Identity Crisis:
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Those are the words Ronan head cross country coach Gale Decker used to describe his boy runners this week as they ran at the Hamilton meet without top runner Justin Dusty Bull, who will miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his foot.
Dusty Bull began the season injured as well, coming into the year with a broken arm.
According to Decker, Dusty Bull began feeling soreness in his foot after a race in Kalispell earlier this season, a pain that continued to worsen after last week’s race in Pablo.
“I think he just wanted to get back from that arm injury so bad that he ended up doing too much too fast,” Decker said. “We had the foot X-rayed after Pablo and then got the bad news.”
With Dusty Bull sitting it out, the Chiefs had a rough day at the Daly Mansion in Hamilton Saturday, finishing in last place with 150 points.
“I think the boys were just kind of hung over from the loss of Justin,” Decker said. “We are very capable of running faster times than we have been.”
Cody Johnson was the Chiefs’ top runner at the meet, turning in a time of 17:58 to come in 18th overall. Brady Oakland was 25th with a time of 18:17.
Kevin Wroblewski was 31st with a time of 18:25, Jordan Franklin turned in a time of 18:47 to finish 35th and Danny Romero finished out the Ronan team of five with a 38th-place finish and a time of 18:57.
Edmond Dupuis turned in a time of 19:16 to come in 44th, Eric Malmquist was 48th with a time of 19:48 and Robbie Hocker was 49th with a time of 19:57.
“This is probably the deepest boys team we have ever had here,” Decker said. “They have just been sitting on a plateau waiting for their times to drop, and they just haven’t been dropping like they should.”
It is much the same story on the girls’ side of things as the Maidens continue to struggle to find the right combination of runners.
The Maidens finished sixth out of six teams at Hamilton Saturday.
“There are still a lot of new faces running for the girls,” Decker said. "We are still trying to sort out who should be in our top five runners.”
Ashley Grandchamp continued her consistent running this week, finishing 15th to lead Ronan with a time of 21:55.
Jade Gray shaved 1:29 off her performance in Pablo a week ago to finish 18th at Hamilton with a time of 22:32. Kiona Howell had a great day for the Maidens, setting a new personal best of 23:39 to finish 32nd.
“That is a pretty significant improvement for Kiona,” Decker said.
“She has had some very good practices and it has really boosted her confidence. We really feel like she should improve every week.”
Rachel Hardy was 40th Saturday with a time of 25:31 and Raymi Clairmont was 43rd with a time of 27:13.
“We feel like if we can keep Ashley and Jade finishing in the 20s and have the rest drop their times some, we should be in good shape,” Decker said.
The Chiefs and Maidens will be in action this weekend as they run at Whitefish.
