Cross Country looks to run home with gold

The difference between Glasgow's boys and girls cross country teams this season has been subtle.

Both teams have finished first in nearly every meet they've competed in. Both teams have runners that will compete for the individual gold medal at the State Cross Country Meet this Saturday. Both teams have been on the podium before.

The difference gets greater as you look in the past.

The girls' team has dominated cross country since its sanction as a girls' sport in 1971. Glasgow has won 12 team state championships, at least one in every decade since the sport's inception.

The Scotties still own the state record for consecutive state championships, reeling off eight straight titles from 1973-80, including a dominating performance at state in 1976, in which the girls' team scored a 25, a record that still holds in Class A.

More recently, the girls' team has won three of the last four state titles and look to add a third straight on Saturday.

That's where the boy's team wants to be. This Saturday could be their shot to join the club.

“It started two years ago when they decided they wanted a trophy,” head coach Rod Karst said. “They got one last year and they decided they want the big one.”

The only time the boy's team has won state before was in 1967. The team's best finish since has been third place, a mark the boys matched last year, but not the place they were looking for.

This year, behind senior Kyle Loewen and a group of talented runners, the boys think they have a chance at nabbing the top spot. Running with Loewen will be Derek Hopkins, Luke Zeiger, Jonathan Braaten, Braden Hallock, Austin Green and Bailey Burleson.

“We've never had a team this good,” Loewen said. “We're finally in the running for it and we want it. Everyone one of us wants to win state.”

The boys will be in a group of about four elite teams that are expected to make the podium, including Darby, last year's champions. Loewen finished fifth overall last year and is one of seven underclassmen who finished in last year's top 10 finishers at state, making this weekend's race even more challenging.

“We've looked at some times that they've run at different meets,” Loewen said. “As long as we're in the (17- to 16-minute range) and can get most of our top five in there we can do it.”

At their best, the boys team has easily met that mark, but with the best teams in the state running against them, the Scotties can't afford a slip up.
If they can win once, the golden touch might slide in their favor in the future. Just ask the girls, who are brimming with confidence in the chance to defend their title.

“I just want to win again,” senior Emily Braaten said. “I think is the most I've ever heard state talked about. Everyone talks about it at every practice.”

For a team that's been on the top for so long, the pressure hasn't cracked them either. The girls return five of the seven runners that placed first in last season's state championship. The team of Braaten, Jami Johnson, Gwynn Simeniuk, Sienna Dailey, Alyssa Sanders, Lillian Alvernaz and Rose Reyling will be vying for the gold again this year.

“It just feels like we can do it,” Braaten said. “It's not as much of a suprise. As the years go on it gets better and better.”

This week the teams will be running lightly before packing up to go to Missoula on Thursday to get ready for the race. The team will have a light warm up once it arrives and will run the course on Friday before the real test begins Saturday morning, when the weather is expected to be cool and there's a possibility it could rain.

This time, if all goes as planned, when they arrive back in Glasgow, there will be more than one gold runner to place in the GHS trophy case.