Veronica Peterson brought much glory to Cut Bank’s camp
Editor’s Note: Veronica Peterson was a superstar track and field athlete for the Cut Bank Wolves in the late 1980s. She led the Wolves to consecutive Class B state championships as a junior and senior, and finished her amazing high school career with nearly 20 gold medals. Veronica, who later competed for University of Montana track teams, recently married former Grizzly basketball star Matt Kempfert. Scott Mansch caught up with her this weekend for our Sunday Conversation.
Question: Veronica, I recall when you were a freshman in 1986 and the late, great Cut Bank track coach Mike Reynolds told me he thought you “were going to lead the Wolves to the promised land.” I guess he was right, wasn’t he?
Answer: (laughs) Mr. Reynolds was awesome. Loved him and sure do miss him.
Q: Well, you certainly did lead the Wolves to the top.
A: Well, thank you. I wish I could have gone farther, but you know how college and life gets in the way.
Q: When you say you wish you’d gone on, do you mean the Olympic level?
A: Yes, for sure. I think I could have went farther. You look back and think ‘If I would have tried just a little harder …’ But for me, it was mostly about having fun. I always enjoyed running as fast as I could. It wasn’t like it was a chore. And I really enjoyed all the people I got to run with and get to know over the years. It was all super, super fun.
Q: How many individual state titles did you win?
A: I guess 19 overall (including relays) and 12 individual ones.
Q: I know you were inducted into the Montana Indian Hall of Fame last winter. Congratulations on that.
A: Thank you. When I got there (to the HOF ceremony in Billings), Mr. (Don) Wetzel says ’19 medals, wow.’ (laughs) And I didn’t even realize that. You know, when you get done you don’t really look back. But I guess I could run a little (laughs).
Q: You certainly could. Do you recall your very first one?
A: I think it was in Butte, yes. The very first one was a 400. Because I never ever lost those.
Q: You talk about having fun, Veronica, but it seems to me the most difficult races are the 400 and the 300 hurdles. And you always won those, didn’t you?
A: You know, the 400 is but it was always kind of easy for me. I think it was because I did cross country and track. That 400 was enough of an endurance race for me, but I still had the speed. I don’t know why I was really good at the 400, but the 300 hurdles was my favorite. It wasn’t even hard to me. Just really fun.
Q: You’re kidding, right?
A: No (laughs). I remember when I was a junior I think and Del (Meuchel) and Mike Reynolds were there (Cut Bank’s coaches) and I said I’d kind of like to try the hurdles. Del says ‘You do?’ (laughs) And I said ‘Yes, might as well, it’s awesome.’ So he set them up and I took off without starting blocks or anything and I three-stepped them all the way down (laughs). He freaked out. He says ‘Oh my gosh’ and I said ‘Was that bad?’ And he was like, No Pete, that’s not bad (laughs).
Q: And you went to win state championships in the hurdles both your junior and senior years, right?
A: Yes.
Q: How about your best moments running with the Grizzlies?
A: I ran mostly short distances and relays there. I ran under Dick Koontz. He was a really good coach, but a lot of moved on after our second or third years there because the program wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be. But it was great. I loved everybody I ran with. I went to China with a lot of them on an International Sports Exchange Team.
Q: Are you still close with a lot of your old high school friends?
A: Oh yes. I keep in touch with everybody via Facebook. And now a lot of our kids are competing, so that’s fun.
Q: Tell me about your family.
A: One of my kids (Keaton Anderson) ended up being really good in the pole vault. The boys (Keaton and Randon Anderson) were wrestlers and my daughter (Jaime Anderson) was a really good runner, but she broke her ankle and couldn’t compete anymore. That was unfortunate, but she really loved it for a long time.
Q: Are you back in Cut Bank now?
A: Yes. We’ve started a campground at St. Mary. So I’m moving up there next week, living the life on the lake. Right at the edge of Glacier National Park. I’ve been in Denver working for an oil and gas brokerage company. But now I just work from home for a few large companies out of Denver, and it allows me to take care of the campground.
Q: That’s fantastic. Are your folks still in Cut Bank?
A: They’re both in the St. Mary area, yes.
Q: Is that where you grew up?
A: Yes. I grew up on the Blackfoot Reservation and of course went to high school in Cut Bank.
Q: That Hall of Fame induction last winter must have been fun for you.
A: It was awesome. Talk about an experience. I just didn’t realize the history of athleticism that there’s been with Native Americans in Montana. Just amazing. I just never knew. So I was really excited about that.
Q: Well, I’m glad you’re back home, Veronica.
A: It was a highlight to come back to Cut Bank so my kids could finish school here. I actually got to coach with Mike Reynolds and Del for four years, and I got to coach Deni FitzPatrick, who beat all of my records. So it was really fun, coming back 20 years later to coach someone like that. It was really fun.
Q: It sounds like you’ve still got a strong love for your hometown.
A: Yes. I love Cut Bank and the whole Hi-Line thing.
Q: You know, Veronica, another of my good friends from Cut Bank was Kent Shaffer. But he’s gone now too, dang it.
A: Oh yes, Kent. Miss him, too. He and Reynolds were crazy together. They were kind of attached at the hip, you know (laughs). Kent ran the middle-school track program here for gosh, 30 years.
Q: When did you first realize you had some speed?
A: I think when I first got to middle school in Cut Bank. I remember Reynolds and Shaffer just shaking their heads. (laughs) So I asked them, ‘Do you think I can run?’ and Shaffer said ‘Yep, you can run, Pete.’ (laughs)
Q: What was the best moment of your great high school career?
A: (pauses) The best one, I guess, because it meant so much to Reynolds and Del, was when we won state (her senior year) and it was basically Stacy Caldwell and I. We had a relay team, but it was basically just the two of us. There was a lot of buildup to that, and I had gone through a bunch of personal stuff prior to that. It was just the peak of my career actually.
Q: Are you still helping coach at all?
A: I’m not right now, but I want to. I’ve been in Denver for the last two years and I just got back here. I want to jump on with either Browning or Cut Bank’s track team.
Q: Are you still in shape? Can you still run?
A: I still run the track (laughs) I usually set up the hurdles. But I don’t go over them. I know better than that.
Q: Did you ever lose a 400 race in high school?
A: I lost the very last one, to a little tiny gal from I think Forsyth. That’s the only one. I think it was because I’d run seven events (two relays and five individuals) and she beat me. But I tell you, it was just as much fun seeing her win it than winning it myself, because she was so excited. We’d run together for quite a few years and I was just like, ‘Good for her.’
Q: Well, I bet you never lost a 300 hurdles race in high school, right?
A: Nope, I never did. That one was too much fun. I couldn’t let that one go (laughs)
Q: I’m sure you’re proud of your fine running career.
A: For sure. I look back now and I feel super honored and blessed to be able to run in the program I did at Cut Bank. And with the Grizzlies, too.
Q: Thank you, Veronica.
A: Absolutely. Thank you for calling me. I really appreciate it.
Scott Mansch’s Sunday Conversations appear in this space frequently. Mansch can be contacted at 791-1481 or smansch@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_SMansch