The Polson Girls’ Cross Country Team finished their season on October 26th at the MHSA State Championship in Missoula. Overall, the girls’ team finished 10th out of 23 teams at state. 

Sophomore Morgan Delaney finished first out of 148 runners, winning state with a time of 18:35. Freshman Kimora Scott finished 13th out of 148 with a time of 19:52. Morgan improved by 39 seconds since the first meet and Koko improved by nearly a minute, with a 53 second gain.

Every runner on the team improved their personal records: Braylin Black by 5 minutes and 36 seconds, Karly Smith by 3 minutes and 33 seconds, Brittian Davis by 2 minutes and 41 seconds, and Reese Adams by 1 minute and 37 seconds. Delaney also finished first at Hamilton with a time of 18:49, and the Whitefish Invite with a time of 19:15. Delaney’s win at state fulfills her long-time goal of winning state and exceeds the initial goal she set for herself at the beginning of the season: breaking 19 minutes.

However, the season was not entirely filled with wins, as Delaney was sick during the home meet at Silver Fox. Delaney stated, “I ended up getting second at our home meet which is the first time I’ve lost it, which kind of sucked but the girl that won broke the course record and she ran crazy.” Delaney has been running since she was three years old and has been running cross country since fifth grade. Running is part of her life and her whole family runs. “I always, even as a baby, went to races, and so as soon as I got into fifth grade I got into cross country and I’ve been doing it ever since. 

When I was like three years old I was on a track team back in Colorado, and so I just kind of stayed with it.” 

The team has many traditions they carry out throughout the year before races, and Delaney enjoys many of them. Her favorites include getting together to play music, putting on face paint, and taking energy shots. At any event, spectators noticed the girls’ gold-glitter faces and elaborate hairstyles.

 At the home event, the girls wore their special running shorts, custom printed with porta potties on them to reflect one of their traditions of seeing how many runners from the boys’ team can fit inside one porta potty. These traditions keep the cross country family running strong.  

The summer running that this year’s Polson Boys’ Cross Country Team put in paid off when the boys placed 10th on October 26th at the MHSA State Meet in Missoula. David DiGiallonardo, Polson’s top runner, finished at 4th place with a time of 16:28, while Jackson Bontadelli finished at 28th place overall with a time of 17:36. 

Mid-season, Bontadelli dealt with a devastating injury from a soccer game that left him much slower than he was planning as he was hoping to break 16 minutes. Bontadelli’s fastest time ended up being 16:19, and he had a 23-second personal record from last year. Jesse Kimball, the lone senior on the team, suffered an injury to his ankle that kept him off the courses for the rest of the season, dropping the boys’ varsity team down to seven by the time they went to state.

DiGiallonardo also had some setbacks this season. At the Flathead invitational, he placed 13th with a time of 16:24 but had difficulty getting back to this time until later in the season. He explained, “After that first race it was hard getting back to that time until towards the end of the season.” DiGiallonardo has been running since the sixth grade with push from his father. He hasn’t always been this enthusiastic about running but eventually fell in love with it. “It was definitely my dad. I feel like he pressured me to do cross country in sixth grade and I kind of was nervous at first and then I enjoyed it.” For DiGiallonardo and other runners, cross country becomes more of a lifestyle than a single-season sport.

To stay in shape, many of these runners extend their running season year round, either by running recreationally or participating in club cross country. DiGiallonardo continues his training by running club cross country for the Mission Mountain Mercurys. Running in the off season helps him and others transition into their spring sport seasons in better condition.