Harriers run three at Malta Meet; Lawless is on the way

The Dodson-Whitewater Harriers ran three runners at the 2018 Malta Athletic Club Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 8, at Marian Hills Golf Course in Malta.

The Harriers were comprised of Sam Main, Ireland Best, and Hannah Hanley.

The PCN caught up with Best, a sophomore at Dodson High School, who was the only Harrier to race in the Wolf Point Invitational, only one week prior to the Malta invitational.

"I ran here last year and I didn't do as good as I wanted," Best said, believing her time was in the low 40's.

As the rain fell on and off at this year's Malta Invitational, she recalled the weather being nicer last season.

"It was definitely a lot nicer than this," she said. "It was warm and sunny. But I like to run in the cold."

Best set a goal to make it to state, which would have to be a time under 35 minutes, according to Class C's state qualifying standards. Best set her goal mark even higher.

"The time I want to get is 31:30 or maybe below. I would even take a time of 32:00," Best said. "The way I am going to do that is to just keep pushing myself. I have to get out of my mindset and know that I can finish it and keep going."

The first meet didn't go exactly as she wanted, but she was happy.

"It went okay," Best said. "I definitely could have shaved off a lot more time but it was the first meet and I always get nervous."

Being excited about starting cross country for a second consecutive year, Best had a new plan for the 2018 season; to start running a bit earlier than she did last year.

"I did a little bit of training two to three weeks before and I definitely think that helped me get that mile time," Best said. "The first practice I went out and ran a mile straight and was able to do it. It felt so good, so I think training definitely was a big part of it."

She finished the Malta Invitational with a time of 39:19, taking fiftieth in the girls varsity race.

Teammate Hannah Hanley had a strong finish, qualifying for state in her first meet with a time of 27:06, while taking thirty-third overall in the varsity meet.

"I guess I did pretty good, but I didn't know what to expect," Hanley said after the race.

Hanley, a freshman at Whitewater High School, had been practicing by herself because senior teammate Bella Lawless had not been cleared to run, due to a knee injury.

Hanley and Lawless found out on Saturday that Lawless would be able to start running on Monday.

"Bella gets to run on Monday," Hanley said with a smile. "That will be really fun because we can push each other and have fun."

Lawless shared her thoughts on coming back, though she still needs ten practices before she can compete.

"It has been exciting and it has been frustrating, but I am clear and I am ready to go," Lawless said.

Running without Lawless and by herself so far, Hanley had to entertain herself while running.

"I can have music but I just think of stuff," Hanley said.

Hanley didn't share her thoughts.

"It felt like I needed to catch up with some of them and not stop," Hanley said. "I think I passed up one person but then they went ahead of me."

At the start, Hanley experience running with close to seventy runners for the first time. About 30 yards from the start came the first tightening of the running lane, an experience Hannah had never had before.

"Someone hit the back of my shoe, so I sped up so that they could have more space," Hanley said.

She went on to say that the competition helped her time.

Main, a senior at Dodson High School, qualified for state in his first meet, with a time of 22:15 at the Malta Invitational. He took fiftieth overall. The boys qualifying time is 30 mins.

"I was feeling good during the first part then the slopes kind of killed me," Main said.

He had run cross country in his freshman and sophomore years at Harlem High School. His previous best was 19:30.

"I ran a three mile in 19 minutes this summer," Main said. "I'm not sure what happened, I think it was just the course that shook me up."

To add insult, Main has also been working on a quad injury.

"The past week it's just been hurting," Main said.

Teammates Caleb Ditmar and Corbin LoneBear were unable to attend the meet, but Main has enjoyed running with his teammates.

"Corbin is a pretty fast kid and Caleb is a pretty good kid too. He always keeps his pace," Main said. "Corbin is pretty fast. I like to run with him because he kind of pushes me."