Jackson Hole boys and girls both cross country state champs
JACKSON, Wyo. (BVM) — Jeff Brazil has been fortunate enough to coach multiple high school state champion cross country teams over the years, but it’s a little more special when the boys and girls teams can celebrate their success together the way the Jackson Hole Broncs were able to last month when they both claimed WHSAA Class 4A state championships.
“It’s always funny when you’ve got a team that wins and the other doesn’t,” Brazil said. “You want to get excited for the one, but then you feel bad for the other. It’s a total wave then when both sides win.”
The Broncs also accomplished the feat in 2018, but that was in 3A. This year, they did it in 4A as the smallest school in the class. And on the girls side, it wasn’t even close. Jackson finished 29 points ahead of second-place Natrona to cap a dominant season in which they didn’t suffer a single loss. It’s the fifth state title in seven years for the girls team, but Brazil said it’s probably the closest group of girls he’s had both in terms of their relationship with each other and their ability levels.
“We had girls going back and forth beating each other every week and with some teams that gets to be a bit of a scab that’s getting pulled off every week,” Brazil said. “But for this team it was more of a motivator. … They were so tight that they would celebrate each other’s victories which positively motivated everybody. It was kind of cool that they were all very similar ability levels… It was just a fun experience.”
Kate Brigham had the Broncs’ fastest finish, placing third in 18 minutes, 51.62 seconds. Parker Smith finished sixth (19:07.4), while Sarah Tallerico took 10th (19:19.21), Muriel Jones was 12th (19:25.07) and Jacie Chatham finished 14th (19:29.19).
While it wasn’t much of a surprise that Jackson’s girls team finished off an unbeaten season with a state title, Brazil wasn’t necessarily expecting a championship run from the boys, who narrowly held off second-place Cheyenne Central by three points and third-place Sheridan by five.
“I feel like we were the dark horse,” Brazil said. “ We thought we lost. I had other coaches coming up to me and saying, ‘I think you’ve got it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, there’s no way.’ I stopped counting points. … It was exciting because the guys didn’t know until they announced the second-place team so they were psyched when the award came through.”
The boys were led by individual state champion Ben Williams, who took first place in 15:15.16. Mason Wheeler was third (16:07.72), Brandon Brazil was 17th (16:54.61), Alex Klomparens was 21st (16:59.64) and Roman Goralski finished 39th (17:25.51).
The girls’ dominance of their competition proved to be a motivator for the boys team not only at the state meet, but all season long. And because both teams spent so much time together during what was a unique season, they formed a bond that was made even more special by their matching state titles.
“We really became closer,” Brazil said, “so it’s cool that the team got so excited for each other and they could feed off each other for that celebration.”
