Malta Cross Country 2019

The numbers are down for the Malta M-ette Cross Country team as they graduated five seniors last season and welcomed two new runners to the team.

In all, Malta has seven runners, three less than last year's total of 10.

"Sometimes a smaller group is kind of nice and intimate," Malta M-ette Head Coach Thea Solberg said. "You can really focus on each runner to help them out if they have a goal of wanting to run faster, you can push them harder."

She went on to say that in larger groups sometimes runners in the middle of the pack are pushed less and thus their performance can be compromised.

"We like the numbers," Coach Solberg said. "The numbers are good, it's just that the number this year is a little lower."

She added that the team typically fields seven runners.

The team graduated Taylor Gilkerson, Taylor Eggebrecht, Chloe Hunter, and Reese Sjostrom. They will also be without Mira Heitland who returned home to Germany.

This year's Senior class consists of Jillian O'Brien and Kaycee Bond, both of which have performed at state throughout the time of their high school careers. The Junior class consists of Leslie Young and Danie Rhodes, and Nikki Nicholson is the lone sophomore.

The freshman class consists of newcomers Izzie Hallenberg and Kirsta Meisdalen.

At the beginning of the season, Coach Solberg mentioned that a few of the runners were ready to go after having run a couple of summer runs a week, while a few runners were brand new to the sport and needing more conditioning.

Last year's state runners included Gilkerson, Bond, Heitland, O'Brien, Rhodes, Young, and Nicholson.

Young won Coach Solberg's Most Valuable Runner, having led the team in a majority of their races.

"She pushed herself to the top of the group each time that she ran," Coach Solberg said. "She really pushed herself and she is a very intense runner. She placed in the top half of state contenders last year out of 140 runners."

Young was seventieth at the event, followed by Nicholson at eighty-seventh. O'Brien was the last M-ette in the top 100, taking ninety-second place.

Young set a goal for herself this year.

"She would like to place in the top 15 but we have to push her," Coach Solberg said.

Coach then talked about Bond, who was named the Most Improved Runner last season.

"She is a real smart runner and she runs very conservative," Coach Solberg said. "Then she pushes herself through the race."

O'Brien took home Coach Solberg's award for the Hardest Worker last season. During O'Brien's freshman season, she tied for Coach Solberg's Most Valuable Runner award with TaChante Cole in O'Brien's freshman season.

"They had equal numbers for top finishes for the team," Coach Solberg said. "She works really hard because she is an older runner, she wants to keep up with her (previous bests)."

Coach Solberg went on to say that the freshman class of Hallenberg and Meisdalen lacks experience but things are looking up for the duo.

"They are getting stronger and it is going to be fun because they are competitive between the two of them," Coach Solberg said. "They run a similar pace but as they get stronger, they are going to get more competitive."

The team has a couple of injuries early in the season, but they are hoping to get well as the season starts. The team will likely be without Nicholson and Rhodes for a few events.

"Nikki came in as a freshman last year and worked her way up to placing second for the team at state, so it is unfortunate that she has this injury that may have come on during track season last year," Coach Solberg said.

Rhodes was unable to attend the meet in Wolf Point, which was held on Friday, August 30.

Despite the setbacks, the morale of the team is high, and Coach Solberg is happy with her team.

"It is fun to have a very excited group of runners," Coach Solberg said. "They are a very coachable and encouraging group of girls."

Malta High School

2019 XC Schedule

DAY DATE EVENT TIME SITE

Fri. Aug. 16 First Day of Practice 9:00 AM Malta

Fri. Aug. 30 Wolf Point Invitational 1:00 PM Wolf Point

Sat. Sept. 7 Malta Invitational 10:00 AM Malta

Tues. Sept. 10 Fergus Invitational TBA Lewistown

Mon. Sept. 16 Shelby Invitational TBA Shelby

Sat. Sept. 21 Poplar Invitational TBA Poplar

Thurs. Sept. 26 Frazer Invitational 4:00 PM Frazer

Sat. Sept. 28 Glasgow Invitational 10:00 AM Fort Peck

Sat. Oct. 5 Havre Invitational TBA Havre

Fri. Oct. 11 Harlem Invitational 9:00 AM Harlem

Sat. Oct. 26 State B Cross Country Meet TBA Great Falls