Plains cross country team returns from state with hardware

PLAINS – In an unexpected series of events, the Plains Trotter Harriers brought home a third place victory from the State Championship meet in Missoula.

Going into the competition, it was unknown whether or not Plains would have a complete team.

Senior captain Felicia Earhart proved well enough to compete, after sitting out for most of the season. Although she ran in two early season meets, a stomach ailment as well as her conflicting schedule in volleyball, prevented her from running a race since mid-September.

With a lack of training in the last five weeks of the season, her exercise regimen was disadvantaged. But that seemed to not dampen the girls as they headed into the meet. A strong performance from all the ladies, would ensure that the girls did not leave the meet empty handed.

“That’s all it takes for great things to happen,” said Coach Banovich, stating it was a mix of determined and focused teammates.

Leading the pack were Kimberly Earhart and Demi Horton with times of 20:07 and 20:15 respectively. Kimberly finished in ninth place overall, while Horton took eleventh. Both girls garnered All-State honors, an accomplishment they can be both proud of.

As for Felicia, she ran what Coach Banovich said was a spectacular race, impressing many of her fellow runners.

“We really weren’t sure up until race morning if Felicia was going to feel well enough to race. And then to run as well as she did was such a surprise,” said Coach Banovich. Felicia ended with at time of 21:13 and a 23rd place finish.

Shannon Dimond had a consistent race coming in at 53rd place with 22:32. As for Jade LaDeaux, she finished with a time of 23:04 in 66th place, securing herself a new personal record.

“When I saw how well Jade ran, I guessed that we may have been in the top five. But I never expected to hear them call our name for a team trophy,” said Coach Banovich. “It was fantastic to see the excitement on the girl’s faces when they called our names as third place.”

Coach Banovich explained that he is very proud of how the girls performed.

“I’m proud that this group of girls continues the legacy of excellence that has come to define the program that was started by Tim Brooker,” said Coach Banovich. “This is the seventh team trophy for the cross country program. And in the last five years alone, there have been six different athletes bringing home 11 All-State Medals.”

The team definitely had something to be proud of.

After the times of the girls were added up, the Trotter Harriers gained 162 points, just enough to take home a huge third place victory.

The Horsemen also saw some success at the State Championship meet, although their successes were on a more individual level.

According to Coach Banovich Russell Kujala was considered one of the race favorites after his 6B/7B Conference win last week. In the end it came down to Kujala and three others – all of the boys fighting for a top spot. Kujala finished fourth in the pack with a time of 16:37, just behind the other three athletes.

“That’s a great complement to Russell’s 14th place All-State finish from last year,” said Coach Banovich. “(It) will certainly mark him as a favorite in the spring track events and next fall’s cross country team season.”

Coach Banovich went on to explain that Kujala helps continue the distance running tradition of Plains’ athletes before him such as Casey Jermyn, Anders Brooker, Dane Steward and Carter Montgomery.

“Russell made a huge jump in performance this year. He had not broken 17:00 coming into this season and he did that in five of his eight races this year,” said Coach Banovich.

Kujala placed first in both the Whitefish Invitational and the 6B/7B Conference and was among the top five in the state championship – something Coach Banovich said is a testament to his hard work ethic and quiet competitiveness.

“He put himself into the position to have the opportunity to win and that was exactly what he had trained for. He executed his race plan just like we wanted and he ran very well,” said Coach Banovich. “But sometimes the other runners are just a small amount better on that individual day.”

After fighting through a painful side cramp, Aaron Garrison was the number two runner for the Horsemen with a time of 19:26. Alan Ihms came in next for Thompson Falls with a time of 19:48, followed by Brenen Abromeit with 20:32 and Caleb Connolly with 23:29.

Overall, the boys team finished the meet 18th out of 25 scoring teams.