Polson girls win state cross country championship; Ronan runners finish season at state

The Polson girls cross country team captured the Class A state championship Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Montana High School Association State Cross Country Championships at Amend Park, led by two top-5 finishes by the Delaney sisters.

"This was a proud moment for our program," Polson head coach Jason Delaney said. "Our teams have a long history of success and bringing home team and individual trophies, including individual state champions, but the girls hadn’t won a state title since 1994, so that was so exciting to see them execute their race plans so well and pull off what we thought was possible."

Polson finished with 78 points, defeating runner-up Hardin, which scored 96. Corvallis placed third with 160 points, followed by Custer County with 171 and Libby with 173.

Senior Morgan Delaney led Polson with a runner-up finish in the girls 5,000-meter race, crossing the finish line in 17 minutes, 11.5 seconds. Sophomore Quinn Delaney followed closely behind, taking third in a personal-best 17:25.1.

Eighth-grader Sara Dumouchel gave Polson three runners among the top eight, placing eighth in a personal-best 18:24.5. Freshman Taryn Cochran added a 20th-place finish in 19:43.8, also a personal best, while junior Kimora Scott rounded out the team's scoring five with a 45th-place finish in 20:53.0.

"I think what really made this group special throughout the season was their consistency," Delaney said. "Most of them didn’t miss a planned run or workout all season, even if they had to make it up on their own when they had a conflict."

Delaney added that another special part has been watching the team grow together throughout the season.

"When you are doing really hard things, it helps to have teammates who support you, and that definitely was happening, especially late in the season," he said.  

Sophomore Amaya Shizuku also competed for Polson, finishing 113th in 23:07.5.

Billings Central Catholic sophomore Addison Kegel won the individual girls' championship in 16:44.9.

"I knew we had an opportunity, but also realized there were a couple other really good programs out there and a couple others with the ability to surprise," Delaney said. "Our strategy was simple, but not easy. We strove to not take huge risks early in the race, execute the first mile like we had practiced all season, run a strong second mile, and then I asked them to 'run the last mile like absolute warriors.'"

He said, sure enough, that strategy paid off as live tracking showed them down by 33 points at the mile, then up by 12 points at two miles. 

Delaney said he became aware of the possibility of a state title when he began counting places at the two-mile mark and realized the Pirates were in the running. 

"I informed the girls as they passed me with three-quarters of a mile to go that we could pull it off if we stayed strong," he said. 

The runners also might have had a little more motivation too. 

 "I credit their work ethic and fitness to run so well at the state meet, but also their dedication to following the plan and just finding the grit to get it done when things got hard," Delaney said. "That, and they were motivated to give me my next haircut … a pink cheetah print buzz cut." 

The Polson boys also turned in a strong performance, finishing 10th in the Class A team standings with 273 points.

Senior Jackson Bontadelli led the Pirates with an eighth-place finish in 16:03.8. Sophomore Trenton Couture placed 26th in a personal-best 17:13.1, while junior Wyatt Boogerd finished 32nd in 17:22.6.

Senior Christopher Sopke took 70th in 18:28.0, followed by freshman King McKinney in 137th at 20:36.0. Junior Galen Berg placed 140th in 20:40.4, and sophomore Brandtly Caye finished 152nd in 21:57.2.

Hardin captured the boys team championship with 41 points, followed by Corvallis with 102 and Columbia Falls with 141. Hardin senior Ben Bird won the individual title in 15:19.9.

"We did our best to navigate potential rust from the long drive by breaking the trip into two days," Delaney said. "We drove to Butte Thursday night and then to Billings Friday morning, stopping both days at midway to eat and stretch. Although not perfect, I think it worked pretty well." 

"I hope it’s just a beginning," he added. "We are hoping to continue building momentum and our program. We had an amazing season, but there is a lot to improve upon." 

Ronan's boys finished 14th overall with 342 points, led by senior Will Normandeau, who placed 44th in 17:47.9.

Senior Matiya Nenemay followed in 61st with a time of 18:16.3, while fellow senior Benjamin Running Rabbit finished 66th in 18:24.3. Sophomore Tashawn Edmo placed 85th in a personal-best 18:44.7, and freshman Tyler Buhr finished 86th in 18:46.0.

Freshman Isaiah Phoenix added an 89th-place finish in 18:54.9, while freshman Skylar Piapot finished 148th in 21:10.4.

The Ronan girls finished 20th in the team standings with 549 points.

Sophomore Emma Heiner led the Maidens with an 82nd-place finish in a personal-best 21:52.0, and freshman Lanaeya Eppinette followed in 90th with a personal-best 22:07.9.

Freshman Kollyn Goblish finished 122nd in 23:23.4, while senior Jenadei Ellsworth placed 125th in 23:34.6. Junior Hayden Dusty Bull rounded out Ronan's scoring five with a 130th-place finish in 24:08.7.

Freshmen Nakota Irvine and Hunter Ginsell also competed for Ronan, finishing 135th in 24:38.9 and 141st in a personal best of 25:52.6, respectively.   Polson Lady Pirates cross country team claims state championship on Saturday, Oct. 24. (Kyo Shizuku photo).