Malta Cross Country Adds an Extra Meet

On Saturday, October 2, 2021, the Malta cross country teams had an opportunity to attend the first-ever Fairview cross country meet, held at Sundheim Park, just east of Fairview, ND.

“The course looked great, with the start on a blacktop trail that looped around the campground and then made its way under the end of a bridge, and then out on to some dirt roads that wind around sugar beet fields,” said Malta Head Coach Thea Solberg. “The varsity girls’ race began with a congested start which meant that you needed to explode at the beginning to get a good position early, and Kira Beck and Kirsta Meisdalen were able to do just that.”

The winning team was Westby-Grenora with 20 points, followed by Culbertson (21), and Scobey (23). The M-ettes finished in 8th place as a team with 53 points.

Kira Beck led the way for the M-ettes finishing in 10th place, with a time of 24:06. Kirsta Meisdalen finished 15th (25:13), Megan Morser 32nd (28:57), and Izzie Hallenberg 41st (34:27).

“We had a goal for Kira to be in the top ten,” said Solberg. “She had a great kick in the end, challenging a Circle runner. She accomplished that goal and ran her personal best for the season.”

“Kirsta had a great race and pushed herself along the course. She too challenged another runner in the finish area with a tremendous kick,” said Coach Thea. “She passed her and ran her second-best race of the season.”

Solberg said that the bottleneck at the beginning had Megan and Izzie further back, but they kept a good steady pace and showed their strength and hard work from the past week.

“Megan had that great kick at the end to ward off a Frazer runner and posted her personal best for the season,” said Coach Thea.

Izzie has suffered from shin splints all season. But Solberg said she pushed her way over the course and sprinted into the finish line area, improving her best time of the year by three minutes.

“Izzie did a happy dance, knowing that she had qualified for participation at the state meet in a few weeks,” said Solberg. “That’s a goal she has been working hard for.”

Mustang runner Malin Beck, ran in only his third race this season, having suffered a foot injury earlier in the year.

“He showed great determination and kept a good steady pace with a group of runners,” said Coach Thea. “He ran a step ahead of a Circle runner in the finish chute and bested his time from the Fort Peck meet of a couple weeks ago. He has been working hard between biking and running to get his strength and endurance back after his injury. This was a great meet to have him get back into the race scene again.”

“Coach Lisa and I were extremely excited for each of our runners,” said Solberg. “This was an extra meet that we added to the schedule, it was a long trip, but it proved to be the cat’s meow as each runner improved their time from a previous meet. We’ve been working hard to build endurance and strength. It was great to see these results and a great confidence builder as we get closer to the state meet. We couldn’t be happier.”