Malta at State B Meet in Kalispell

The Malta High School Cross Country Team ventured west on a beautiful autumn morning to Kalispell for the 60th MHSA State Cross Country Championship meet which was to be held at Rebecca Farm, an equestrian (horseback riding) facility that hosts one of the largest equestrian eventing competitions in the United States. But this Saturday’s event would be the state cross country races.

“Third time’s the charm” I thought as we were riding along in the bus. This was the Malta Cross Country team’s third time to compete at the state meet in Kalispell. In 2016 we competed on a soggy course after days and days of rain. Thankfully the rain let up just before the first race which was the class B girl’s race. In 2020, we ventured over and competed on a Friday due to Covid restrictions, and the class B girls competed in the afternoon during what would be remembered as the snowiest meet in history. But this weekend looked to be beautiful with predicted temperatures in the 60’s. When we arrived on Friday to walk the course for the pre meet preview of how it looked and felt, the sun was brilliant and the course was green and well taken care of. It’s going to be a great meet!

The state meet is the meet when all the teams from all over the state converge on a city and show everyone what you have been working towards all season. We were treated to some fantastic races from the AA, A, B and C runners. When our Malta group arrived at Rebecca Farm course in the morning, we set up our camp area and then ran to watch the class C girl’s race. We have watched many of this group run all season and we wanted to support those athletes. That race was so fun to watch and see how the leaders were going to work the course and in the end, Shelbi LaBrie of Whitewater pulled ahead of her fourth place position and cruised in to a first place finish that will be a great memory forever!

The Malta Mustang runners Kael Young and Michael Mayer got ready to race with the other 211 runners that happened to be in the class B boy’s group. This was Michael’s first state experience of any kind and he was very nervous. Kael had run in Missoula last season so had a good idea of how it worked. They line the runners up in the marshalling area, stand in a small area and it is the luck of the draw where your team is placed. Then they march all the runners to the start line. Our boys had a good position so that when the gun went off, they would be able to explode and go straight ahead as the large group of runners would began to funnel their way to the orange and black flagged 3.1 mile course. And that’s what happened. The gun went off and they exploded in a sea of colorful uniforms representing 30 class B schools. As was predicted, Peyton Summers of Wolf Point would take charge and lead the group around the two loop course and eventually cruising into a first place finish with a time of 15:48. The Malta boys got off to a great start and would work their way through the throngs of runners, where it seemed that they never thinned out. At the mile mark, Kael had a 6:37 time and Michael had a 7:10 time so they were right where we had wanted them to be. They were in a good position as they worked their way over the course and looped by us twice. The end of the course has a nice downhill for at least a quarter mile and you can lengthen your stride and work the downhill to your advantage letting gravity pull you into the finish. That’s what both Kael and Michael did; they exploded down the hill and had the fastest finishes that I have seen all season. Kael had a place of 174th and a time of 22:24 which is not too far off his best times and Michael had a place of 202nd and a time of 24:16. This wasn’t their fastest times but they had a great race and really worked the course the way we wanted them to and their explosive finishes were fantastic. Good experiences were obtained and this was a great way to finish out a good season of running and with much improvement.

Kael reported to us shortly after the race that it was a tough course. “I enjoyed this course despite that it was entirely hilly. I had an okay start but it could have been faster. As for my performance, I was right around my PR, so overall, it was pretty good.”

Michael was glad for his race to be over but very pleased with his fast finish. “I felt good about the course. I was a bit nervous before the race. My start was smooth, but slow. My performance was ok; I was about one minute off of my PR, so overall a good race.”

Megan Morser was one of 175 runners in the class B girl’s race. She was placed with the Shelby girl’s who did a good luck cheer for each other in the marshalling area. This is one of the special things about cross country that I like, everyone is cheering for each other no matter what team you are on or your capabilities. This race was to be the last race of the day and the temperature had cranked up to 66 degrees making it the warmest race of the day. The girl’s were soon moved to the start line and waited for their final instructions. They too exploded in a sea of colorful uniforms representing 39 different schools after the gun went off. Megan looked like she got off to a great start and the placement she had on the line was great with a straight shot to the 3.1 mile course with the orange and black flags. She settled in and looked very relaxed and at the mile mark she was at 8:01 which was exactly where we wanted her to be at this point. After she looped around the first half of the course, she lengthened her stride and began her kick well before the downhill area and sped up and passed at least four runners near the finish in what looked like her fastest finish ever. She placed 138th and had a time of 27:22 which wasn’t her fastest time but close to what she has been doing. She had a great race and we were very happy with how it played out. And as predicted, Tanae Baker of Glasgow took first place in what looked like a race of her own with a time of 19:03 and finished nearly a minute ahead of the next runner from Huntley Project.

Megan said of her experience “I really like this course. I had a good start that helped me for the rest of the race. I am really happy with my ending sprint and my time.”

Coach Lisa Young shared these thoughts about the exciting day we had. “It was a beautiful day at State Cross Country! The temperature may have been a little warm for the runners but was perfect for coaches! I am very pleased with our athlete’s performances. Each runner was exactly on pace for their first mile. They ran well and accomplished what they came to do. Running is a “mentally tough” sport and Malta’s athletes performed great!” I couldn’t have said it better and it was a great way to end an exciting season of running.