Rocky Mountain runners enter season with new coaching team

The Rocky Mountain High School cross country teams will combine experienced runners with a new coaching partnership as they begin the 2026 season.

Gerry Burton takes over as head coach after serving two seasons as an assistant under former coach Tim Jones. He will be joined by new assistant coach Mindy Mickelson, who brings more than 20 years of experience as a volunteer assistant under longtime Rocky Mountain coaches John Bernhisel and Jones.

The Rocky Mountain boys return all three runners who represented the school at the 2025 state meet, giving Burton an experienced group around which to build.

Sophomore Rowan Hanusa leads the returning runners. Hanusa placed 30th at State as a freshman, completing the course in 20 minutes, 29 seconds. He recorded a personal-best time of approximately 19:35 during the season.

Junior Zach Unruh also returns after reaching one of the sport’s biggest goals last fall. Unruh broke the 20-minute barrier with a personal-best time of 19:53. He finished 40th at the state meet in 21:50.

Junior Ethan Haslem is the third returning state qualifier. He placed 53rd at State last season with a time of 23:38. Haslem’s PR is 22:08.

Burton identified Hanusa and Unruh as the team’s early leaders, with Haslem working his way into that group.

“Rowan Hanusa and Zach Unruh are our lead runners right now, and Ethan Haslem is coming right up in there,” Burton said.

Other members of the boys team are freshmen Derek Hedges and James Demers, along with Liam Anderson. Hedges, Demers and Anderson all competed for Rocky Mountain Middle School as eighth graders last season and have shown improvement during the opening weeks of practice. Also coming out for the first time is freshman Tristan Kerchner, who has been practicing well early. 

The girls team will have a much smaller lineup following the graduation of longtime runners Evynn Alvarez and Ellie Alvarez. The sisters placed 42nd and 50th, respectively, at the 2025 state meet.

Senior Avery Thomas is currently Rocky Mountain’s only girl runner. Thomas placed 38th at State last year with a time of 26:21.

“Avery is our only girl, but she’s looking pretty strong this year,” Burton said.

Rocky Mountain will open its season at a meet in Billings Friday. Burton said the event provides a good starting point because it attracts a variety of schools and offers a junior varsity division for younger and less experienced runners.

“It’s a good first meet,” he said. “You see a lot of different schools. They have a JV division, so your young runners don’t have to be up in varsity right away. They can get some success and feel good about it.”

The familiar course at the Billings soccer fields consists of several loops and includes some hills, but Burton considers it a good course for an opening race. Heat could add to the challenge, with temperatures expected to approach 90 degrees.

Despite the anticipated heat, Burton is pleased with how the runners have performed in practice. The team has generally trained in the afternoons, although it moved at least one practice to the morning to avoid the hottest part of the day.

“Practice has been going really well,” Burton said. “The kids are looking strong.”

Burton said the runners have responded well to the coaching transition and have handled a demanding early-season workout schedule. The team also enters its first competition without any reported injuries.

With three returning state qualifiers leading the boys and Thomas carrying the banner for the girls, Rocky Mountain will look to build upon last year’s experience as a new coaching team guides the program forward.