Cole 3rd, Young 5th at Harlem XC Invite

The snowstorm of the previous week had forced many schools in the area to cancel games, matches and meets. And that was the case of the Dodson Cross Country Meet scheduled for Friday, October 6. The Malta M-ette Cross Country team and many other teams would not be able to make up the canceled meet, but instead, the M-ettes held "Pink Practice", dawning pink shorts, t-shirts and socks to run a hilly practice in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and those individuals and families that have been affected by this cancer. Many teams of all levels wear pink, whether it is to a practice or a game during the month of October.

On Friday, October 13, the M-ette cross country team found themselves on a warm bus headed west for the Harlem Invitational Cross Country Meet. The frosty white golf course and the cold temperatures of the early fall morning awaited us as we made our way to the start line for the walk through with the rest of the teams prior to the race. The clouds came and went and as luck would have it, the sun began to slowly emerge and melt the frost before the high school girls race would begin. Thirty-one girls stood on the start line, shivering from the cold and also in anticipation of the race that would soon be run after the Harlem High School band played the national anthem.

The overall winner of the high school girls 5K race was L'Tia Lawrence of Harlem who ran speedily over the wet Harlem Golf Course with a time of 19:37. Second place honors went to Carlee Longtree of Poplar who ran in with a time of 21:31. And TaChante' Cole of Malta ran into a third place finish, finishing with a strong kick and one of her fastest races of her cross country career, and with a time of 21:51.

The M-ettes ran well over the wet spongy course. Several posted some of their fastest times of the season including senior Joanie Sjostrom, Reese Sjostrom, Taylor Eggebrecht, and Kaycee Bond. Leslie Young, Jillian O'Brien, and Danie Rhodes all ran strong and pushed themselves into the top half of the runners, and Leslie placing in the top ten. We felt that the girls ran well considering the conditions of the course and were looking strong after missing a meet the previous week. All the runners that participated got some good experience running on a grassy golf course and that will be a boon, as they all head to the State Cross Country Championships that will be held at the Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena on Saturday, October 21.

The Malta M-ettes placed as follows:

1. TaChante'Cole, 3rd place 21:51. 2. Leslie Young, 5th 23:16. 3. Jillian O'Brien 11th 24:46. 4.Danie Rhodes 13th 26:10. 5. Kaycee Bond, 15th 26:45. 6. Reese Sjostrom, 19th 28:18. 7. Joanie Sjostrom 21st. 28:55. 8. Taylor Eggebrecht 29th , 30:45.