One Nation, Under God

M-ettes XC takes third in opener

Striker takes fourth; Stiles eighth at Athletic Club Invitational

CROSS COUNTRY MALTA MEET

The Malta M-ettes Cross Country team ran well in their first meet of the season, which also happened to be their home meet. The Malta Athletic Club Invitational was held at the Marian Hills Golf Course last Saturday.

Malta's Mystic Striker, a sophomore, who struggled with an Achilles injury lead Malta, who as a team took 3rd place with 86 points. Winnett-Melstone won the meet with 64 points. Glasgow placed second with 80.

Striker, who had never run in a cross country meet before the day, took fourth place individually, with a time of 20:55. Sophia Stiles was also in the top ten taking eight with a time of 21:41.

The PCN caught up with Striker before the event.

"I'm really nervous but then I'm excited at the same time," Striker said.

She overcame an Achilles tendon injury, which kept her out of practice for a week.

"I didn't give up on running," Striker said noting that she had thought her time would be close to the 23 minute range at the event.

Overcoming her guess by two minutes, Striker stayed with the front four and even led after the first mile mark.

"I did pretty good," Striker said after the race. "I beat my biggest competitor, Sierra Summers from Wolf Point. That's what I wanted. I got her."

Striker noted that she had felt no pain in her Achilles after the race because she had it wrapped up well.

Winnett-Melstone's BreElle Wacker was the winner of the race, with a time of 19:56. Wolf Point's Kateri Rush took second with a time of 20:33. Elle Smith of Richey-Lambert was third with a time of 20:47.

Lily Maxie is another new M-ette this season. Maxie felt confident going into the meet.

"I'm excited," she said before the run. "It's our first meet, the weather is nice. I think we're going to do good. We're all sort of rested and we're prepared."

She was unable to finish the race because of an injury.

In the JV event, Malta freshman Taylor Gilkerson took third with a time of 26:23, junior Mariah Salveson took fourth with a time of 26:55 and senior Jenise Amestoy took fifth with a time of 27:16.

"I think it went pretty well," Amestoy said. "It felt like a good run."

Typically the Malta Invitational is a cold and sometimes windy meet. That day was another story.

"It was a little warm, especially where there's no shade to cover us in the second mile. It got pretty warm," Amestoy said.

This run was a different run than at prior meets held at Marian Hills Golf Course. The course change allowed runners to post quicker times than last season.

"There are less hills and that's definitely a bonus," Amestoy said.

Freshmen Reese Sjostrom took eighth in the JV run, with a time of 28:17.

"I think it went pretty good," Sjostrom said. "I definitely could've sprinted more."

Her sister, sophomore Joanie Sjostrom enjoyed the new course layout and shared her thoughts before the race.

"They changed the course, so it's way easier and I think I could run it fast enough to get a good time," Joanie said noting that her best time at the Malta meet last year was around 23 minutes.

Joanie's time was a 24:01, which was good enough for twenty-fourth in the varsity meet.

Coach Thea Solberg shed some light on the course changes after the meet.

"The reason we changed the layout of the course is because my older senior girls decided we should change it up a little bit and make it better," Coach Solberg said. "We wanted to make it more viewer friendly and run more on the west side of the golf course than on the east side ... The west side is grassier to run on. We decided to change it up and I think it worked out really well."

The team's top finisher, Striker shared her thought on the course change.

"I like the course," Striker said. "Everyone said the course was better than last year and I think it was because during practice we ran last year's course and there were a lot of hills.

She went into greater detail of why she liked the course, confirming Coach Solberg's theory.

"I liked this one better because there's a lot you can see and I liked seeing all the fans cheering all of the teams on," Striker said.

The Malta Mette Varsity runners placed as follows:

1. Mystic Stryker 4th place 20:55

2. Sophia Stiles 8th place 21:41

3. Marley Manoukian 22nd 23:48

4. Joanie Sjostrom 24th 24:01

5. Hailey Nicholson 28th 25:07

6. Eva Harms 29th 25:15

7. TaChante'Cole 30th 25:16

The Malta Mette JV runners placed as follows:

1. Taylor Gilkerson 3rd place 26:23

2. Mariah Salveson 4th 26:55

3. Jenise Amestoy 5th 27:16

4. Reese Sjostrom 8th 28:17

5. Jada Nicholson 11th 30:16

6. Taylor Eggebrecht 12th 30:35

 

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