Six Runners Headed to State

The Malta Cross Country team headed west on Friday the 14th to the annual Harlem Invitational Cross Country Meet, which took place out at the Harlem Golf Course, a very flat 3.1 mile course that is a boon to runners as they test the skills they have been working on all season.

This is the last race many of the runners will participate in before heading to the state meet on Saturday, October 22.

Malta runners headed to state include M-ettes Kirsta Meisdalen, Megan Morser, Izzie Hallenberg, and Kinlie Cummings, as well as both Mustangs Kash Stiles and Kael Young.

The weather was almost perfect with a chill in the air from the crispy cool temperature and the wind. These conditions proved to be just what the runners liked as the gun went off and they set a fast pace. The Harlem meet is fun to watch because a spectator can see the runners a couple times as they loop around the course twice. We were treated to some highly contested races, on both the boys and the girl's side. I had to pinch myself and realize that we had some of the top Class B and C runners' in the state right here at this meet.

Peyton Summers and Reed Larsen, who are rated in the top spots in Class B state rankings for cross country boys, raced into the finish with the top honors for the boys high school race and hugged each other in congratulations for a well-run race. Peyton had a time of 15:48 and Reed a time of 16:03. The other runners ran a fast race and among those were Mustang runners Kash Stiles and Kael Young, who exploded at the start with the others and kept a fast pace going throughout the race.

We had talked earlier in the week with our runners about goals and whether or not they had met them this year and that this is the race that they could potentially accomplish them if they had not met their goals, since it was a flat grassy course.

Kash looked very strong and determined as he cruised around the course and had a fantastic finish and came in with a time of 20:48, which is a PR for him and his all time fastest race dropping a minute off his finish at the tough Malta meet. He raced into the finish with a Plenty Coups runner who was on his heels the last 100 meters and beat him by 2 seconds. Kash said of his race "it was a pretty cool finish!"

Kael had a fast race and fantastic finish racing in with Dodson runner Mason Lonebear and Glasgow runner Malin Beck. Mason finished four one-hundredths of a second faster than Kael and Kael beat Malin by one second. Kael's time of 21:55 was a PR as well, dropping a minute from the Malta meet of the week before. I asked him his thoughts after he was done and he said "I enjoyed the race." We enjoyed watching the race and these boys have improved so much this year.

The girl's race began shortly after the boys were finished. They exploded at the start with determination to cruise the course with fast times and to some, knowing that this would be their last Harlem meet and they wanted to make it count. Spectators were treated to some spectacular running with Tanae Baker of Glasgow and her teammate Emily See and Aeris Stewart of Shelby who are all ranked in the top five in the Class B state rankings for cross country girls. They finished fast and furious taking the top three spots with Tanae coming in with 18:28, Emily with 18:54, and Aeris with 19:28. Shelbi Labrie of Whitewater is also ranked high in Class C girls and she placed fifth with a time of 19:32 and her teammate Samantha Wisher came in sixth with a time of 19:53.

The M-ette runners ran a fast race and were involved in the excitement as they worked hard and cruised around the course. Coach Lisa and I were able to watch them at a couple of spots, and encouraged them as they ran by and we yelled out their mile times so they knew where they had to be.

Kirsta was moving along and looked smooth with her long stride and natural form. She was behind a couple runners she had been contesting with at the Malta meet and I said to Coach Lisa, "I think she can take those runners!" Coach Lisa then sprinted over to where she could yell some encouragement "try to get three runners in this second mile area". That's just what she needed and we watched her cruise up and take a runner, then another and then before we knew it she had run past four runners and put herself in great shape to push herself into the finish line area and post her fastest run of her cross country career with a time of 23:53! Kirsta's comments of her race were "The weather was perfect, it was windy but it was nice and cold. It felt like the girls were close together longer, normally we're spread out. But I PR'd which was my best time in the past four years. It was pretty exciting!" This would be her last Harlem meet.

Megan Morser had a good race on Friday, finishing with a time of 27:59. It was her second fastest race of the season being one second off her best time. She looked smooth and comfortable today compared to the hilly meets of last week which she struggled with because of some leg issues she's had. She said of her race "I thought it was a fun race, I had a good time. It felt good running today."

Izzie Hallenberg ran her last Harlem meet and was very happy with her performance because it was so much better than last year. She looked strong and pushed herself and worked hard and she got a 29:56 which is a PR for this year. Izzie commented after her race "I thought it was more miserable than Frazer because it felt like it went on and on. But I got a PR even though I was hurting some. I cried at the end." She has been working so hard this year and it was nice to see her end the regular season with her fastest time.

Kinlie Cummings ran a great race and pushed herself and had a good kick at the end. She struggled through last week's hard meets with the hills and found this meet to be much better and was able to post her personal best with a time of 33:31 which she was very happy about!

Coach Lisa and I were pretty proud of our runner's efforts and that they all worked hard and gave it their all. We came in with goals for this meet and all the runners accomplished them. It was great watching them work the race, passing other teams runners in the mile two area and then save enough energy to pass runners in the finish chute. It takes guts. This was a great course for getting a PR and a great way to build confidence as we approach the state meet and Class B races on Saturday, October 22.