O'Brien takes third in M-ettes first meet of 16'

The M-ette Cross Country "Froshmores" found themselves on an early morning bus to participate in the first meet of the season near the Medicine Bear Complex facility in Poplar on Saturday, August 27. The young team consisting of just the freshman and sophomore runners, would run over every surface possible to experience their first ever meet in Poplar. Last year's meet was cancelled due to the thick layer of smoke that covered the state because of the wildfires burning throughout the Pacific Northwest and Montana. But this year, the skies were clear and temperatures were comfortable.

Thirty-three girls representing schools from Poplar, Harlem, Frazer, Circle, Culbertson, Plentywood, Richey, and Malta found their way to the start line, and with the blast of the gun, made their way over blacktop streets, rutty gravel roads, groomed prairie, rocky hills and cement.

Running in first place overall was Tia Lawrence of Harlem who ran the challenging course in 19:00 flat. Second place went to Poplar runner Riley McDonald who ran in with a time of 21:03. Freshman Jillian O'Brien of Malta pushed hard over the course and had an impressive third place finish with a time of 22:54.

Looking much stronger than last year, sophomore Taylor Gilkerson was the second runner in for the M-ettes and ran in with a time of 26:17. Freshman Aidan Wiese, our third finisher, ran in with a great time of 26:47 for her first ever meet. Taylor Eggebrecht, lengthening her stride, ran in fourth for the team with a time of 28:02, her fastest time in the two seasons as a cross country runner. Freshman Kaycee Bond ran to a fifth place finish and ran in with a great first cross country run of 28:38. Reese Sjostrom, rounding out the group and running on a sore ankle, ran the challenging course in 29:54.

This Poplar meet was a great confidence builder for the Froshmore girls. The first meet is always a hard one, not knowing what to expect and whether or not you've had enough conditioning with only two weeks of training under your belt. But these girls proved that they were ready to go. Both assistant coach Fallon Handley and I were very pleased at the outcome. These girls work hard and are competitive in practice and it was fun to see them run so strong and gain some valuable experience and will only make them that much tougher as the season progresses. We are very excited for our next meet which will be this Thursday, September 1 at Wolf Point and they will be joined by the upper classmen on the team who were unable to participate in Poplar because of conflicts, early season illness and the ten practice rule.

M-ette finishers:

1. Jillian O'Brien 3rd place 22:54

2. Taylor Gilkerson 18th 26:17

3. Aidan Wiese 21st 26:47

4. Taylor Eggebrecht 25th 28:02

5. Kaycee Bond 26th 28:38

6. Reese Sjostrom 27th 29:54

Team Scores:

1. Poplar 38 points

2. Malta 93 points