Malta Runs in Shelby and Frazer

The Malta Cross Country Team didn’t have a doubleheader, but we doubled up this week. We had a meet in Shelby on Monday and then another one in Frazer on Thursday, all in the same week. It is not very often we participate in two meets in one week, but that’s how the schedule worked for us this year. And we capitalized on the fact that we had a free weekend, so we focused on getting in some good solid practices this past week and that paid off.

We headed west on Monday to the annual Shelby Cross Country meet which is always a fun and festive meet we look forward to. The meet ushers in the beginning of their homecoming week festivities. We arrived at the Marias Valley Golf Course which is a green oasis at the bottom of the hills where the Marias River flows through. The trees were beginning to change into their autumn colors and with the green golf course and the tan-colored prairie, that picture made a very pleasing contrast as teams were gathering to walk the course prior to the running events. We got our group together and proceeded to walk and learn the course. One of the first things we saw was a sign that said: “You Are In Bear Country”. They decided that they were going to run very fast if they ran into one, and that fit in very well with our plan of getting off the starting line fast and get a good position to start with so that you don’t spend time making it up later if you get boxed out and pushed back. Speed along fast and get a fast first-mile time, and if a bear happens along, pick up the pace!

Mustang runners Kael Young, Michael Mayer, and Malin Beck were among the throngs of high school boys runners to gather at the starting line. The official started the race and they were off in a flash. The pace was set by the lead runner from Browning and he kept a strong pace and sped along and finished with a time of 17:03. Kael was up in the top group and had a good mile time and was right on with what we had hoped he would be and he kept a good steady pace with a fabulous kick in the finish area, passing several runners and challenging a Shelby boy right at the finish line to place 22nd and had a time of 22:15 which was just two seconds off his time from the previous in Havre. After the race, he said he really liked this course. Michael moved along well and looked much better having a good first mile time, and kept steady and finished with a good strong kick in the finish area with a time of 25:15 which was just a little off his personal best. Malin was participating in his first meet of the season, having had some knee problems that sidelined him for a couple of weeks. He wasn’t feeling well to start with and got sucked into the momentum and then just went along the best he could and posted a time of 31:45. We were proud of him for sticking with it and finishing the race. Sometimes it just isn’t your day and this one wasn’t for him but he finished and has those first meet jitters out of the way.

Megan Morser, our only M-ette runner set herself up at the start line on the inside edge and when the official started the race, she took off with a great burst of speed and kept steady. She ran her first mile in the time frame we wanted her to. She kept running steady and looked strong. She managed to keep herself in the top half of the group of runners, which was a great position and we could watch her from a couple different spots and saw her pass runners in what I wanted to call the out field but was really the driving range of the golf course. She kept steady and then used her strong kick at the end and finished in 16th place and with a time of 26:35 which was a new personal best! She was so excited and so were we. She ran a tremendous race despite the fact that she commented that her hip was hurting the whole way but she blocked it out as much as she could and finished very well.

On Thursday we traveled over to Frazer for their annual cross country meet on a cool rainy afternoon. It’s not often you keep your fingers crossed in hopes that it wouldn’t rain here in Montana, but that’s what you do when you head to the Frazer meet which is run up above the Missouri River, just a few miles southwest of town, an area surrounded by farmland and hills and the running course is a dirt road that's gumbo. If there is any amount of moisture, it starts sticking to your shoes immediately, making it difficult to run. When we arrived at the Frazer course, the clouds burst forth with some sprinkles that made me get the umbrella out, another novelty that doesn’t happen often in Montana. The wind came up and I thought for a moment I might become Mary Poppins. We made our way over to the tent to get the race packets, came back, had the kids put on the racing bibs and then looked at the sky and decided the sprinkles were not going to last long and began walking the course and planning their strategy. By the time we were done with the walk and shortly before the elementary and middle school races began, the wind had dried out the roads and everything was back to normal.

The girl’s 3.1 mile race was first and we watched it without the services of Megan. Her hip was still sore after the Shelby meet and she sat this one out to recover. It was fun to watch the other teams that were running and cheer on each runner. Kael and Michael were getting themselves ready to go as our only boys to run this meet. Kash has been out with an injury and is having some physical therapy and hopes to be back soon. The starting line was not very wide and it was hard to get a spot there. We told them that they would have to explode quickly to get a spot and run at a fast pace till the crowd thinned a bit, otherwise, you would be working harder to make up the time if you got pushed back too far. They did just that and got off quickly with the sound of the gun and cruised the course that has you loop around down by the river, then up a steep hill and then down the other side and then back up again and down the steep one and then up the hill that you came down at the start. Both boys looked strong, were on target with their first mile times and used the downhill to lengthen their strides and pass runners. They both worked the course well and Kael finished with a very strong kick to place 28th with a time of 21:19, a new personal best and his fastest time of his running career! It was a tremendous effort especially on this hilly course that can really challenge the runner’s strength. Michael finished strong and he placed 53rd and had a time of 24:10 which was a new personal best by over 40 seconds!

We were very pleased with how the race unfolded and how these boys performed, especially after having just run a race earlier in the week. It was an excellent week of running! Coach Lisa commented that at first she wondered if it was going to be worth it when we only had two runners and it was raining when we left MHS, but we were all smiles as we saw these boys run their best races yet! It was a great week and so fun to be able to participate with new teams we haven’t come up against this season. Our next meet will be on Saturday September 30, at the Glasgow Scottie Invitational at Fort Peck.