M-ettes retain plenty of talent, 16 strong

The Malta M-ettes have a total of sixteen athletes listed for the 2019 track season, which means the group could make a run in this year's postseason meets.

The team welcomes Jim Benn as their head coach this season. Benn had previous experience coaching the Ronan track team prior to joining Malta in 2017. Malta has also retained Coach Kalli (Reintjes) Rummel and Coach Fallon Handley. The team has added longtime Malta Public Schools teacher and coach Patrick Sargent.

"We just have a bunch of really hard-working girls that I think are going to do good things. They are a nice bunch of kids and they are just really working hard," Coach Benn said.

The M-ettes graduated TaChante Cole, Ella Schye, and Adessa Judd, who all competed in last year's State B Meet. The team will also be without junior Kelbee Denham, who was also a state performer last season.

"It's a really young team on both sides," Coach Benn said. "We have more seniors on the girls' team than we do on the boys' team. There are two seniors on the boys' team and four girl seniors."

This season, the M-ettes welcome back a handful of athletes that participated at state last season, including Erica Smith, Kyleigh Schipman, Jillian O'Brien, Carly Garfield, Wylee Young, and Leslie Young.

Schipman, Young, Shelby Jones, and Raina Mortenson, are all seniors with previous track experience.

"Having Kyleigh back healthy is really going to be a good thing on the girls' side," Coach Benn said. "She is a really good javelin thrower."

Schipman took second place in javelin at the Scottie Invitational last Saturday, March 30. She left a mark at 102-05. Schipman took eighth place at state in the event with a throw of 110-3. Her personal best of 116-6 was thrown at last season's Havre Invitational.

As a freshman last season, Smith was Malta's lone placer at state, taking third in triple jump with a personal best of 34-09.75. Smith also placed fifth in long jump with a personal best of 16-3 and sixth in high jump by clearing 4-10.

Smith also competed in the 100 at state and took eleventh. Her personal best in the 100 is 13.27, a time she posted while winning the event at the Havre Invitational.

"We have seen her do some really good things," Coach Benn said. Smith won long jump at the Scottie Invitational with a leap of 15-01 and took third in the 100 with a time of 13.98.

O'Brien, a junior, took ninth place at state in high jump after clearing 4-8, which is two inches shy of her personal best she set at the Nashua Invitational last year.

"Jillian O'Brien is a really good athlete and she looks really confident in herself and she is doing really good things," Coach Benn said.

O'Brien set a personal best of 18.93 in the 100 hurdles at state. She also competed at state in the long jump event. O'Brien just missed out on making state in the 300 hurdles and triple jump, placing seventh at the Northern B in both events.

Garfield, a junior, took fourth in discus at the 2018 Northern B Divisional meet with a throw of 97-09, which was a personal best. Garfield just missed out on qualifying for state in shot put, taking eighth in the event. Garfield will also throw javelin again for Malta.

Last season the M-ettes fielded a state qualifying short relay team consisting of Wylee Young, Adessa Judd, Denham, and Leslie Young.

Young took fifth place in the Scottie Invitational 200 with a time of 30.27 and fifth in high jump by clearing 4-6. She also took sixth place in the 400 with a time of 1:07.88

Freshman Justine Lamb fared well in her first track meet taking third place in the Scottie Invitational 300 hurdles event with a time of 53.03, and fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time 18.85.

Sophomore Leslie Young took sixth place in the 3200 with a time of 19.05. Sophomore Sidney Meeks took sixth place in discus with a throw of 81-05.

Sophomore Kayla Judd took sixth place in the 100 Hurdles with a 19.05. Last season Judd nearly won the District 2B 300 Hurdles event but was tripped up near the end of the race.

"Judd was another one on the cusp of really being solid last year," Coach Benn said. "She has been working very hard at it and she is a really powerful kid."

Malta is scheduled to host their home meet, the Malta Athletic Club Invitational on Tuesday, April 23. The meet was canceled last season due to the slow snowmelt, which pushed the meet off of the schedule.