X-C to make mark

The Bigfork cross-country team almost didn't have a season at all following the cancellation of its funding by the district, and now the runners intend to make this a season to remember.

"First of all I'm just really grateful that we're able to have a season due to the support of Bigfork," Loeffler said. "Then this is the biggest combined team that we've had between the two schools and it is really exciting to see."

The Numbers

Even split

There are three boys returning to the cross-country team and three newcomers. Seniors Evan Jordt and Spencer Jenko will be looked to for leadership while sophomore Lane Thole will be building on his experience from last year. New to the team will be sophomore Collin Kavangh and freshman Jesse Mueller. Also adding to the team is a transfer student form Oregon, Jacob Parmenter, who is a senior.

The only girl out for this year's high school team is sophomore Chelsea Olson.

While the rosters don't look too impressive to some, what is most exciting for Loeffler is the level of interest she is seeing in the younger grades. There are three boys and four girls who have committed to run for the Bigfork Middle School team thus far, and Loeffler expects more to join after the start of school.

Big losses

The cross-country program lost standout Kayla Carlson to graduation in June. She is now a distance runner at the University of Mary in North Dakota. Also missing from this year's lineup is fellow graduates Bridger Mahlum and Chris Driver.

Work in progress

Divided for now

Loeffler intends to split up her team for at least the first part of the season and have Jordt, Jenko and Olson run varsity while the others run junior varsity until they are ready to move up. That means that the Bigfork boys will not count as a team until five of the runners are competing in varsity. Since there is just one girl on the team, there will be not Valkyrie team scores this year.

"By state time hopefully we'll have five boys that will run as a team," Loeffler said. "We'll just see how that works out. I may have them run as a full team for a few of the low key meets, but because of their experience, I plan to split them up for the most part."

Solid strengths

Senior status

Loeffler is counting on strong showings from her seniors this year and said that both are having a better start to their season then they ever have.

"Evan is looking really good. He came out in a little bit better shape and it's already paying off," Loeffler said. "Spencer is pushing himself already a lot more this year and that is really going to help him."

Coach Talk

Steady at the helm

Loeffler and her assistant coach Jessica Johnson will continue on as leaders of the cross-country program in Bigfork. Both have shown undying passion for the program as they worked to raise money to fund the program over the summer, and even offered to forfeit their coaching salaries if there wasn't enough money collected to afford the expense.

Small goals at a time

While Loeffler would love to see some of her athletes place well at state, she has some goals on the road to state she would like to see all of them achieve.

"I want to see them improve time-wise on each course from their time last year," Loeffler said.

Looking for leaders

As Loeffler and Johnson sculpt the new crop of young runners who are showing interest in cross country, they are hoping that their more experienced athletes will light the way.

"I am looking for Evan, Spencer and Chelsea to really push themselves and improve in their leadership roles," Loeffler said. "I hope that they will put in the time and work hard and improve the way I know that they can this season while showing the younger runners what they need to be doing."

The Offseason

There were no formal practices or workouts for the cross-country team over the summer, but Loeffler said she could tell that many of her athletes had been training in some form or another.

"We left them on their own to run over the summer. The ones we had from previous seasons definitely put in some time doing some activity over the summer," Loeffler said. "Some of the younger kids and the newer recruits didn't because they didn't know to. You could see that it was paying off, though, for the ones that did."

The Road Ahead

The race is on

The cross-country team has its first meet tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Libby. There are no home meets for the team this season.

Coach's view

"The kids are working really hard and we are really excited for the season ahead," Loeffler said.