High school cross country: Bozeman's Turner named Gatorade Runner of the Year

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

She'll always be the first.

Bozeman High School freshman Heidi Turner had a remarkable fall season, capturing the Class AA individual state cross country championship by nearly a half minute in helping the Hawks to their first team title in 24 years. She also placed fourth at the Nike Team Northwest Regional and won the Capital City 7-on-7 meet.

Those feats, together with a 3.66 grade point average and her work in the community led to Turner being named Montana Gatorade girls cross country runner of the year on Thursday.

Gatorade has been handing out state awards for track and field, basketball, soccer, baseball and football for more than 20 years, but this is the first time a cross country honor has been given.

“I feel very honored that people think that I have so much potential,” Turner said after school on Friday. “It makes me feel that I'm an all-around good person.”

Turner now becomes a finalist, along with the winners from the 49 other states and the District of Columbia, for the national Gatorade award. Past Gatorade state winners from Bozeman include Kirsten Tilleman (soccer, basketball), Andrea Lalum (basketball), Shane Collins (football, track and field), Jordan Schmidt (volleyball) and Ty Norris (track and field).

Turner showed remarkable improvement as the cross country season grew older. In September, at the Mountain West Classic, she was the third Montanan (17 minutes, 57 seconds) behind winner Keely West of Great Falls C.M. Russell and runner-up Caitlin Stone of Missoula Sentinel.

A month later, Turner finished ahead of both West and Stone to win the Class AA state meet by 26 seconds.

Turner's time of 17:47 was the fastest of Montana's four classifications.

In addition to her running accomplishments, Turner mentors youth athletes, has raised funds for the Bozeman Track Club and assists at local track meets.

“It's recognition well deserved,” Bozeman High cross country coach Clint May said of the Gatorade award. “Everyone recognizes that she's quite a talent in running, but this award goes a little deeper than that. It really says something about Heidi as a complete person. It's an honor to have that come from one of the students here in Bozeman.”

Turner is currently on the sophomore cheerleading team and plans to participate in track and field as a distance runner in the spring.

Her next competition is the Simplot Games indoor mile next month in Pocatello, Idaho.

Montana's boys cross country runner of the year is Laurel's Patrick Casey, who won the Class A championship to cap an unbeaten in-state season and later placed 14th at the Foot Locker West Regional, missing a berth for the nationals by just nine seconds. Casey won the National Junior Olympic title last month in Lawrence, Kan.

Casey, like many Gatorade winners, is a senior, which makes Turner's award even more impressive. And there's no resting on her laurels, according to May.

“She's excited about what she's accomplished, but she's driven to find out how much better she can be,” he said. “She's happy and pleased where she's at, but ultimately not completely satisfied.”

“I see it as a challenge,” Turner said. “Now I can push harder to improve.”

Reader Comments