M-ette XC in Havre

The Malta M-ettes Cross Country team has been busy, running at the Poplar and Havre meets.

The team ran in Poplar on Saturday, September 5, and then in Havre on Thursday, September 11. As a team, Malta placed sixth in Poplar and seventh in Havre with scores or 175 and 178 respectively.

The next action for the M-ettes runners will be Saturday, September 19 at Fort Peck for the Scottie Invitational. The team's seniors will be honored during the Mustang Football game on Friday, September 18.

At the Havre meet, Malta was led by Leslie Young who had a time of 24:47. Young took 25th place among the varsity runners. Kirsta Meisdalen took 35th with a time of 26.14. Deion Lefdahl was 57th with a time of 31:14. Malta had two JV runners; Madyson Warburton who was 12th and had a time of 32:36 and Izzie Hallenberg who took 16th with a time of 34:48.

The overall winner of the girl's varsity division 5k, 3.1 mile race at the beautiful Prairie Farms Golf Course north of Havre was Breanna Otter Robe of Hardin, who cruised over the beautiful green course in 19:12. In second place was Lindsay Paulson of Belt/Centerville who ran with a time of 19:28. Third place honors went to Iris McKean of Glasgow who ran in with a time of 19:56.

"Other teams participating were Box Elder, Browning, Cascade, Cut Bank, Fairfield, Harlem, Hays-Lodgepole, Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap, Shelby, and Whitewater.

Coach Solberg said that running at the Prairie Hills Golf Course was a first for everyone. In prior seasons, the event was held at the Campus of Montana State University Northern, but this year teams experienced new landscape, which featured a "beautiful green oasis" between farmland the the Milk River.

Coach Solberg also said that the race was run in four waves. Young and Meisdalen ran in wave one. Lefdahl, Nicholson, and Weston ran in wave two. Warburton and Hallenberg ran in wave four as JV runners. Each wave was run two minutes apart.

"The waves were done to help with social distancing and because no more than twenty-eight runners are allowed at the start line at one time," Coach Solberg said. "This seemed to work and the M-ette runners performed very well, most all dropping time with the competition."

Coach Solberg said that the M-ettes benefited from running against Glasgow and several Class A schools present at the meet.

"It's great competition and helps to push you even faster as you get caught up in the adrenaline rush at the beginning of the race," Coach Solberg said.

According to Coach Solberg, Kirsta Meisdalen ran her fastest time of her cross country career and has shown much strength and leadership this season.

"Coach Fallon Handley and I were satisfied with their performance on this fairly flat course, but mostly, we are just so thankful that we can compete this season, even if a few things are different," Coach Solberg said.