In 2022, Ryker Zuffelato ran his first varsity cross country race for Flathead and clocked 19 minutes, 2 seconds over the 5,000-meter course.

Which isn’t bad for your first time out, but then he looked at the time that would have let him score for the Braves that day: 17:54.67. 

“I thought, ‘Man, I’ll never be that fast,’ “ Zuffelato said this week. “But the first meet my sophomore year, I beat his time.” 

And so it goes for the cross country runner: Zuffelato ran 17:37.1 at the 2023 Flathead Invitational, then 16:52.3 late in his junior year at the 2024 Capital City 7 on 7. 

He cranked out a 16:33.2 on Aug. 29 this year, at the Libby Invitational. That sits 34th among AA boys, and he wishes to do better. 

“It’s a little frustrating that my PR this year came in that first race,” he said. “Hopefully I can PR at State.” 

The State Cross Country Championships are Saturday in Missoula, at the UM Golf Course  —  1:30 p.m. for the AA boys, 2:30 for the AA girls. 

Zuffelato is the fastest senior on a young team that, if things went right, could challenge Glacier, Helena, Sentinel and more for a trophy. 

“We’re excited,” Flathead coach Jesse Rumsey said. “Our results from the Glacier Invite were very impressive. The boys are just hoping they all have their best day on the same day and see where that puts us.” 

The sport can be punishing, but Zuffelato likes the outside aspect of it. A three-sport athlete, he plays hockey and skis — one or the other, almost non-stop — in the winter. 

He runs track in the spring, but with less passion. He prefers some variety. 

“Any day for sure,” he said. “Running circles gets boring, especially for eight laps. Plus, the team is a lot closer than you have for track.” 

It didn’t help that he spent a lot of last spring running in a cast on his arm. He had spills both in the rink and on the hill: One day he hurt it in hockey, the next day he played before things really went south on Whitefish Mountain. 

“It was gross,” he said. “It looked like Harry Potter’s broken arm.” 

Which, we add, Zuffelato fought through. 

“I broke my arm in February and I still got 25 days on the mountain,” he said. “I was in a cast at prom. ... It was a very smelly cast at the end of it.” 

Zuffelato can look forward to another season of skates and skis ahead of college. Undecided on running, he might study broadcasting or forestry or criminal justice. The broadcast interest was spiked by calling a few girls hockey games for the Fusion. 

“I know all the players and can announce it pretty well,” he said.  

A lot of announcing happens indoors, where it is difficult to find Zuffelato. Better to look for him outside — where he learned long ago he actually could run that fast.