Bigfork's Olson wins divisional meet
It’s not likely that Bigfork’s Chelsea Olson will soon forget the 2011 Western B Divisional Cross Country Championships, which were held Saturday at Silver Fox Golf Course in Pablo.
That is because Olson earned herself the divisional title at the meet. She finished the course in 20 minutes, 1 second.
“I knew she had a shot at winning it, but she had to run the race she ran,” said head Bigfork cross-country coach Sue Loeffler. “But she really dug down and she didn’t allow herself to get into a pace. That’s what made the difference.”
Olson’s time was a personal best for the junior. In fact, all of Bigfork’s runners had personal bests in the meet.
“All the high school runners had a great day. They all PB’d,” Loeffler said. “I was real excited about the results because we worked everyone real hard this last week and they performed so well.”
The newcomers on the Valkyries team — freshman Hailey Nissen and junior Tori Quirk — were no exception.
“They knocked about two minutes off of their time,” Loeffler said. “They’re doing great. Tori has been fighting shin splints all season, and I’ve been really proud of her for getting through it like a trooper. That’s not easy to do.”
Nissen placed 15th with a time of 22:47, and right behind her was Quirk in 16th place with a time of 22:50.
“Hailey and Tori are so close to each other that they have created a bond, and they just keep pushing each other. That’s really fun to see,” Loeffler said.
Missing among the Bigfork girls was freshman standout Makena Morley, who has won every race the team has competed in this season. Morley was dealing with a leg injury and opted to sit the race out since the divisional race is not a qualifier for this week’s state meet, which the phenom is slated to medal at.
“She has some goals that she’s trying to accomplish herself as far as what she wants to do,” Loeffler said of Morley competing at state. “She’s going to just work on staying relaxed and having fun, and whatever happens, happens. But, she does have some pretty big goals she’s working on. It’s always good to have something to aim for.”
The Bigfork boys did well at the divisional meet as well. Freshman Chance Kittle had the best showing. He placed 24th with a time of 19:22.
“Chance is starting to come on,” Loeffler said. “I still think he has more, but each week he’s getting a little bit better. But this sport is new to him.”
Not far behind Kittle was Bigfork junior Lane Thole, who was clocked at 19:46 and earned 29th place.
“Lane gets comfortable and doesn’t want to get out of his comfort zone,” Loeffler said. “He doesn’t quite know how to push himself. He finally saw this weekend that he got to a place where he thought, ‘I’m not tired. I can push myself some more.’ So, he is figuring it out. He’s getting there.”
Fellow junior Tyler Kirby finished the course in 24:15.
Loeffler will be taking all seven Bigfork cross-country runners to the state meet in Missoula on Saturday at the University of Montana Golf Course.
In preparation for the big meet, Loeffler is taking it easy on her athletes this week.
“We’re really tapering down,” she said. “We’re not practicing real hard just so they’re ready leg-wise. We worked them real hard last week, and they responded really well to that. So now when we back down I am looking for them to do real well.”