Heidi's game is to keep boys on the run

By This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Chronicle Sports Writer

The story is both legendary and lesson-worthy.

Heidi Turner thought it might be fun to join her older brother and his Bozeman Track Club teammates for a cross country workout.

Who knew she would end up finishing ahead of all the boys?

That was three years ago. And that's the legendary part.

Who knew she would become a state champion as a Bozeman High School freshman? Or Montana's first Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year?

There's the lesson part: You never know until you try.

It was the same for Heidi's maternal grandfather, Carroll Towle, who didn't take up cross country until he was a senior at Pittsfield (N.H.) High School, when his friends' message was: come on, give it a whirl.

Towle's running career - before a stint in the Korean War stopped it in its tracks - ended in a New Hampshire state title and third place at the New England championships.

That appears to be it as far as one-hit wonders are concerned.

Grandpa may have never returned to competitive running, but it appears Heidi is picking up where he left off.

Where does the story go from here? We'll let Heidi fill the pages. No need to compare her to Zoe Nelson (Montana's finest female high school distance runner) or attempt to determine which college she'll run for (Heidi's already receiving letters from Division I schools).

The expectations, the bar - already high enough. The “running” joke at Bozeman High is that Heidi is the Hawks' No. 5 runner. On the boys team.

And while her name could once again wind up in lights - as it did this week in front of the school along Main Street - there's no need to lump any more pressure on her. Any of that will come from Heidi herself. Not from her mother, not from her coach.

“I don't put any expectations on Heidi based on how hard she works,” Bozeman High cross country head coach Clint May said last week.

Heidi has already put enough worry into her head when it comes to the future. That's why the recruiting letters go into a box and are put aside.

“If I'm not running well as a junior, they won't want me,” Heidi once announced to her mother, Patty.

That's where the big picture was tossed into the corner as well.

“I'll just take it as it unfolds,” says Heidi. “It's too overwhelming to think about in the short term.”

Looking back is easier at this point.

Four years ago, while living in the small southwestern Colorado town of Ridgway (pop. 760, elevation 6,998 feet), Heidi was a soccer player. There was no cross country; the town's K-12 school didn't even offer football.

Back then, Heidi witnessed the determination of her father, C.J., when he competed on the Budweiser Mogul Tour against skiers more than a decade his junior.

But Heidi isn't all about competition. She keeps in touch with those she ran against at the Nike Team Nationals that followed her triumph at state. And while she runs 20 to 30 minutes each day - on Monday her schedule went: final exams, run, study for the next day's finals - she's toned down her running for the winter, instead choosing the cheerleading squad at BHS.

“It gives me the chance to hang around some people I would otherwise never get to spend time with,” Heidi said last week.

Running will be there in the spring, when the track becomes visible again. Running, if all goes to plan, will always be there. After high school, after college.

That is the most important lesson.