by By Dan Ninham
Cross country runners in the fall often continue to shine in the spring during track season.
Ethan Blount, 16, is a junior at Wolf Point HS, MT and competes for the Wolves seasonal teams in MT. “My Indian name is Bird Boy. My tribe is Fort Peck Sioux.”
“Athletics runs in my family and my family is a big sports family,” said Ethan. “I run cross country and track and play basketball. I made it to state the last two years in cross country.”
“My dad and my cross country coach positively influence me,” said Ethan. “My dad always tells me if you want to be successful in life you got to work hard for it.”
“Ethan is a dedicated person, both on the track and in the classroom,” said dad Troy Blount. “He works hard and competes but he also has a desire to make his community better. During the pandemic, he helped collect and give away care packages for our elders that were quarantining in all four of our reservation communities.”
“He takes his education very seriously and has already taken some dual credit classes with our local tribal college,” said Troy. “He’s also an honor roll student.”
“My coach pushes me every day in practice and gives me good running tips,” said Ethan. “I stay focused during training and go hard no matter what.”
“Ethan’s most notable attributes are his work ethic, mental toughness, and coachability,” said John Wetsit, head boys’ cross country and track coach at Wolf Point HS (MT). “I would say a lot of these stem from his father, Troy Blount, being a varsity basketball coach and former collegiate athlete.”
“It’s because these impressive attributes I’ve come to consider Ethan our captain due to his ability to follow and apply instruction in both practice and competitions, regardless the level of rigor,” added John.
“I trained during the pandemic and used training as a way to better myself and didn’t let the pandemic slow me down,” said Ethan. “I work out every day at practice and I do shorter core and ab workouts at home after I’m done with practice in the evening.”
“I like to run because it gives me a chance to push myself both mentally and physically,” said Ethan. “It helps me clear my head and focus on being stronger with each step.”
“I have a large family with a lot of younger siblings and cousins that look up to me,” said Ethan. “I want to be a good example to them and show them they can do anything they put their mind to if they are willing to work hard for it.”
“I believe I was blessed with the talent to run,” said Ethan. “I want to make the most of it and just see where it takes me.”
Photo Credit: Prairie Blount
