Meet The Coach: Choteau's Callee Peebles

Callee Peebles just wrapped up her first season as the head track and field coach at Choteau as the Class B state meet concluded this past weekend in Kalispell. She split duties this season with assistant coach Carden Moore, who helped out mostly in the field events while Peebles focused on the track and running events.

Q: Assess how last week went for your team.

A: You know, last week was just a great track meet. They worked hard and gave their all in every single event, and I think, honestly, the girls were almost surprised that they came away with a team trophy (third place). Because, really, we only had three individuals that were scoring points and then we had our two extras that were on our relays. So when you think about it, for three girls to really be placing as a team at state is pretty cool. It was exciting.

Q: And the girls were surprised that they won the 400 relay state title. Even though they were the defending state title winners, they were not expecting that. Injuries had a lot to do with that.

A: That event was huge. I think for the confidence for the team because during the season we battled — we had our freshman, Kaitlin Bowers, was our distance runner. She was our next fastest person and stepped in and did awesome. That can be nerve-wracking as a freshman and to be put on a state champion relay team (Bowers filled in for Savanah Stern, who was rehabbing from an ACL tear in her knee for most of the season, but Stern returned for divisionals and ran on the winning relay Saturday in Kalispell) and to perform, I mean we got the state qualifying time with (Kaitlin) on that relay. But I think it was huge for how Savanah Stern, how she fought back all season, to get back up there. It was pretty cool that they were able to pull off the win again with all that they went through to get there.

Q: What else impressed you in Kalispell? I assume Payton and Payge Durocher and Hannah King.

A: Payton, Payge and Hannah. You know, I have to give it to, on our long relay, Maria Murnane. They broke their school record, a record that was from 1994, in the long relay. And it was kind of fun because our time at divisionals was slow. It was our slowest all season, so we ended up being put in, if you want to call it, the slower heat. And they snuck in and got third. And Maria stood out in that to me because she improve her 400 time by about five seconds. She did great. And Kaitlin Bowers, too. As a freshman, she didn't end up placing but she shaved off almost 10 seconds off of her best time (in the mile). So we had a lot of (personal records). Everybody on the girls' team had a PR. Katie Kostelnik, in the javelin, threw her best mark. It was just a great meet overall.

Q: How did your first year go in Choteau?

A: It was great. I think anytime you move into a new community there's a learning curve kind of getting to know everybody and letting everybody know what my philosophy is. People were just very supportive and the kids, they worked hard. As a first season, I couldn't have asked for more. They really did all the work, and I was honored to just be a part of it.

Q: Where did you move from?

A: I moved from, well, Wilsall is the name of the town. Shields Valley is the school, so it was about 20 miles north of Livingston.

Q: And how long were you there for?

A: Well I actually grew up there and left for college. Then my husband and I moved back there. I coached volleyball there; I was the head volleyball coach there was six years. And then I was the head junior high coach for five years there. (She went to college at Montana State and studied sociology.)

Q: Did you play sports when you were younger?

A: Yeah. I was actually a ballet dancer for the first 15 years of my life. But I always did track, and then, you small schools, you just did all of the sports. So I did track, volleyball and basketball.

Q: What was your favorite?

A: My favorite was track.

Q: So you loved it back in the day and now you're a head coach. Why track and field?

A: I think what I love about track is that it's really just an athlete's sport. And I love how it combines the individual with the team. And that's one thing that I stressed as part of my program is to realize that it isn't just about you, that there is the team aspect. I think they really grew and grasped onto that this season and realizing that you do get team points and you can bring home trophies as a team and medals as an individual. It's kind of just all about, you know, you work hard and you train and you do it for the team, too. I think track is a little maybe misperceived in that aspect, where it's just an individual sport. But the team part of it is kind of cool, too. Especially with these girls, I think they grasped onto that. They loved the relays and it's pretty neat for them to bring home three trophies, so it was fun. That's what I like the most about track.