Darby’s Heather Demorest races down the final stretch of the Class B girls state title race at the University of Montana golf course Saturday. Demorest won the individual title with a time of 18 minutes, 44.37 seconds. STACEY LISHOK - Ravalli Republic

For the Darby boys, their 15-point win over Manhattan for the Class B title may have come as a bit of a surprise, but was well earned by a tight, Tiger squad.

On top of the team title, Darby also had two individual state champions in Matt Stout and Heather Demorest.

Between Tigers, Broncs, and Blue Devils, Bitterroot Valley cross country runners left their mark in Missoula and around the state.

CLASS B

Stout and Demorest.

Both Tigers sat in the No. 1 chair following the finish of the Class B boys and girls races Saturday.

Calm and collected, Demorest sipped water and smiled.

“I did exactly what my coach told me to and it worked,” Demorest said. “I felt really good so I kind of took off that second mile and it worked out ... I didn’t really get much pressure from anybody else. Just pressure from myself. I really wanted to do well.”

Stout tried not to throw up after posting a personal best, and state-title time of 15:43.

“According to the Missoulian, I wasn’t even in the top ranking runners,” Stout said. “This means a lot. I’ve been practically doubting myself the whole way. I never imagined. This is only my second year of cross country. I just started taking it seriously, and I’m glad I did.”

Stout helped the Darby boys to a team score of 105, as the Tigers beat Manhattan (120) and Glasgow (127).

“Talk about the pieces falling together,” Darby head coach Steve Gideon said. “We did it.”

Tiger Seth Garbett finished closely behind his teammate, taking third in 16:00.70.

“Matt and Seth did exactly what they needed to do at exactly the right time,” Gideon said. “I’m stoked.”

Along with Stout and Garbett, the Tigers had two other runners finish in the top 25.

Seth Abrahamsen (16:30.64) took ninth and Doug Raymer finished 17th in 17:00.84.

Darby’s fifth runner finished 75th with his personal best time of 19:10.06.

On the girls side, Darby took seventh in the state.

“The girls did great,” Gideon said. “At the beginning of the year, we didn’t really have a team ... It’s just awesome that we were really able to work hard. Every single one of my top five girls PR’d today and they did everything I asked them to do. They’ve got to be happy about that.”

Demorest posted a time of 18:44.37.

“Heather Demorest just did everything right,” Gideon said. “Coming back from being sick, she was just so unsure of herself ... We knew we had to work strategy and tactic. It was awesome.”

Darby’s Keri Ledford (21:00.24 ) took 32nd followed by teammates Cheyenne Oliver (21:15.93) at 29th, Paisley Burtsfield (21:45) and Brittany Demorest (23:22).

Grinning from ear to ear, Gideon said he was proud of all of his runners.

“I couldn’t be more pumped up,” Gideon said. “Across the board, they just did fantastic.”

CLASS A

Nobody’s tougher.

The Hamilton Broncs boys cross country team lived up to their mantra with their Class A state title win.

“We were not going to be denied this time,” Hamilton head coach Mark Albert said. “It feels awesome.”

The Bronc boys brought home the school’s first ever cross country title with a score of 77 followed by Columbia Falls at 125 and Dillon at 149.

“I’m sure proud of them,” Albert said. “They’ve been there all year. Instead of teams that go up and down all year, every weekend, they competed. All seven of our kids ran fantastic. They only score five but all seven ran well. We’re real proud of them. It’s a neat moment.”

Hamilton had their top five runners finish in the top 25 of the field.

Jake Jessop led the Broncs with a third-place finish in 16 minutes and three seconds. Bronc Ian Curtiss came in seventh (16:30) while teammates Joe Clark finished 20th (16:59), Wyatt Lawrence 23rd (17:06) and Bubba Gueldenharr 24th (17:08).

“Ian started a little early on his kick and he ended up getting passed,” Albert said. “But he gave it all he had and you can’t complain about that. Just the team effort was fantastic.”

On the girls side, the Broncs may have slipped from their second-place finish last year, but they didn’t fall far.

Hamilton finished third behind Whitefish (43) and Lewistown (89).

“The girls ran really well,” Albert said. “We just got beat by an unbelieveable team and another one that was just a little bit better than we were. But our girls ran well. I was pleased.”

