Malta XC Brings Three to Lewistown

The Malta Cross Country team participated in the Fergus Cross Country Invite on Friday September 20 at the Pine Meadows Golf Course in Lewistown. This was an impromptu meet for us as we had found out the weekend before that the Frazer meet had been rescheduled for the following week and therefore we had no meet on the schedule for this week. So with a little research, we found the Fergus invite, registered the runners and then made our way south and west to the center of the state. This was a first for our group, however I had taken some runners to this cross country meet a few years back.

The Pine Meadows Golf Course is a great venue with mostly a grassy surface of various lengths, depending on what part of the course you were running on. There were plenty of trees to provide some beauty but the most notable thing about this course is the hills. I remember reading an invitation to this meet of a few years back and it stated "This is a hilly course." So the team was up to quite a challenge here. Once we got on the course and began to look things over, Kash Stiles said with a big smile "This is going to be fun!" And we said, yes, it would be like a roller coaster! Up and down you would go for three miles.

The boy's varsity high school race took place after the girl's junior varsity runners were finished. With the sound of the gun, the boys took off in a tight pack of many colorful runners, charging ahead, jockeying for position. I felt like our boys did not get out to as explosive of a start as we would have liked, but with over one hundred runners, they would have to fight their way up through the runners and get good paces going early. Both Kael Young and Kash Stiles worked hard to do this and when they came by us at the mile mark, both were right on their mark at 6:45 and 7:47 respectively. They looked very strong and were working the race well. They were fairly close to their target time at the two mile mark and then made their way over the third mile which they said was better because it was more downhill and then flat for the last four hundred yards. They both had great finishes with good strong kicks at the end to get through the finish line. Kael came in 89th place with a time of 22:44 which is a PR for him for the season. Kash came in 110th place with a time of 25:56. Both runners cut time from the flat Havre meet so this was a great accomplishment. They have both been working hard to improve their endurance and have energy to finish as strong as you start a race.

Kash commented about his race, "Lewistown is very mountainous, this course is no exception. When the team walked the course before the race, we knew it was going to be tough, but that was such an understatement! There was easily triple the hills we originally thought and all of them were insanely steep. This was by far my strongest run of the year, even with all the hills! 10/10 would do it again!" He also commented that he finally got to use his strong thigh muscles he's been working in weights class to power up those hills. It was a great race for him.

Kael commented about his race, "I really loved the course and how beautiful the space around was. Not only was it fun but challenging. Personally I thought I was going to pass out halfway through. In the end, the course was very enjoyable and I would love to come here next year." He too had a great race and proved that the hills make you work harder and enhance a race.

Megan Morser ran the varsity girls race as soon as the boy's race was done. She lined up with the throngs of runners representing 24 different teams from around the area. They exploded quickly and Megan got a good start and then cruised along once she got her pace situated and was looking strong. She came by the mile mark and was right on with her predicted time we wanted her to be at which was around 8:18 and then when she got to the two mile mark, she was off a little bit and then used her kick to cruise into the finish which gave her 91st place and a time of 28:10. Her time of off a bit from our planned finish time and it was a little slower than the Havre meet, but it was her second fastest finish this season which was nice. She's been working through a hip issue and with the hills, it was tough. "I liked the scenery on the course. It was a lot more competitive which pushed me to do my best. I am happy with my time and hope I continue to improve." And we know she will as we continue to work on endurance, increasing mileage and working on building strength.

This meet was at a great time in our training schedule because it is exactly what we want the athletes competing in so they are ready for the state meet next month. The continuous hills and the grass make it a challenging course which helped to focus on your form and endurance. These runners executed well and when we wanted them to. This meet will also help them mentally as we travel east to the Frazer meet on Thursday, because it too is a hilly meet and they will be hill savvy. Then Saturday we travel to the other end of the state and they will be participating in the Mountain West Classic in Missoula, a race which has the infamous Mount Sentinel hill in the middle, a true test of your strength. We're in the middle of the cross country running season now, and these races are perfectly placed and we are excited to be able to participate in them.