Malta Runs at Fort Peck, Home Meet This Saturday at Marian Hills

Fort Peck's Downstream Campground below the Fort Peck Dam was the scene of the Glasgow Scottie Invitational Cross Country Meet, held on a very windy and cool Saturday, September 30.

Many teams from all over northeastern Montana were invited to run one of the fastest courses around the area. The very flat paved Nature Trail weaves around ponds, cat tails and views of the powerhouses.

The start of the race was changed this year from the prairie area to the parking lot near the Interpretive Center. This was a great improvement to the start from previous years where the runners would explode at the start of the race, stirring up dust and cactus balls that would often get flipped up from a shoe and sticking to it or sometimes getting stuck on a leg or a runners head. So bypassing the prairie area, the runners lined up at the furthest east end of the parking lot preparing to start the race at the sound of the gun. The first race was the high school girl's 3.1-mile race.

M-ette runner Megan Morser was among the sixty-five runners ready to take off. The runners exploded at the start of the race with a fast pace set by Glasgow runner Tanae Baker who pushed her way over the fast course and got a finish time of 18:58.

The runners jockeyed for position as they ran towards the nature trail and began to wind around the first part of the course. The trail itself isn't very wide and it is important to get a fast start to get a good position at the beginning. Megan, having missed the Frazer meet due to recovery from a hip issue was looking full of energy and strong today. We watched her at the mile mark and she was right on with her mile split time and looked like she was running well and smooth. She had a great kick at the end to post her fastest time of her high school running career with a 44th place finish and a time of 26:20, which is fifteen seconds faster than her previous best. This new PR (personal record) was very exciting and we were proud of her efforts after having taken some time off to sit out a meet and recover. Megan commented afterward that she was happy to get back to running again. "I did a lot better than I thought I was going to do and had lots of fun!"

The high school boys race had an explosive start as well and a fast pace was set right away by Wolf Point runner Peyton Summers who posted an impressively fast finish time of 15:17. The Mustang runners Kael Young and Michael Mayer got off to a good start and jockeyed for position in the area where they wind around the ponds in the first part of the race. They looked strong and focused. They were right on their goal as they passed the one-mile mark where it was still pretty congested with runners but were looking like they were settling in and keeping a good pace. The last mile they both began to move up and kick and finish strong.

Kael ran a strong fast-paced race, working very hard and strategically to get to the finish line, where you had to wind around the south end of the pond and where he passed a couple of runners right at that finish area and completed the race with a time of 21:22 for a 49th place finish out of 74 runners. He was just two seconds off his personal best. We were very happy with his finish time because he had been suffering all week with that cold and crud going around. "It was a good race," he said, "but I like the old course a little bit more."

Michael came in looking much stronger than the last race and gaining confidence with each race he participates in. He had a great finish and placed 63rd and had a finish time of 23:14 which was nearly a minute faster than last week's Frazer meet, posting his personal best. This was super exciting and all his hard work is paying off. Michael commented that his race went well. "I had a goal of breaking into the 23's, and then I ended up running a time of 23:14! I thought that the course was good; I was able to build momentum and speed towards the end. Overall, it was a good race."

Both Coach Lisa and I were very impressed with how the meet turned out. All the races were fast-paced and very exciting to watch. It was great to be able to run with some east teams we haven't met up with yet this season. Our runners have been working hard in practices, improving times and posting a personal best at nearly every meet, and building momentum as we coast into the end of the season.

Our next action is the Malta Athletic Club Invitational at Marian Hills Golf Course on Saturday, October 7 at 10 a.m.

Dodson at Glasgow Invitational

The Dodson Coyotes and Lady Coyotes ran at the Glasgow Invitational Meet on Saturday, September 30, at Fort Peck.

Donovan Posey led the team with a seventh-place finish in the Boy's Varsity race. He had a time of 17:59.09.

Junior Stiffarm was forty-third with a time of 20:41.16. Lance Snow was fifty-seventh with a time of 22:08.93.

Baylee Johnson led the Lady Coyotes with a time of 23:36.76 and placed twenty-second. Precious Stiffarm was fifty-fifth with a time of 28:55 and Amara Cochran was sixtieth with a time of 31:03.81.