Scotties Striding to State

The Glasgow Scottie cross country teams continue to knock down their times as they gear up for the state meet this weekend in Missoula. "We feel good," said head coach Rod Karst. "We want to be running our best in October and the last few weeks shows that."

Indeed, the Scotties have shaved time and run away with some top spots in their last few meets. In Harlem on Friday, the boys team claimed second place with 32 points behind a tough Wolf Point team with 28. The Glasgow girls snagged the top slot at the meet with 57 points, outpacing Poplar, 83 points.

Senior Iris McKean led her Scotties, and all runners, taking first place with a personal record of 19:17. She knocked 13 seconds off her previous best time. "I feel good going into the state meet! I just had an amazing race in Harlem, running a 13-second PR, so it was a good confidence boost," enthused McKean. "The weather should be good, which will be nice after two consecutive years of running state in the snow!"

Tanae Baker, freshman, also set a personal record in Harlem, running a 19:36 and taking second place."I made a lot of progress going from middle school to high school," Baker said. "I've really pushed myself the last couple weeks and have found myself closing the gap on Iris. That has been my goal for all season."

Kheyerah Bilger took 12th place with a time of 23:05, a personal record for the freshman runner of nearly a minute and a half. Junior Haylly Turner set a season record of 24:38 which earned her a 20th place finish. She shaved more than half a minute off her previous best this year. Eve Stone set a season record as well, knocking 10 seconds off her previous best time this year. The sophomore finished in 22nd with a time of 25:37. Freshman Mary Dykema ran a 28:02 for a personal record and 30th place. She knocked more than two minutes off her previous best time.

Glasgow's boys took five of the top 10 slots, led by Reed Larsen, who took third place. The junior set a personal record of 16:50, just over a minute faster than his previous best of 17:51.2. Freshman Kyler Holinde set a personal record as a Scottie with his time of 17:19 and finished in fifth place. Lane Thompson took seventh place with a time of 17:37. Dalton Sand was hot on his heels, finishing in 17:38. The personal record for the senior earned him eighth place. "I'm really proud and excited to be on this team. We are all peaking at jus the right time," Sand said. I think we will be firing on all cylinders for this weekend."

Fellow senior Bergen Miller finished in ninth place with his season record time of 17:50, 40 seconds faster than his previous best this year. "I've been disappointed at my lack of personal progress (running 18:30s or 40s every week), but I tried a pair of Lane's spikes in Harlem and ran 17:50 and I was overjoyed!" Miller told the Courier. He added, "I have always wanted to run a race in the 17s, and now I have. On the one hand, everything else about my senior year of running feels like a bonus, but I also know the job's not done yet. I'll be ultimately content with my investment in Cross Country only if the boys and I come through in Missoula next Saturday."

Blake Lloyd knocked 16 seconds off his previous best time to set a personal record of 18:36. The time earned him a 13th place finish. Eli Feezell finished in 15th place with his time of 18:57. The personal record was just under a minute faster than his previous best time. Ted See, who will serve as the alternate for the state meet this year, has knocked time off each meet he has run this year. See finished in 21st place with a time of 20:07, a new personal record for the freshman.

Adam Mickelson was right behind See in 22nd place with a time of 20:12, a personal record for the freshman and just shy of a minute improvement. Junior Ben Kompel ran a personal record 22:49 and finished in 31st place. Fellow junior Dylan Hlad also set a personal record with his time of 25:21, finishing in 38th place. Owen Thompson was two seconds behind Hlad, finishing in 39th place and 25:23. Sophomore James Seekins rounded out the Scottie boys with a 40th place finish and a personal record of 25:32.

Larsen, Holinde, L. Thompson, Sand, Miller, Lloyd and Feezell will represent the Scottie boys at the state meet this weekend with See serving as alternate. Sand said, "I am feeling very enthusiastic about state. I know we have done all that we can do to prepare and now we just have to leave it all on the course."

Miller expressed confidence in his team, "Everybody has been running great. All the boys either PRed in Harlem or the week before in Malta. Our boys were ranked first in the state ... But, with our big PRs last week we're lookin' great. The State Meet is ours to win!"

McKean, Baker, Bilger, Turner, Stone and Dykema will run for the Scottie girls with Abigail Kulczyk serving as alternate. Emily See is the Scottie manager. Baker said, "My goal for state is to place in the top five and stay up with Iris to end the season with a new career PR."

The all-classification Montana State Cross Country meet will be held at the University of Montana golf course in Missoula this Saturday, Oct. 23. The Class B Boys race will begin at 1:10 p.m. and the Class B Girls will race at 2:10 p.m.