Chiefs and Maidens have best Class B finish at Whitefish

Invitational

WHITEFISH - Ronan took on a flat, fast course in Whitefish Saturday, charging ahead of rival class B schools to earn third-place finishes on both the boys' and girls' sides. Ashley Grandchamp crossed the line as the highest individual finisher on the day, earning seventh place with a time of 21:00. Jade Gray showed great improvement from last week to finish second for the Maidens, placing 19th in 22:02.

"That was a big comeback for her from last week," coach Gale Decker said. "She didn't have a great race at Hamilton, but she ran well in Whitefish."

Following in third, Nicki Jo Mays ran a quick time, breaking 23 minutes with a 22:44 finish. Kiana Howell came in next in 23:23 and Victoria Crenshaw rounded out the Maiden scoring with a time of 24:38.

For the boys, Brady Oakland snuck into the top 10, out-sprinting a pack of runners at the finish for 10th place in 17:29, his best this year.

Danny Romero came in next, placing 16th in 17:51. Jaden McNair, Kollin Wroblewski and Timmy Woll rounded out the scoring for the Chiefs, crossing the line in 18:19, 18:20 and 18:31, respectively.

"We only had a little over a minute between our No. 1 guy and our No. 6 guy," Decker said. "I thought the boys had their best day of the season; that's the best we've done all year."

Seven boys, including Ed Dupuis and Nate Rogers, shattered the 18-minute mark even without varsity runner Robby Hocker in the lineup.

And with all but one of those boys recording best times on the season, that focus on running as a pack seems to be playing out well for the Chiefs.

"We beat Plains for the first time all year," Decker said of his boys who are gearing up for a Western B conference showdown on their home turf Saturday at the Silver Fox Golf Course in Pablo.

Decker expects both of his teams to be right up there in the hunt for a conference championship.

"Loyola won't be there, so I really think it opens the door up for our kids," he said. "We've been running better and better every weekend and I think we are going to continue to get better and run well this weekend."

Seven schools from districts 6B and 7B will converge on the Silver Fox course for two races, which will be scored together as the Western B. The girls race will go off at 1 p.m. and the boys race will follow at 1:45.

POLSON LADY PIRATES CRUISE TO VICTORY IN DILLON

DILLON - The Lady Pirates cruised to a win at the Dillon Invitational Saturday behind a one-two-three finish from Claudia Hewston, Aja Starkey and Tegan Bauer. The all-sophomore Pirate contingent was able to overcome the home team, Dillon, by a mere seven points thanks to solid performances from Alisha Jore and Amanda Stobie who rounded out the scoring.

"Alisha was in 15th place at the 2-mile mark and then passed five runners in the last mile to take 10th overall at the finish and help Polson take the team title," coach Matt Seeley said. "Our girls team really seems to be coming together at just the right time so it will be fun to see how they do in the next couple weeks."

Hewston continued to impress with her confident attack of the race course en route to her first individual victory in 2011 with a time of 19:51.

"Claudia surged away from the competition in the first mile and then held a very fast pace the rest of the way," Seeley said. "This was a great confidence builder for Claudia in her quest for conference and state titles at the next two meets."

While an injury has relegated the talented Starkey to the sideline for much of this season, she was finally able to test her stride in Dillon, running strong and steady to a second-place finish in her first race.

"She started conservatively and then really ran well in the last half of the race to get second place in 20:46," Seeley said. "It was great to see Aja competing again after a challenging year."

Finishing just behind her, Bauer battled with a pack of Dillon runners and had to dig deep, pushing the pace and nabbing third place in 21:03.

"Both teams ran very well," Seeley said. "It was a hilly, challenging course at 5,400 ft. of elevation, so not conducive to fast times, but a good chance for head to head competition with class A rivals Dillon and Belgrade."

The boys team earned second place, behind gutsy performances by senior Alex Nystrom and junior Jimmy Bjorge.

"Alex made a good move to take the lead at about the half mile point, lost a couple spots mid-race, but then stayed tough to hold onto third place in 17:58," Seeley said. "Jimmy had a gutsy race, starting fast. He had three or four competitors between him and Alex with a mile to go, but he managed to get by all of them to finish fourth in 18:11."

Jared Rubel and Tel Motichka also finished close together in 10th (18:54) and 11th (19:04) respectively.

"Tel started strong, but then lost a few spots," Seeley said. "Jared caught him in the last mile and they pushed each other to finish."

Freshman Chaz Brewer again rounded out the scoring for Polson with a time of 19:54 in 24th place.

"The boys are running well, but they have big goals for the last two meets," Seeley said of his team, which only ended up a few points behind host Dillon, despite competing again without varsity runner Travis Hayes. "Travis should be back for the conference meet, but these guys will still have to step it up to the next level to take the Northwest A Conference title on our home course."

With just two weeks remaining in the cross country season, it seems the Pirate teams are peaking at just the right time.

"All of these big efforts were critical to Polson's team victory," Seeley said of his runners who will compete for the divisional championship in Polson Saturday. "With inspired runs from our top five on both sides and great spectator support, we should have a chance to win two conference titles and then really leave our mark at the state meet. It will be fun to see how we come out."

The Pirates will next host the Northwest A Conference XC Championships on the Polson golf course (old nine) next Saturday, Oct. 15. The boys will race at noon and the girls at 12:30.