M-ette X-Country wins Harlem meet, state championship in Helena up next

The Harlem Cross Country meet was held on a cloudy windy Wednesday. "This meet made me think of the song that Mr. Ed the talking horse sang many years ago, 'A horse is a horse, of course, of course.' And I thought to add this line to the song, 'This course is a curse of course of course." said Coach Solberg smiling.

She then went on to explain, "The course is a grassy surface that is easy on the legs, but because of the excessive amount of rain that the state received in late August, it was still wet and very spongy. It was like trying to run on a memory foam mattress. Your feet felt like they were sinking in and it was hard to bounce along like you would normally run. Add to that the air which was quite thick from the humidity and a strong west wind, this meet proved to be a challenging one for all the runners from the various towns who ran the course and struggled with finish times much slower than other meet times."

The eventual overall winner of the Varsity girl's 3 mile race of 29 runners was Kim Parsell of Shelby who ran the course in 21:42. Kensey Keil of Plentywood ran to a second place finish with a time of 22:08. Malta's Sophia Stiles ran to a third place finish with a time of 22:16. Incidentally, these three girls placed in the top three last year at the Harlem meet.

Marley Manoukian and Joanie Sjostrom ran strong, pushing each other over the spongy course, changing the lead between the two and were able to place in the top ten and each receiving a medal.

Eva Harms and TaChante' Cole ran side by side throughout most of the race, pushing each other and finished strong, with TaChante' posting her fastest time of the season.

"She's really peaking at the right time. She struggled through the middle of the season with sickness and is now feeling great and has been working really hard to get back on track."

Jenise Amestoy, Monicha Williamson, Jada Nicholson ran together most of the race, pushing each other along, struggling through the wind and the spongy course to finish strong in the end. "The last half a mile you come around a corner and hit the west wind and have to push your way through to the finish. It's hard to breath with all the air coming right at you. But each one had a good kick at the end and that was good to see."

Sarah Ware ran steady and posted her second best time of the season.

The Malta M-ette Cross Country team placed as follows:

1. Sophia Stiles, 3rd place, 22:16. 2. Marley Manoukian, 6th, 25:18. 3. Joanie Sjostrom, 9th, 25:27. 4. Eva Harms, 11th, 25:49. 5. TaChante' Cole, 12th, 25:50. 6. Jenise Amestoy, 17th, 27:14. 7. Monicha Williaimson, 19th, 27:29. 8. Jada Nicholson, 20th, 27:34. 9. Sarah Ware, 25th, 32:51.

The small Harlem meet had teams represented from Shelby, Plentywood, Rocky Boy, Harlem, Poplar, Dodson/Whitewater and Malta. Teams fielding 5 members or more for scoring placed as follows:

1. Malta, 41 points. 2. Poplar 64 points.

With this challenging meet under their belts, the M-ette Cross Country team looks forward to their final action of the season as they travel to Helena next week for the State Cross Country Championships to be held at the Bill Roberts Golf Course on Saturday October 25, 2014, with the Class B Girls race to be held at 1:10 p.m.