M-ettes bring back 11 runners; four freshmen

The M-ette Cross Country team had a strong campaign in 2014, despite a couple of runners missing time with injuries.

Seven of last year's runners ran at the State B meet in Helena, including junior Sophia Stiles (now a junior) who took 14th with a time of 20:30.6.

Marley Manoukian and Jenise Amestoy (now seniors) were also among the seven at state, with Jada Nicholson and Eva Harms (now juniors). The youngest to run at state were Joanie Sjostrom and Tachante' Cole (now sophomores).

The team has returned all seven of those runners, along with four more runners including, senior Hailey Nicholson, juniors Mariah Green and Sarah Ware and sophomore Monicha Williamson.

"All ten came back and I have six new ones," Coach Thea Solberg said.

Those five new runners include sophomore Mystic Striker, who has been a great surprise for the team.

"The leaders so far this season, in only the second week have been Sophia Stiles and Mystic Striker," Coach Solberg said. "But Mystic is out with an ankle injury."

Striker is a transfer student from Harlem and she will likely be week to week. Having an addition that can keep up with Stiles would bode well for the team, but Striker has to get healthy first.

The newest additions include four freshmen; Reese Sjostrom, Taylor Eggebrecht, Taylor Gilkerson and Lily Maxie.

The team has been practicing for a few weeks, but has yet to run in a meet due to their Poplar meet being cancelled due to smoke. Their first meet will likely be the Malta Invitaional on September 12.

"The runs we have been doing this week and last week have been just to get a running base to get ready for our first meet," Coach Solberg said.

Stiles and Striker have been leading during most practices but many of the state runners have formed a close tight cluster, which bodes well for competitive runs during meets and practices.

"All of the other ones are getting used to running and getting themselves into shape," Coach Solberg said.

One of the most consistent runners for Malta has been Marley Manoukian.

"She's running strong as a returner," said Coach Solberg. "She looks good early in the season. It's hard to know how the season is going to go, but she looks strong from the practices."

Coach Solberg had nice things to say about her team, her returning runners in particular.

"They are strong mentally because they understand what's going on," Coach Solberg said. "The new girls of course are nervous and don't quite have it together but they're running in practices."