If, in your wanderings about Boulder, you are approached, and soon passed, by a fast moving pack of young vagabonds, fear not! The throngs of student athletes that can be seen on most weekdays running throughout town are none other than members of Jefferson High School’s cross country team — and unless you yourself aspire to win Montana’s Class B state championship this fall, they pose you no harm.
“It’s really evident to me that these kids are hungry,” said JHS Head Coach Karson Klass. “In all the talks I’ve had with them over the summer, they’ve made clear they expect wins this season.”
The boy’s team won its first state championship since 1992 last year, and it wasn’t particularly close: The Panthers’ top five runners all finished in the top 40, and their 79 team points easily bested second-place Columbus’ 137. The girls’ squad, meanwhile, took seventh, its best finish in nearly two decades.
The boys begin their 2024 season short three of their top five runners lost to graduation, including Luke Mest, who finished second individually at last year’s State meet. But, according to JHS senior Dominic Hurlbert, the Panthers are still competitive for the state title.
“We’re still fast, and we’ve got eight meets between here and state,” said Hurlbert. “It’s very possible for us to repeat from last year.” Hurlbert and teammate Matthew Zelenka are the only seniors on the varsity roster this year.
The girls, while fielding only a single remaining senior, Sidni French, are led by sophomore Peyton Stearns, who took 13th as an individual at State last year and was the only JHS girl to receive all-state honors.
“I think we’ll do so much better this year,” said Stearns. “There’s a real chance we can win, and I think we could get, like, four girls to all-state.” Stearns took 2nd overall at the season-opening JHS Invitational , and 16th at the team’s Sept. 6 competition in Belgrade. In Belgrade, the girls took sixth overall, and the boys 12th, though the boys were missing several top performers, including junior Mack Boyd, who took first overall in the JHS meet.
“Yes, we’ve lost some depth on the boys side, with four seniors gone,” said Klass. “But I know [the boys] have serious potential. And the girls might explode this year. We’ve been running really well so far, and we’ve got great talent on both teams. There’s a ton of work to be done, but, as a coach, I couldn’t be happier with how we’ve started this season.”
The JHS cross country team next competes in Bozeman on Sept. 14, at the Bridger Creek golf course, hosted by Bozeman High School.