Ending her first year as a cross country runner, Hamilton’s Misha Trotter led the Broncs with a 12th place finish in a time of 19:44.

“Fantastic finish,” Albert said of Trotter. “She did a nice job, I was proud of her.”

Along with Trotter, Danica Loucks finished in the top 25 taking 16th in 19:56.38 followed by Franki Romano (19:58) at 17th.

Bronc Maureen Palmersheim (20:22) took 22nd and Tori Porcella (21:03) finished 34th.

“Maureen ran really well,” Albert said. “Danica is just a model of consistency and had her best race on a day we needed it.”

The Corvallis boys earned an eighth-place finish in state led by Blue Devil Chris Jessop’s 12th-place finish in 16:35.

On the girls side, Annie Jessop (21:10) led Corvallis taking 37th as the Blue Devil girls placed 15th in the state overall.

State A cross country

BOYS

Team scores: Hamilton 77, Columbia Falls 125, Dillon 149, Lewistown 151, Havre 158, Browning 164, Frenchtown 217, Corvallis 229, Ronan 245, Laurel 255, Polson 299, Whitefish 311, Hardin 311, Glendive 328, Belgrade 375, Billings Central 421, Libby 503, Anaconda 548.

Top 25 individuals

1, Coco, Wfsh, 15:26.88; 2, Bentley, Lew, 16:02.53; 3, Jake Jessop, Ham, 16:03.46; 4, Whitman CF, 16:18.94; 5, Murie, Hav, 16:25.43; 6, Alden, Har, 16:28.78; 7, Ian Curtiss, Ham, 16:30.38; 8, Fife, Geln, 16:31.04; 9, Jessat, CF, 16:31.57; 10, White, BC, 16:32.23;11, Weidler, Lau, 16:33.17; 12, Chris Jessop, Corv, 16:35.23; 13, J Ries, Dil, 16:38.48; 14, Korb, Hav, 16:39.03; 15, Dusty Bull, Ron, 16:40.89; 16, Armstrong, Ftn, 16:48.61; 17, Wreblewski, Ron, 16:50.06; 18, Keto, Hav, 16:54.46; 19, DesRosier, Bro, 16:54.72; 20, Joe Clark, Ham, 16:59.18;21, Vaughn, Bel, 16:59.57; 22, Kepler, Lew, 17:04.31; 23, Wyatt Lawrence, Ham, 17:06.13; 24, Bubba Gueldenhaar, Ham, 17:08.95; 24, Lochridge, Dil, 17:11.63.

Other Ravalli finishers

26, Stuart Allred, Corv, 17:14.37; 36, Mackenzie Walters, Ham, 17:33.40; 60, Spencer Fehr, Corv, 18:16.95; 64, Jake Woods, Corv, 18:18.94; 67, Ryan Zsupnik, Corv, 18:27. 78, Chase Stoker, Corv, 18:44.61; 103, Maholne Jessop, Corv, 19:38.22;

GIRLS

Team scores: Whitefish 43, Lewistown 89, Hamilton 101, Glendive 121, Laurel 171, Dillon 193, Havre 243, Columbia Falls 246, Polson 255, Frenchtown 293, Belgrade 298, Hardin 309, Ronan 335, Sidney 352, Corvallis 367, Miles City 420, Browning 425, Billings Central 430, Anaconda 557.

Top 22 individuals

1, Rogers, Lew, 18:45.32; 2, Cassidy, Wfsh, 18:53.79; 3, Starkey, Pol, 19:05.29; 4, Frame, Glen, 19:08.48; 5, Hanson, Wfsh, 19:13.96; 6, Carlson, Bfk, 19:24.69; 7, Englert, Lau, 19:26.21; 8, Holt, Wfsh, 19:27.01; 9, Taggart, Glen, 19:29.97; 10, Richter, BC, 19:35.03;11, Smith, Dil, 19:36.71; 12, Misha Trotter, Ham, 19:44.95; 13, Sagen, Wfsh, 19:47.51; 14, Schall, Ftn, 19:47.91; 15, Eaton, Wfsh, 19:48.13; 16, Danica Loucks, Ham, 19:56.38; 17, Franki Romano, Ham, 19:58.77; 18, Bullock, Lew, 20:08.33; 19, Burnham, Lew, 20:08.63; 20, McMillan, Ron, 20:18.94;21, Kearns, Wfsh, 20:19.24; 22, Maureen Palmersheim, Ham, 20:22.72;

