Senior Spotlight: Columbia Falls cross country star changes pace with journalistic ambitions

A journalism career never crossed River Blazejewski’s mind until he was driving back from school and spotted the editor of Hungry Horse News walking home. 

At 16 years old, Blazejewski was at a loss for what he wanted to do after graduation — cross country had been his priority for the last three years. But seeing the editor of his local newspaper, Chris Peterson, unveiled a career path he'd never considered before. 

“The news is a job that kind of just gets overlooked,” Blazejewski said. “People put in thousands of hours of work to produce the quality of news that we see.” 

He joined Hungry Horse News in February 2025 through his school’s Work-Based Learning Program, where he photographed sports games and churned out feature stories. Outside of reporting, Blazejewski ran cross country, played drums in the high school band and earned top grades in his class. He graduates Saturday from Columbia Falls High School with the Class of 2026.  

The first time Nia Vestal, Blazejewski’s AP language arts instructor, met him was for summer homework, something most students drag their feet to, but Blazejewski strolled into the class and asked, “What do we get to read this summer?”  

It was a defining moment, she said. She noticed over the year he treated every experience as an opportunity, not an obligation. 

“The journalistic world needs writers like River,” Vestal said. “People who are genuinely curious, who ask good questions, and who see every assignment not as a task to complete, but as a story worth telling.” 

A year into learning journalism, Blazejewski is proud to see how far he’s come. 

“I remember the first interview I conducted was just horrific,” he said.  

When he played back the audio recording, he noticed he kept cutting off his source as he rushed into the next question.  

“I wanted to hear what he had to say,” Blazejewski said. “I was just so nervous.” 

Cross country has been a great teacher when it comes to nerves, Blazejewski said, even though running came naturally to him. He joined the varsity team as a freshman and last fall placed fifth with a time of 16:39.1 in the 5K for Class A at the state cross country meet while leading the Wildcats to third place.  

But the burden to meet expectations ate at him.   

In his junior year, Blazejewski was running in the Capital City 7 of 7 meet in Helena when he started to hyperventilate. He became disoriented and had to pull over. 

“I was like, ‘Coach, like, I can’t finish this race,’” Blazejewski recalled. “I don’t know what’s going on.” 

His coach told him they’d talk about it afterward, and Blazejewski reentered the race at a steadier pace. Later that day on the bus, his coach said, “You know, I’ve never expected anything out of you.” 

It struck Blazejewski that he put pressure on himself to live up to other people’s standards. While the anxiety never went away — he was pretty nauseous at the state cross country meet last year — he learned how to prioritize his mental health. 

“I would just tell myself, ‘I believe in you,’” Blazejewski said. “That just kind of got me through it.” 

THIS FALL, Blazejewski plans to study environmental journalism at the University of Montana. His dream is to photograph for National Geographic, he said.  

“I don’t mind court reporting. It’s a lot of fun,” Blazejewski said. “But if it comes with photos, it’s a heck of a lot better.” 

The first time a chunky Nikon D500 landed in his hands, the green reporter had no idea what to do with it. His editor taught him the basics of the exposure triangle, then left Blazejewski to figure out the rest.  

“At that time, I really didn’t like it,” he said. “I was just so unprepared.” 

But after weeks of practice and a course on digital photography at Flathead Valley Community College, photojournalism is now his favorite part of reporting. Blazejewski takes inspiration from his professor, Martia Combs, and Jodi Cobb, a trailblazing American photographer who recently spoke at the Wachholz Center in the “Changemaker Speaker Series.” 

“I expected to take all these notes,” Blazejewski said, when he attended Cobb’s presentation. “I only wrote down one quote, which was, ‘You’ve got to find something you love in every story.’” 

Peterson, his first editor and journalism mentor, described Blazjewski as “an exemplary intern” and a good friend. 

"It's not very often you get an intern you can actually rely on to get things done on time and done well,” Peterson said. “If journalism is to survive, it will take people like Blazejewski to lead the charge." 

Columbia Falls High School holds its graduation ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 6, at the school gymnasium.  

Report for America Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 406-758-4439 or hshields@dailyinterlake.com. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.