M-ettes take tenth place at State

54th Annual MHSA State Cross Country Championships

Saturday October 21, 2017

Bill Roberts Golf Course, Helena, Montana

Spectators that had gathered at Bill Roberts Golf Course were wearing all manner of protection for the cool temperatures and hefty winds that were present during the running of the fifty fourth annual cross country championships in Helena on Saturday October 21st.

The runners gathered at the marshalling area and waited the last anxious minutes to shed their warm sweats, and then shivering with goose bumps, walked to the starting line where one hundred fifty one runners representing thirty class B schools lined up to await the blast of the gun.

Bryn Morley of Big Fork, shot out like a rocket to defend her state title of the past two years, and led the race easily. She ran speedily over the course one minute and twenty two seconds ahead of teammate Anya Young. Morley finished with a time of 18:30, and Young 19:52. Third place honors went to Hannah Boyd of Manhattan who came in with a time of 20:20.

The top runners battled it out over the course, trading places many times. TaChante Cole ran a tremendous race, pushing herself up into the seventh place position for a period, but up and down the hills the runners went and coming back around to finish the last third of the race, sprinted into the finish line area with a tremendous kick and settled for twentieth place for her last race of her cross country career. TaChante has been such a hard worker this year. She's been a role model and an encourager to the younger runners. She will be sorely missed.

Leslie Young, Jillian O'Brien, and Danie Rhodes all shot off at the start of the gun, darting through the throngs of runners, running speedily and looking strong as they ran over the grassy hilly course. The windy conditions were another factor and each one had to dig deep to keep their positions. Freshman Young and Rhodes experiencing their first state meet, and feeling a bit overwhelmed, showed tremendous effort as they raced into the finish area with strong kicks and finished sixty eight and eighty second respectively. O'Brien, a sophomore who had state experience, and led the team last year, ran a strong race and really pushed hard into the finish area to a seventy fifth place finish.

Kaycee Bond had a goal of placing in the twenty six minute time frame, and did just that as she ran over the course, passing runners with determination and really kicked it in and finished with a one hundred ninth place finish. She's really gotten confident with her running the second half of the season, and has been working very hard at practices and it showed up at this final meet of the season.

Joanie Sjostrom, running as an alternate for Monicha Williamson who had been sick, ran a steady run and looking strong, kicked it in at the finish to place one hundred thirty fifth and ran her last race of her cross country career. We were really proud of her for stepping up and helping the team out. She's worked really hard this year to regain her stamina after missing last season due to health problems. She will be sorely missed as well.

Rounding out the group was Reese Sjostrom, whose positive spirit helped her to run diligently over the course with strength and a steady pace, with conditions that were not ideal, but pushing her way over the windy course, and through the throngs of runners, finished with a good kick at the end to a one hundred thirty eight place finish.

The state meet is an exciting meet. You never know what will happen and how it will play out. There are surprises, and sometimes disappointment, but in the end, it is all a great experience with many memories made. Our goal at the beginning of the season was to place higher as a team than we had placed last year where we had a seventeenth place finish and this year we had a top ten finish, placing tenth out of thirty schools representing Class B girls. We accomplished our goal and that is due to the efforts of all the girls combined and that is exciting! We are very proud of the efforts of all the girls and their good attitudes and good work ethics they have established this season. We are already looking forward to next year with excitement.

Results of the Malta Mette's performance in the Class B girls race of 151 participants:

1. TaChante'Cole 20th 22:04

2. Leslie Young 68th 24:37

3. Jillian O'Brien 75th 25:06

4. Danie Rhodes 82nd 25:40

5. Kaycee Bond 109th 26:55

6. Joanie Sjostrom 135th 29:14

7. Reese Sjostrom 138th 29:37

Team Score: Mette's placed 10th with 354 points out of 19 teams having full teams for scoring.

1. Manhattan 1st place 36 points

2. Big Fork 2nd 99

3. Colstrip 3rd 121