Cross country has final tuneup before divisionals in Bigfork

Columbia Falls Herd of Turtles cross country squad had a split decision this past week regarding their destination. Some turtles would head to Helena for the Tracy Logan 7 of 7 meet, while the rest would travel to Pablo for the Mission Shadow Duels on Saturday.

On Thursday at the 7 of 7, Connor Jordan achieved another personal best in his meet, clocking in at 17:01 and securing an 11th place finish. Eamon Schule also set a record time of 17:13 during the meet.  Cabe Coburn finished with a time of 18:40, while Brayden Swope clocked in at 18:36. Keian Moran, another competitor for the turtles, finished with a time of 19:17.

For the girls, Noelle Svennungsen would finish with in 18th place with a time of 20:33.  Hazel Alexander raced her way into 23rd place in her meet and clocked a time of 23:05, and Chloe Williams would finish her meet in 13th with a time of 23:13.

“The teams did well at both meets.  We took our varsity squads plus one JV runner to Helena.  The meet had a fun format where each kid runs a separate race.  I really like this meet at this time of year because kids have to run without their teammates.  They have to run their own strategies.  They can’t use teammates to get a feel for position or effort.  Sometimes, it results in breakout performances or personal bests, and sometimes it results in a crash and burn that is just as good for learning.  With State coming up in a couple of weeks, it’s a good time for that learning experience,” coach Jim Peacock said. 

“I thought the Helena squad ran really competitively.  They had fantastic efforts, ran aggressively, and raced with confidence.  It was just the tune up we were looking for.  A couple stand out performances included nice personal best races for Eamon Schule and Connor Jordan.  They were locked in, and they looked like they were each on personal missions to establish themselves within the overall state competition.  Senior Chloe Williams also had a really fun competitive race.  Her confidence and leadership set a good example for everyone else on the team.”

Peacock also noted the JV squads did well.

“Everyone that didn’t race in Helena raced in Pablo at the Mission Shadow Duels.  Fortunately, we had a decent weather window for the races.  The rain that was hitting most of western Montana was missing us.  We just go a few sprinkles.  The wind wasn’t bad either, and the cool temperature was good for racing,” he said.

“This is always a fun meet and has an engaging course.  This year, the course was wet, and the kids had to slog through the mud bog.  We didn’t suffer a casualty, but I saw several kids racing minus a shoe sucked off and buried in the mud.  This was in the first half mile of the race.”

Despite the mud, Levi Ypma and fellow teammate Skylar Hawxhurst would both set personal bests at the meet. Ypma would finish with a time of 20:04, while Hawxhurst would cross the finish line with a time of 20:27.  Also, Kahlan Baumgartner ran a new personal best time for the girls at 25:28.

This week, the Herd will have a couple of events. First, they’ll have Senior Night on Thursday at the Wildkats girls’ volleyball games.  Then, they’ll be in Bigfork on Friday for the Western A Fall Classic.