at 159th (18:00).

For the Mission boys, sophomore Paden Alexander finished 237th (18:46) and senior Bryan Shock finished 270th (19:09).

Mountain West

Classic Results

Polson girls' times

4. Aja Starkey (17:59)

50. Claudia Hewston

(20:08)

64. Mesa Starkey (20:28)

69. Tegan Bauer (20:35)

201. Alisha Joe (22:45)

Polson boys' times

142. Alex Nystrom (17:42)

159. Jimmy Bjorge (18:00)

279. Mike Bournstein (19:24)

300. Nick Andrews (19:40)

301. Tel Motichka (19:42)

Ronan boys' times

172. Cody Johnson (18:22)

192. Justin Dusty Bull (18:30)

202. Brady Oakland (18:38)

216. Danny Romero (19:24)

278. Jordan Franklin (19:35)

Ronan girls' times

236. Ashley Grandchamp

JV Race

59. Jade Grey (22:45)

155. Rachel Hardy (25:01)

Mission boys' times

237. Paden Alexander (18:46)

270. Bryan Schock (19:09)

326. Mauro Grosso (20:45)

332. Rune Grumsen (21:47)

338. Dakota Matt (22:22)

Arlee boys' times

259. Jesse Pfau (19:00)

312. Trae Burland (20:07)

318. Al Plant (20:25)

327. Nicholas Morigeau (20:49)

334. Dominic Burland (21:49)

Arlee girls' times

308. Kristyn Adams (30:18)

312. Desirea Nault (31:43)