BILLINGS – Billings Senior’s Tiahna Vladic knows what it’s like to win a state cross country title, and she wants to be back on top in her final race Saturday.
Vladic won the Class AA title as a sophomore in 2016 but lost to Bozeman’s Camila Noe in 2017 as a junior. With Noe graduated, Vladic has dominated the competition this fall and is the clear favorite heading into the meet at the University of Montana golf course in Missoula – a fitting place for her high school swan song.
“I definitely love the big hill,” Vladic said of the course’s signature section. “Everyone gets a little intimidated by it, but I like to use the hills to my advantage.”
The distance star admits it hasn’t always been the smoothest high school career, but she’s proud of battling back to the top.
“You just have to really be mentally strong,” she said. “You have to learn to love the sport you’re doing. It always gets hard sometimes – sometimes you dread it a little bit – but definitely just got to take it, love it, just love the process.”
The Class AA girls will run the second race of the day in Missoula, scheduled for 11:35 a.m. Saturday.
