M-ette XC second at Shelby Invite

The Malta M-ettes Cross County Team took second as a team at the Shelby Cross Country Invitational on Monday, September 17, with a score of 87 points.

The Browning Cross Country Team won the event with a total of 62. Cut Bank was third with a total of 94. Fourteen schools participated with only four teams eligible for points.

Individually, the M-ettes placed as follows: Leslie Young took 6th place with a time of 23:31, Nikki Nicholson was fourteenth with a time of 25:13, Jillian O'Brien took sixteenth with a time of 25:22, Kaycee Bond took twenty-fourth with a time of 26:36, Mira Heitland thirty-third with a time of 28:17, Danie Rhodes thirty-eighth with a time of 29:50, Taylor Gilkerson was fourtieth with a time of 30:44, Reese Sjostrom was forty-third with a time of 31:36, Taylor Eggebrecht was fiftieth with a time of 36:23, and Chloe Hunter was fifty-third with a time of 41:07.

Coach Fallon Handley and I were pleased with the outcome of the race. We had a difficult start, getting boxed out because there were so many girls in such a small area, and it was really hard to blast out and get a good position. If you get too far back, you have to work very hard to push ahead. But despite the start, we placed second as a team and that was a good feeling. This meet definitely felt better than the Lewistown meet. We need to work on some weak areas, but fortunately we have a few weeks to hone in on these and get us ready for the state meet.

The M-ettes took seventh place as a team at the Havre Invitational Cross Country Meet on Saturday, September 22, with a total of 153 points. Havre won the varsity girls race, with a team score of 36 points out of seven teams that fielded full teams for scoring.

Individually, the M-ettes placed as follows: Leslie Young was nineteenth with a time of 24:32, Jillian O'Brien was thirty-second with a time of 25:41, Nikki Nicholson took thirty-fourth with a time of 25:45, Kaycee Bond was forty-fourth with a time of 27:37, Danie Rhodes was fifty-first with a time of 29:27, Mira Heitland was fifty-third with a time of 29:49, and Taylor Gilkerson was fifty-fourth with a time of 31:13.

Katie Gaines of Fergus was the overall winner of the junior varsity race and had a time of 25:43. Havre won the JV race and had a score of 15 points. They were the only team to field a full team for scoring.

Malta M-ettes JV placed as follows: Reese Sjostrom took seventeenth with a time of 31:28, Taylor Eggebrecht took twenty-third with a time of 37:08, and Chloe Hunter took twenty-fourth with a time of 42:29.

The junior varsity girls group, which included Eggebrecht, Hunter and Sjostrom, ran the first of the high school girl's races and despite some injuries and sickness, ran a steady pace over the course. Sjostrom was able to post her fastest time of the season. She's had some shin and ankle issues and so it was good that she pushed through the discomfort and had a good race.

We were happy with all the girls finishing the race. The Havre race has traditionally been a tough one, with the continuous grassy surface and hills. This was also the third meet in nine days, with not much recovery time. Sickness and minor injuries have plagued the team the past couple weeks. We didn't place at the top of the pack, but the girls showed grit and determination and gained some good experience. After a good rest over the weekend, we hope to get some energy back and be refocused and look forward to the flat paved trail at the Glasgow meet at Fort Peck on Saturday, September 29.