Other Ravalli finishers

34, Tori Porcella, Ham, 21:03.65; 37, Annie Jessop, Corv, 21:10.23; 61, Megan Auch, Corv, 21:42.19; 66, Ashley Hayes, Ham, 21:51.15; 74, Courtney White, Corv, 22:06.50; 90, Heather Handy, Corv, 22:32.24; 104, Moriah Hughes, Ham, 23:03.35; 105, Rula Weidow, Corv, 23:05.58; 125, Desirae Lindquist, Corv, 24:58.07; 128, Lexi Sangsterm Corv, 25:14.98;

State B cross country

BOYS

Team scores: Darby 105, Manhattan 120, Glasgow 127, Manhattan Christian 173, Colstrip 200, Loyola Sacred Heart 216, Red Lodge 223, Three Forks 241, Cut Bank 259, Poplar 278, Big Timber 282, Huntley Project 300, Lodge Grass 306, Plains 315, Eureka 377, Thompson Falls 441, Wolf Point 454, Shelby 465, Valley Christian 498, Whitehall 55, Harlem 566.

Top 20 individuals

1, Matt Stout, Dar, 15:43.47; 2, Asay, Man, 15:55.42; 3, Seth Garbett, Dar, 16:00.70; 4, Warner, Jeff, 16:03.57; 5, Loewen, Gla, 16:12.33; 6, Blythe, Colstrip, 16:24.83; 7, Day, Eur, 16:31.08; 8, Knowlton, Pop, 16:37.74; 9, Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 16:39.64; 10, Atherly, RL, 16:40.25; 11, Buttelman, T.Forks, 16:43.42; 12, Evans, LSH, 16:44.20; 13, Azure, Pop, 16:44.95; 14, Red Thunder, Pop, 16:49.17; 15, Ovenell, ManC, 16:49.78; 16, Robinson, Colstrip, 16:55.79; 17, Doug Raymer, Dar, 17:00.84; 18, Keller, Shel, 17:05.77; 19, Zieger, Gla, 17:09.30; 20, Royce, Man, 17:18.22.

Other Ravalli finishers

75, Dallas Hartness, Dar, 19:19.06; 106, Dylan Lister, Dar, 20:11.23;

GIRLS

Team scores: Glasgow 46, Malta 138, Colstrip 153, Thompson Falls 168, Red Lodge 205, Big Timber 223, Darby 229, Whitehall 262, Manhattan 278, Cascade 306, Huntley Project 311, Valley Christian 316, Eureka 331, Loyola Sacred Heart 356, Deer Lodge 388, Columbus 413, Boulder 417, Lodge Grass 463, Three Forks 500, Shelby 504, Cut Bank 532, Poplar 616.

Top 10 individuals

1, Heather Demorest, Dar, 18:44.37; 2, Johnson, BT,18:55.36; 3, Palakovich, Whi, 18:59,84; 4, Morehouse, Gla, 19:09.01; 5, Johnson, Gla, 19:11.05; 6, Lynde, RL, 19:15.08; 7, Knudsen, Mal, 19:18.57; 8, Atherly, RL, 19:22.67; 9, Arnold, Mal, 19:25.75; 10, Sanders, Gla, 19:38.18;

Other Ravalli finishers

32, Keri Ledford, Dar, 21:00.24; 39, Cheyenne Oliver, Dar, 21:15.93; 57, Paisley Burtsfield, Dar, 21:45.91; 100, Brittany Demorest, Dar, 23:22.12; 142, Sierra Gandy, Dar, 26:32.04; 151, Nicholette Dunn, Dar, 27:48.84;

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Abrahamsen wrote on Oct 27, 2008 7:47 PM:

" 'Darbys Keri Ledford (21:00.24 ) took 32nd followed by teammates Cheyenne Oliver (21:15.93) at 29th.'

That is incorrect, Cheyenne Oliver took 39th, per the results. "

Abrahamsen wrote on Oct 27, 2008 7:40 PM:

" It was Sean Abrahamsen that took 9th, not Seth Abrahamsen. "

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