M-ettes XC in Frazer

The Malta M-ettes Cross Country team ran in the 50th Annual Frazer Cross Country Meet on Thursday, September 26, in Frazer. The M-ettes took third place among the five teams present at the event.

Glasgow won the meet with 28 points. Scobey was second with 60 points. Malta was third with 77 points, Fairview was fourth with 93 points and Plentywood was fifth with 94.

Other teams that participated at the 50th Annual Frazer Cross Country Meet were Circle, Culbertson, Harlem, Richey-Lambert, Wolf Point, Trenton, N.D., and Frazer.

The overall winner of the high school girl’s held at Clark’s Hill, overlooking the beautiful Missouri River was L’Tia Lawrence of Harlem, who ran the muddy gumbo course with a time of 19:43. The second-place runner was Annie Kaul of Plentywood who ran in with a time of 20:31. Iris McKean of Glasgow was the third-place runner who came in at 20:47.

The cool early fall afternoon looked to be the perfect setting for a race. The rain showers had stayed away and the elementary and middle school runners prepared for their races without a thought. We could see the dark clouds to the south and west and kept our fingers crossed that they would hold off until after the races were completed. Shortly after the middle school boys race began, the sprinkles started falling and then a steady rain shower moved in and it was looking very wet. Normally, a shower wouldn’t bother too much during a meet, but when the setting of the 50th Annual Frazer Cross Country Meet is held out in a field above the Missouri River, with dirt roads that are normally a great running surface, today the showers would bother and make the surface of the gumbo dirt roads very sticky and very muddy. Even the grassy areas were hard to walk over. With the showers upon us, the race director decided to combine the high school girls and boys races together. 106 runners lined up at the start line. The rain quit and the gun went off and away the runners went, flinging mud clumps as they quickly dashed off.

This was one of the first times I had seen combined boys and girls races, but it would make for some great competition between the groups and also be very challenging with the different hills they would run up and down and all the while the gumbo would accumulate on the bottoms of the shoes. It was tough enough to be a spectator, walking around trying to get a good view of the race, normally the most viewer-friendly course we run on.

Leslie Young took on the challenge and kept near the lead group of female runners. It was hard to know how close you were with so many boys ahead. She ran strong and focused and keeping her form, managed an eleventh place finish with a time of 24:45. Jillian O’Brien ran near Leslie, never letting her get too far ahead and looking strong and determined she finished shortly behind with a twelfth place finish and a time of 25:24.

Danie Rhodes, Kirsta Meisdalen and Kaycee Bond ran over the course and finished within hundredths of each other, Danie in thirty-fifth place with 31:55:22, Kirsta in thirty-sixth place with 31:55:28, and Kaycee in thirty-seventh place with 31:56. They ran together, supporting and pushing each other to keep going even when the mud clumps made it very hard to run and occasionally, one would stop to shake off the clump and keep pressing on and all had a great kick at the end. Izzie Hallenberg rounded out the group with a thirty-ninth place finish and a time of 32:49. All commented that this was a tough race to run with the gumbo sticking to your shoes, making uneven running. Senior Kaycee Bond said of the race, that she just gave up after a while when her ankles started hurting.

“Coach Fallon and I were very pleased with how they performed at a meet where conditions were less than ideal,” Malta Head Coach Thea Solberg said. “They all made it and crossed the finish line and we placed third as a team against some tough competition. I feel like this is what true cross country is, taking on a challenge and succeeding, even when the odds are against you. These girls will be tougher and more prepared as we go on with the season. We only have a few more meets left, so it is great to be building endurance, shaving off time and getting confidence built up as we get closer to the state meet that ends our season in a few weeks.”

The M-ettes will head to fort Peck to make up the race that was canceled last Saturday, September 28. The rescheduled race is set to start on Saturday, October 5.