Malta runs in Shelby Meet, Malta Meet this Saturday

The Malta Cross Country team competed in the Shelby Invitational last Friday, September 30.

The team is also set to host the Malta Athletic Club Invitational on Saturday, October 8, at Marian Hills Golf Course. Races start at 10 a.m.

The day will also serve as the team's senior recognition day for senior runners Izzie Hallenberg, Kirsta Meisdalen, and Olivia Negus, who will be honored at 9 a.m.

For the M-ettes, Meisdalen led the team by taking 11th place with a time of 25:30. Morser was 25th with a time of 28:43. Hallenberg was 29th with a time of 31.54. Kinlie Cummings was 31st with a time of 33:43. Cummings has now qualified for state.

For the boys, Kael Young took 25th with a time of 23:07 and Kash Stiles took 31st with a time of 23:50.

"It wasn't supposed to rain," I said as we were getting to the Marias Valley Golf Course, where the Shelby Invitational Cross Country Meet was to be held.

But here we were, looking through our vehicles for all manner of wet weather gear preparing for a couple of hours of walking, waiting and running.

This year Shelby High School changed the meet sight to the golf course. For the past ten years the races have taken place at the baseball fields and RV Park just north of town, and then run up a hill that takes you to Lake Shel-oole and then back down again. The setting of the meet this year was a lush green golf course that bordered the Marias River with many cotton wood trees that were beginning to put on their fall fashion show.

Dawning rain ponchos, coats and an umbrella, we walked the soggy and sometimes muddy course to figure it out. The running course would be a two loop one, which is always viewer friendly. The rain quit and the skies started to clear as we prepared to race after the walk through.

We were optimistic on what we thought the runners could do on this flat course. We had prepped them on what their mile time splits should be and how to strive for them. Mile two is always hard as you have to settle into a steady pace and plan your strategy so that you push yourself but yet save something for the final mile and the necessary kick you need to finish your race.

The high school boys ran after the middle school runners and started out with a fast pace that was set by the large number of Cut Bank runners that were competing. James Greene of Cut Bank was the eventual winner with a time of 17:45. He had at least six more teammates who placed in the top ten. Kael and Kash started out and ran with the middle of the pack group. Kael got ahead and looked like a smooth running machine, using his long stride and his strength to pass a few runners and cruise in with a time of 23:07 which was a PR for him. We were very excited because as the weeks have gone by, he has continually gotten stronger and has cut time at most all the meets he's participated in. Kash ran strong but looked like he wasn't quite himself. He said it was probably the worst meet he had run even though his time wasn't all that bad. He had been sick earlier in the week with the bug that infected most of the high school and wasn't quite over it yet.

The high school girls race came after the boys race and the M-ette runners took off at the sound of the gun and had a good start and soon began to spread out. Kirsta got a good start and had a great position being in the top ten for most of the race. The top three runners seemed to be in a league of their own, and then the next group ran fairly close together. Somewhere along the way the battle ensued and Kirsta finished strong and steady with an eleventh place finish and was one of her stronger finishes of the season. She has such a natural form and looks so comfortable running.

Megan ran steady with a good kick at the end as she usually does and although she did not get the fastest start, managed to get her second best run of the season. We were very happy with her results because she had missed some practices this week due to the fact that she too was trying to get over the cold that seemed to plague most of the runners.

Izzie was super pumped up about the race because she had a big fan club of family members present. She ran a good strong race and managed to run in with a Sunburst runner who she ran with most of the race, helping to push each other along. She too had been fighting the sickness and somehow managed one of her faster times of the season.

Kinlie was ecstatic after she ran through the finish line and discovered that not only did she cut off two minutes from her previous run of a few weeks ago, but she had run well enough to qualify for state. After missing some weeks of practice for family obligations and the sickness, worked hard during the race, and kept a good pace going despite a slower start. We cheered her on hard for the last half mile to the finish line, hoping and looking at the stop watch and then ran to greet her after we discovered that she ran a PR and made it to run at state which we were all very exited about.

Coach Lisa and I were very proud of the Malta runners and their performances at this meet because it had been a tough week with sickness and warm temperatures. But everything fell together nicely on this Friday in Shelby. And they will continue to work hard and will get even better as they get well and stronger and we wind down on the season. Olivia has been out with an ankle injury and we are hopeful that she can run a meet here in the next week or two. We have a busy week ahead with a home meet on Saturday. October 8.