The Hellgate Knights Cross Country team, better known by its members as simply HKXC, has a long and enduring legacy of greatness. With glass cases full of trophies, a name known throughout the West, and an enduring culture of toughness, good humor, and excellency, the Knights just about have it all.
This season the prowess and unique strength of the program was put to the ultimate test, and with only a few weeks left of competition, the coaches and athletes are reflecting on the challenges that they have faced and overcome since the season’s opening.
In June, it was announced that head coach Anders Brooker, along with his two long-time assistant coaches Erin Forde and Ike Wallace, was being let go from his position on the coaching staff. This change came as a great shock to the athletes and community of HKXC, as all three of the coaches had been instrumental in the development and success of the program.
The athletes were faced with a daunting question: what was HKXC without its beloved coaches? The family that was fostered for almost two decades had been irrevocably changed, and the traditions and culture of the team forged through the love, legacy, and leadership of runners past was at risk of being lost forever.
But, in this pivotal moment, the true strength and character of the athletes and community of Hellgate Cross Country prevailed.
Throughout the summer, athletes worked tirelessly not only to continue their training but to ensure the future success of their team. With the inspiration of alumni leaders, the new rising juniors and seniors took up the mantle of leadership. Passed down throughout the team, this initiative is one thing among many that makes the program so special.
During these summer months, the new team leaders had to very quickly adapt and assume leadership roles, while also struggling with the emotional impacts of the loss of last year’s seniors.
Miles Miller, 16, a junior on the team, says that the toughest part of his season was “not having the seniors from last year.”
It is a testament to the connection and love among the athletes of Hellgate XC that even amid such tumultuous times the biggest adjustment was losing their graduated teammates.
Miller later said that the coaching changes were also hard, and that “having new coaches, and not having Anders on the team” were also tough realities of the 2025 season.
“It’s just a different team,” he said, “but it’s something you have to get used to.”
After the original firing of coaches Brooker, Forde, and Wallace, the search for new coaches began. During this process, Hellgate alumni filled in for the absence of coaches, volunteering their time to help support the program they were once a part of.
One such alum, Ian Curtis, continued his contribution not only past his time on the team and not just for the off-season summer training, but into the actual season, becoming a full time volunteer coach for Hellgate Cross Country.
Ironically, his rival from his days of running for Hellgate, Simon Hill, who ran for Glacier, also joined the new staff, and was hired as an assistant coach. Hill, 24, who has run since sixth grade, narrowly beat Curtis in the 2019 AA State Championships to claim the title of victor.
The other new hires included D Cummins, a retired Olympic 800 runner for Canada, and Bill Ballenger, who had previously coached Hellgate XC before the time of Brooker. Additionally, after much advocacy from the community, Erin Forde was rehired as assistant coach. Ike Wallace rejoined the team as a volunteer coach along with Curtis.
The new coaches of Hellgate cross country had very little time to get to know each other, the athletes, and the team culture before the season began in earnest.
Cummins, 51, who has coached professionally for thirty years, says one of the hard aspects of being a part of such a robust coaching staff has been, “finding cohesion of all the different philosophies that we have on how to coach.”
With six different coaches, all with different backgrounds and experiences, Cummins says finding common ground has been a challenge. But, taking a page out of the athlete’s books, the coaches have been able to work hard at communicating and coordinating their efforts to lead and support the team.
“Knowing that [the coaches] are all on the same page – that is really, really important. And it is a driving factor in team success,” Hill said, reflecting that the biggest thing he has learned throughout the season has been the value of communication.
With this collection of new coaches also comes a collection of new ideologies and philosophies about how a team ought to function. However, the coaches very quickly realized that the magic of Hellgate Cross country is not something to be changed, rather something to be fostered and grown.
Cummins said “it was important for me to learn that some of these traditions are important to the happiness and sustainability of this program,” and that it was key to help support such traditions, “instead of making changes.”
And although the coaching staff did its best to limit the amount of change on the team, alterations to the program were inevitable, from both a coaching perspective of new coworkers and compromise and an athlete’s perspective of new authority figures and different training plans.
“Change is difficult for everybody,” Cummins said. But, through this change, the spirit of Hellgate Cross Country endured.
Odin Berryman, 17, a senior on the team, says his favorite part of the season was “watching the team grow and develop and work together.”
And so, despite these challenges, leadership and community persisted.
Hill said that his favorite part of HKXC is, “watching leaders on the team be leaders, watching the athletes themselves take care of each other and cheer each other on in a race and pull each other to success.”
“I have seen it on other cross country teams, but the unique part of it in Hellgate is it is such an instilled value and virtue,” Hill said. “The passing of the torch is just so obvious. It’s so awesome to see kids step up and be leaders and contribute to their team in a way that’s more than just going out there and running.”
Cummins also said she noticed this unique strength on the team. “These athletes were able to step up and carry some of the really important traditions on the team, and speak up, and that takes a lot of maturity,” she said.
And so, as the Hellgate cross country team nears the end of this unprecedented season, the compassion and strength of the team and its leaders has been shown in the continuation of its traditions and values.
Leaders like Miles Miller have continued to work to preserve the family and culture of HKXC while adapting to the new coaches. The coaches themselves have learned from and worked to preserve the strength, resiliency and love that is a part of Hellgate Cross Country.
After making it to the other side of a decidedly dark and uncertain time, the future of HKXC is bright.
For Hill, when the season is over, the question of success is simple: “Are we lifting each other up and supporting each other when we win, when we have victories, when we have PRs, and also when we have the worst race of our entire life? Are we still a Hellgate knight family of constant love and support and discipline?” he said.
Such parameters for success are what make Hellgate so special, because without these, winning state is just another trophy in the trophy case. Without these, the graduated seniors are just names on a wall. Without these, there are no leaders willing to work harder than any leader before them to continue the legacy of the team. Without love and support and discipline, there would be no more Hellgate cross country. This season would have marked its end. But, the team survived. The team, with its leadership, courage, and love for the sport of running, made it.
