M-ettes host Athletic Club Meet

The Malta Athletic Club Cross Country Invitational featured changes to the annual meet's course, and strong showing from the M-ettes.

The M-ettes took third place as a team with 124 points. Glasgow won the event with 37 points and Havre took second with 49.

Sophomore Leslie Young posted a time of 22:13.88, taking ninth place in the varsity race.

"I feel I did pretty good," Young said. "I was just trying to be ahead of L'Tia (Lawrence of Harlem) and stay up there."

Young had a quick start, taking second out of the gate and before the lane closed up.

The race was won by Havre's Kadia Miller who posted a time of 20:05. Second place went to Allie Azure of Poplar who posted a time of 20:17. Glasgow's Iris McKean took third place with a time of 20:58.

Young took the challenge of running at Marian Hills very seriously, not being phased by the amount of competitors on the course that day.

"It made me go faster because I am competitive," Young said.

In crossing off one of her goals, she shaved a minute off of her time for the year. She had ran a time of 23:35 at the Wolf Point Invitational on Friday, August 31.

"I beat my goal, which was beating L'Tia," Young said. "It feels pretty good."

Junior Jillian O'Brien was the second to cross the line for the M-ettes, taking nineteenth place with a time of 24:19.

Freshman Nikki Nicholson took twenty-third with a time of 24:43.

"There was definitely a lot of competition here, they definitely pushed me," Nicholson said.

Nicholson shared her favorite part of the race.

"Oddly enough it's the hills," Nicholson said. "Since we have been running them enough that we know how to get up them compared to the other girls. We can definitely catch up to them on the hills because they haven't been on these hills."

Nicholson also shared her first experience running at Marian Hills.

"I got lost the first time," Nicholson said. "I went around the fence and I had to cut through grass. I knew it would be hard but not that hard."

Junior Kaycee Bond took thirty-forth with a time of 27:07. Bond had ran in the MAC Invitational only once before, missing her freshman year.

"It went a lot better," Bond said. "The ending is different. We moved the finish line and the course more to the inside, so it is greener and a lot less bumpy."

She went on to say that she did better this season because she knew what to expect.

Junior Mira Heitland took thirty-ninth with a time of 28:05. Being that Heitland is from Hanover, Germany, this was her first MAC Invitational experience.

"It was okay," Heitland said.

She felt that she had a good time despite the fact that the course she had previously run with only her team, now involved close to seventy runners.

"I enjoy it more with just our team, but it is also a good experience to run it with so many people," Heitland said.

She went on to say that running with a lot of people pushed her more.

"I ran faster because of them but now I am exhausted," Heitland said.

Danie Rhodes took forty-third with a time of 29:28 and senior Taylor Gilkerson took forty-fourth with a time of 29:32.

Gilkerson shared her thoughts on her final home meet.

"I was nervous but I was excited," Gilkerson said. "It was kind of sad because it was my last home meet but it was fun."

She then shared her favorite memory at the MAC meet.

"My favorite memory was my freshman meet," Gilkerson said. "I ran really well and it was my first meet. I remember I was about to puke at the end. Someone had to grab me and carry me out of the chute."

She couldn't recall who helped her get out of the way of the incoming runners.

"I just remember someone grabbed my shirt and pulled me off," Gilkerson said.

In the JV race, Taylor Eggebrecht took sixteenth with a time of 36:59 and Chloe Hunter took seventeenth with a time of 38:05.

Samuel Smith of Richey-Lambert won the boys varsity race with 16:32. Glasgow's Ike Braaten took second with a time of 16:52 and third went to Hudson Atkinson of Poplar who had a time of 17:21.

Havre won the boys meet with 49 points, Glasgow was second with 58, and Richey-Lambert was third with 70.

The M-ettes will be headed to Lewistown on Friday, September 14, to run in the Fergus Invitational.