M-ettes at Glasgow, Shelby

The Malta M-ettes placed third as a team at the Scottie Invitational Cross Country Meet at Fort Peck on Saturday, September 30.

Seventy-three runners stood at the starting line on a grassy cactus strewn field looking straight ahead toward the power houses of the Fort Peck Dam waiting for the final command that would propel them forward with the hopes of running swiftly over the 5k course. The course takes place on the paved Downstream Campground Nature Trail at Kiwanis Park, a completely flat trail that winds around the ponds and trees dressed in their golden hues.

Miles City won the meet with 41 points, Sidney took second with 97 points and Malta was third with 117.

The gun went off and away the runners sprinted toward the paved trail where TaChante Cole found herself quickly running with the front of the pack and stayed with the top ten group and had a sprint at the end of the race that pushed her to a sixth place medal finish and posted her second fastest time ever, one second off of her best time.

Leslie Young and Jillian O'Brien ran close together throughout the race, pushing through the throngs of runners, with Leslie eventually kicking it up a notch to finish very strong and receive a seventeen place ribbon posting a faster time than the previous Shelby meet. Jillian ran in with a burst of speed and posted one of her fastest times this season.

Danie Rhodes, having come off a midseason sickness that has plagued many students, ran with the top half of the runners, and sprinted into the finish area with her second fastest time this season and proved that she had recovered and ready for the challenges of the final weeks of the season.

Kaycee Bond ran with determination and pushed herself along the course and had a kick at the end that pushed her to post her fastest time this season. Sisters Reese and Joanie Sjostrom also ran personal bests and looked stronger and more confident on this flat course. Taylor Eggebrecht ran in the JV portion of the race and she too ran a personal best for the season, looking much better after suffering a hip injury early in the season.

"This was such a great meet," Malta Coach Thea Solberg said. "The weather was perfect and the competition was so exciting. The course is flat and the runners were fast. I was extremely happy with the outcome because all eight M-ettes that participated in the meet ran nearly their fastest times and several posted their fastest times this season. We are in the middle of our season and have been working really hard at practices to get in the miles, the hills, and the fast interval workouts and our strength and confidence showed with each runner improving their time from previous meets. We are peaking at the right time and it's exciting and we look forward to attending the Dodson meet on Friday, October 6."

The Malta M-ettes placed as follows:

1. TaChante Cole 6th medal winner 21:43

2. Leslie Young 17th 23.19.20

3. Jillian O'Brien 22nd 23.50.08

4. Danie Rhodes 33rd 25:25

5. Kaycee Bond 39th 26:38

6. Reese Sjostrom 41st 27:37

7. Joanie Sjostrom 42nd 28:24

The meet fielded the following teams for scoring:

1. Miles City 41 points

2. Sidney 97

3. Malta 117

4. Poplar 221

The teams running were from: Miles City, Sidney, Malta, Poplar, Richey/Lambert, Frazer, Froid/Lake, Circle, Fairview, Hays – Lodge Pole, Dodson, Plentywood, Brockton, Culbertson, Harlem, Wolf Point, and Glasgow.

The JV girls division had overall winner Ashley Kirn of Culbertson, who ran in with a time of 24:17. Taylor Eggebrecht of Malta placed twenty-first and had a time of 30:09. There were 26 runners in the JV race.

Miles City was the only team to field a full team for scoring for the JV division and had a score of 34 points.

The M-ette cross country team was at the Shelby Invitational meet on Monday, September 25.

1. TaChante' Cole 3rd place overall 22:11

2. Leslie Young 6th 23:35

3. Jillian O'Brien 9th 23:49

4. Monicha Williamson 13th 26:15

5. Kaycee Bond 18th 27:48

6. Danie Rhodes 20th 28:40

7. Reese Sjostrom 22nd 29:31

8. Taylor Eggebrecht 26th 31:27

Team Scores for teams fielding full teams for scoring:

1. Malta 49 points

2. Cut Bank 50 points

3. Great Falls Central 129 points