Reviving the dynasty

At Flathead High, running is more than an after-school activity.

Or at least it can be. That's how head cross country coach Paul Jorgensen has designed it.

"I think it just kind of boils down to who shows up and how hard they're willing to work," Jorgensen said. "It's a battle every year. You can't rest on your laurels."

Keeping that in mind, Jorgensen still managed to develop one of the most successful high school running programs in the Northwest over the last two decades.

In 37 years of coaching, the Hall of Fame running coach has led Flathead to 24 boys and girls combined state championships in cross country alone.

Since 2005, the dynasties have been dormant, especially since the high school split in 2007.

But on Saturday that could change.

At the 46th annual all-class state meet in Missoula, the Braves will attempt to breathe life into their storied tradition by winning their fourth title this decade and 12th overall.

"I've never really had this team feel that we have this year," senior Leif Castren said. "The last couple years it was really rough, especially last year. It was feeling like the dynasty was fading, but I feel like we really have a good team that will make some things happen at state, hopefully."

Last year, the boys team had its the lowest finish in over a decade, earning sixth, while the girls team took fifth.

But this season, almost 50 total kids - the most ever - came out for cross country ready to battle as Jorgensen puts it.

Now, the boys team is looking back to form and has seven slender runners who earned, in the words of their coach, "the honor of representing Flathead at state." They are: Castren, Alec Surynt, Hunter Schutt, Jesse Bennett, Zach Perrin, Brett Harrison and Andy Wilson.

From 1998 through 2003, the Braves won six consecutive state championships and were ranked nationally each year, earning as high as second at one point.

On the girls side, the success has been even more astounding - 15 total titles and an individual national champion in Zoe Nelson. With Nelson leading the way, the Bravettes won four straight state titles from 2001-2004.

Overall, 19 individual state champions have come from Flathead and over 30 runners have gone on to run competitively after high school.

"Coach J is unbelievable at somehow fostering that atmosphere where the team has that culture of wanting to be good and working hard," said David Vidal.

Vidal is one of the all-time great runners to come out of Kalispell, or Montana for that matter. Jorgensen pulled him aside as a freshman and talked him into giving running a shot. Vidal, who had his mind set on soccer at the time, showed up for one time trial to see if he liked it, and, well, the rest is history.

In cross country alone, Vidal won individual titles in back-to-back seasons from 1999-2000 and holds the third fastest time in state history for three miles, 14:42. After high school, he went on to run successfully at Stanford, where he now is a coach for one of the top teams in the country.

And even after all these years, Vidal said he's still learning from his original running mentor.

"Coach J is unbelievable at somehow fostering that atmosphere where that team has that culture of wanting to be good and working hard," Vidal said.

"I feel like I've taken on a whole lot of characteristics that he had with me. I consider myself lucky to have had one of the top high school coaches probably ever. I was really lucky to get a good start from Coach H. He sets you on the right track."

The last Flathead team to win a title was the 2005 Braves, who edged Bozeman by three points, 78-75.

Leading the way for the Braves was second-place Elliot Welder. The senior had grown up watching Vidal and the great Flathead cross country teams hoping to someday be in their shoes.

Thanks to the help of Jorgensen, he was able to do just that.

"I was definitely inspired by the performances that came before me," said Welder, whose running credentials helped him get accepted into Princeton University, where he currently competes. "It seems that coach (Jorgensen) has done a really amazing job over the years of just developing talent. You don't really see anything like that very often, where there's so many kids so consistently able to compete at the national high school level. I mean you can draw from names like Zoe Nelson, Seth Watkins, Vidal. Even talking to my teammates here at college, these are names that they've heard of. And lots of the college coaches recruiting were aware of Flathead cross country as an entity and were aware of what Coach J was doing."

In 2003, Jorgensen was named to the National High School Association Coaches Hall of Fame. Surprisingly, the most succesful cross country coach in Montana history never even ran competitively growing up. Instead, he's turned to old fashioned research to learn the sport inside and out.

"It takes an individual to set goals," said Jorgensen, whose wife, Jeannie, also coaches runners at the middle school. "You have to set goals and spend some time in the offseason to be successful. And some kids just get the bug, they kind of get caught up in it."

That's how it worked with Vidal, Welder and countless others who look back fondly on their time running at Flathead High.

"Everyone was just really motivated by the running," Welder said. "It was people who were not worrying about getting dates for the dances and stuff. It was really funny. It was a lifestyle."

All-Class State

Cross Country Meet

Saturday

The University of Montana Golf Course

Missoula

11 a.m. - Class A Boys

11:30 a.m. - Class B Boys

Noon - Class A Girls

12:35 p.m. - Class B Girls

1:10 p.m. - Class C Boys

1:40 p.m. - Class AA Boys

2:10 p.m. - Class C Girls

2:45 p.m. - Class AA Girls

Reporter Dillon Tabish can be reached at 758-4463, or by e-mail at dtabish@dailyinterlake.com.