Malta hosts Cross Country Meet at Marian Hills

The Marian Hills Golf Course was the place to be on Saturday, October 9, for many area high school cross country teams, as Malta played host for the Malta Invitational.

A total of 85 runners from 14 teams took to the course for one of their final tune-ups before the state meet on Saturday, October 23.

Many of the coaches commented that the Malta course is always a challenging one.

"I love the Malta course," said Whitewater Coach Carly Hammond. "It has all the components of a challenging and fun course."

"This is one of the more challenging courses the student-athletes will run on," said Malta Coach Thea Solberg. "It has every surface possible from flat grassy straight-aways, dirt roads, gravel hills, and an occasional mud puddle to maneuver around."

The boy's teams took to the course first. It was a race that was dominated by the team from Glasgow, with the first four places and six of the top eight to cross the finish line. The Scotties' Reed Larsen won the race with a time of 17:15. He was followed by teammates Kyler Holinde (17:58), and Dalton Sand (18:06).

Dodson's Chaske Cliff was the top Phillips County runner to cross the line. He finished in 24th place with a time of 22:43. He was followed by teammates Mason LoneBear in 28th place (23:50), and Jeremiah Henry in 33rd place (26:25).

The first-ever Mustang cross country runner, freshmen Malin Beck, finished in 27th place with a time of 23:34.

When asked how the race went for him, Beck said, "It went really good for me. I beat my previous PR by two minutes."

Asked what his goals were for the rest of the season, Beck said, "Just to continue to work hard. And to beat my sisters' times."

Malta Head Coach Thea Solberg said, "Malin has had a foot injury and has spent some time between biking and running, building his strength and endurance. This was a great accomplishment for him!"

The top three team scores for the boy's race were Glasgow in first with 16 points, followed by Havre (52), and Poplar (68).

In the girl's race, the top two spots were also taken by Glasgow runners. Iris McKean finished in first with a time of 19:30. Right on her heels was teammate Tanae Baker (19:37). Finishing in third place was Taya Trottier from Harlem with a time of 20:56.

The top Phillips County finisher was Malta M-ettes' Kira Beck in 16th place with a time of 24:27. Fellow M-ette's Kirsta Meisdalen finished right behind Beck in 17th place (24:31), and Isabelle Hallenberg finished in 47th place (36:11).

Solberg said, "Kira and Kirsta settled into a steady pace with some of the top runners and pushed each other over the course. Kira had her second-best time of the season and Kirsta set a personal best, recording the fastest time of her cross country career. It was great to see them run this well and with confidence."

Kirsta Meisdalen said of her new PR, "It felt really good to get it here. I think this is one of the tougher courses we run."

Solberg added, "Izzie ran a good strong race. The hilly course was tough with her shin splints, but she managed to pull out her second-fastest finish of the season."

Hallenberg said, "The shin splints have been rough. I did better than I have been. I've been getting 38 to 39-minute races and today I got 36. I just need to keep managing the shin splints as much as I can."

The Whitewater Penguins had two runners in the girl's race. Kendra Cummings finished in 20th place with a time of 25:05, and Ava Hanley finished in 33rd with a 27:02 time. Both of which are PR's.

"I was a little nervous after the first mile," said Head Coach Carly Hammond. "I thought Kendra was a little under pace. Turns out she ran a PR. I think the last mile she really stepped it up and came in strong. I would say that it was the girls' best kick of the season in the end. Their hills looked very strong and we took advantage of our abilities there. I was very proud at the end of the day."

Dodson had one runner in the girls' race. Imagin Fox finished in 43rd place with a time of 31:12.

The top three teams for the girl's race were Havre in first with 36 points. Followed by Poplar (42), and Glasgow (45).

The teams will be in Harlem this Friday, October 15, followed by the Cross Country State Meet in Missoula on Saturday, October 23.