Malta XC competes in Havre Meet

The Malta Cross Country runners competed at the Havre Cross Country Meet on Saturday, September 10.

The overall winner of the girl's varsity 3 mile race at the Prairie Farms Golf Course in Havre was Tanae Baker of Glasgow who ran the race in 19:30. Her teammate Emily See was the second place runner and ran in with a time of 19:38. Shelbi LaBrie of Whitewater was the 3rd place runner and she ran in with a time of 19:41.

Kirsta Meisdalen led the M-ettes with a time of 24:52 and a 19th place finish. Megan Morser was 41st with a time of 29.58. Izzie Hallenberg was 49th with a time of 31.23. Olivia Negus was 53rd with a time of 38:59.

Havre won the girls meet with a total of 32 points, Glasgow was second with 33 points, and Chinook was seventh with 72 points.

Havre also won the boys meet with a total of 39 points, Glasgow was second with 40 points, and Belt/Centerville was third with 64 points.

The overall winner of the boy's varsity 3 mile race was Reed Larson of Glasgow who cruised in with a time of 16:50. Second place went to Caleb Tomae of Havre with a time of 16:52 and third place went to Clayton Jassen of Belt/Centerville with a time of 17:39.

Malta's Kash Stiles was 36th with a time of 23:16 and Kael Young was 41st with a time of 24.20.

"Be careful what you wish for" was the thought that was going through our minds as we were driving to the Havre Invitational Cross Country Meet at the Prairie Farms Golf Course.

Just a few days before we were wishing it was cooler as we ran down the Trafton Trail with triple digit temperatures. This morning it would be fifty degrees cooler as they ran over the emerald green golf course that is surrounded by dry prairie and harvested fields. This proved to be a boon to our runners who worked hard and pushed the whole race, helping them to drop time from the previous sweltering hot meet in Poplar.

The M-ette runners exploded at the start, getting out right away. Kirsta got a good pace going and looked strong as she ran over the course.

Kirsta commented that she had a good finish.

"In the shady area of the golf course it was very cold but on the sunny side it was extremely hot," Meisdalen said "Out on the prairie area it was a fight on the narrow dirt trail, runners were getting cut off. But I had a good finish, passing two or three girls in the last couple meters."

She cut off over two minutes from the previous meet. Izzie said "This was pretty freaking awesome!" She commented that she felt fast and strong and that it felt so good not to be running with pain. She too cut off time by over three minutes and posted one of her fastest times in a couple years.

Megan said it was a fun race and she didn't stop any.

"It was a lot cooler and I had more energy. I accomplished a goal of getting back to last years times," Morser said.

She used her great kick at the end to sprint into the finish area and managed to cut off nearly four minutes from the previous meet.

"The course was really fun! I felt a lot stronger and pushed through the race," said Olivia. "I didn't qualify for state this race, but I am pushing my way up there!"

Coach Solberg said that Negus looked much stronger for this meet and has been working hard to get through these ankle problems she's had.

Coach Lisa Young commented that the girls worked the entire race.

"The first mile times were right where they needed to be; now we need to start shaving seconds off of mile paces," Coach Young said.

Coach Solberg said that the boy's race was very competitive with an explosive start.

"The Malta boys settled into a good pace and kept their positions until the end when they both had great kicks, passing runners to the finish line," Coach Solberg said.

Kash Stiles commented "I had a nice start and it was pretty shady and felt cold but it was better than the Poplar meet. The finish was nice and straight."

Kael Young said that he liked the course, and that he was pretty satisfied with his results, cutting almost a minute from the last meet.

"I'm getting stronger," he said.

Coach Lisa commented that the boys pushed the whole time especially when she yelled at them to finish strong at the last three fourths of a mile to the finish line area.

Both Kash and Kael passed three to four other boys in the last two hundred meters.

"We both felt that all the runners ran well with the cooler temps and that they were awesome finishers!" Coach Solberg said.

"Their hard work has been paying off with the improved times. We look forward to the next meet in Fort Peck on Saturday, September 17."