With regular season races completed, Broadus XC spent the week working on shorter distance sprints before their long trip to Kalispell, for State Cross Country.
The entire Broadus team – boys and girls, have qualified for the state meet, and Broadus Coach Ashley Emmons is excited about their prospects in the coming race, which will take place Saturday.
Going into State, the Broadus boys are currently ranked 2nd as a team trailing only Manhattan Christian, a team with a storied history in the sport. M/C has won the last three state titles in a row, in both the boys and girls.
Individually, Thomas Oylear is ranked second in the state behind Oren Arthun of M/C, who Oylear also battled with last year in track.
Caven Visser of M/C is ranked fourth, while Broadus’ second ranked runner, Eli Heacock, is rated #8 in the state, out of 136 runners qualified for the event.
“I keep telling the team that the only thing that matters is the race they’re running,” Emmons commented on the standings. “We haven’t faced those Western teams in head to head races, so all that matters is racing the individuals we need to compete against.”
With 15 individuals winning medals, Broadus will look to medal individually and on the team side of both girls and boys, as on the girls Alix Heacock is currently ranked 21st, Addison Draine 57th, and Gracey Bradley 66th, out of 109 qualifiers.
The weather forecast looks good for Kalispell, which would be a nice change over the last time state was held in the Flathead Valley, where wind, cold temperatures, and snow made for a treacherous course.
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