Scottie Invite at Fort Peck

Glasgow hosted their Scottie Invitational at Fort Peck Sept. 30, part of the week-of-the-year Homecoming festivities. Twenty schools brought their cross country runners to hit the redesigned course at the Downstream Campground.

The Scottie girls ran away with first place, scoring 37 team points. Sidney placed second with 64, Dawson County third at 83, Scobey fourth with 90, Poplar fifth at 95, Fairview sixth with 158 and Brockton seventh with 193 points.

Glasgow's boys team placed fourth with 88 points, coming in behind Poplar, 64; Dawson County, 65, and Sidney with 80 points. Harlem placed fifth with 136, Scobey sixth with 159, Plentywood seventh with 174, Wolf Point eighth at 193, Frazer ninth with 203, and Rocky Boy tenth with 253 points.

"Just about everybody had at least a good day, and many had great days on Saturday. Homecoming week gives you a lot of adrenaline, but can take its toll just in how busy it is.," Head Coach Tim Phillips said. "But I thought as a whole, the kids handled it really well.

"Our course is one of the fastest in the state, but it's still a true 5k. We're a little later in the season this year, so I keep that all in mind when making comparisons. Team-wise, though, the girls are really moving up as a pack. The boys had a little illness and injury to deal with this week, but we still saw some move up."

Tanae Baker led the girls team with a season record and first place finish out of 65 runners. She shaved one second off her previous season best and finished 39 seconds faster than last year's Invite at 18:58.13. Emily See took third, battling through an injury, to complete the course in 19:36.01. She was a mere four seconds shy of a season best while running the Fort Peck race 9 seconds faster than last year.

"For the girls, it was another win for Tanae. It was her season best by a second, and some might say, 'Ho-hum, just another win.' But they don't understand how much effort it takes to do that, especially when you're out there by yourself. It was another great run for her!" exclaimed Coach Phillips.

He said of See, "I can't come close to fully explaining how tough Emily is; she was really in pain on Saturday but really wanted to run at [our] home meet her senior year. For her to be third, and only a few seconds off her season best, is off-the-charts crazy!"

Haleigh Huntsman took ninth place with a 21:11.92 personal record, 50 seconds better than her previous. Kheyerah Bilger, Caylen Jankowski, Riley Evenson-Glasoe, Mayzie Yoakam and Jensina Tweten all set personal records Saturday. Bilger hit 22:08.80, a 28-second best and 1:28 faster than the 2022 Invite, to take 13th place. Jankowski, in the girls JV race, ran a 22:10.90. She took first in that event with a 10-second best and knocked 2:09 off her time from 2022.

Evenson-Glasoe took 25 seconds off last year's time and her previous personal best to take 15th place at 22:49.35. Yoakam, also in the JV competition, set a 22-second personal best at 23:10.01 for second place in her race. Tweten's 23:17.73 a 16-second improvement from her previous best and earned her 18th place.

"Haleigh just keeps delivering, giving the others behind her a real good pack-leader to try to catch. Kheyerah ran a very solid race, with Caylen right behind her. That was a breakout run for Caylen (over 2 minutes faster than last year's meet) - and the same for Riley, who wasn't too far behind. Mayzie was just a few seconds back, and Jensina was just behind her" said Coach Phillips. "That whole group ran personal bests; if they keep pushing each other, we'll be in real good shape!"

Kimber Dulaney placed 28th in the varsity race, running a 24:45.17. Mary Dykema set a season record in the JV race at 25:39.29 for fifth place while Josie Kemp came in eighth in JV action at 29:22.87.

Phillips said, "Kimber was dealing with a calf issue and did not have a good day; Josie has been fighting a hip issue, so just to finish was good. Mary looked real good, with a 54 second season-best."

Kyler Holinde paced the Glasgow boys, taking fifth place out of 75 racers at 17:08.51. The time was a 5-second personal best and 61 seconds faster than his 2022 Scottie Invite time. Ted See dropped 22 seconds off his previous best and 1:26 off his 2022 time to take 13th place with a time of 18:54.36. Adam Mickelson came in 21st at 19:15.91, a 1-second personal best and 2:14 faster than last year in Fort Peck. James Seekins took 1:51 off his 2022 time, finishing in 19:52.77 for 28th place.

"For the boys, that was a big run for Kyler Holinde. He had a real good first mile, lost a little ground in the middle, but still had a big personal best.," Phillips explained. "Ted and Adam ran really well, though we'll need them about 30 seconds faster over the next few weeks. James was struggling a bit with some stomach issues, but still gutted it out."

Rowen Kloker finished right behind Seekins, in 29th place with a time of 19:55.13. The time bested his previous personal record by 22 seconds. Owen Thompson set a 17-second personal best and came in 2:47 faster than last year. He took 39th with a time of 20:34.73.

In the boys JV race, Gage Larsen led the pack. He took fourth with a personal best 21:16.84. The time was a 1:15 improvement for the freshman. Drew Simensen also set a personal record at 21:29.29, shaving 1:11 off his time, and took fifth place. Timothy Pearson ran a 22:51.28 for 10th place and Tristin Silhan took 16th at 29:28.85.

"Rowen is having such a great freshman season: another personal best and a real solid run. He's closing into that pack of teammates. Owen had been sick all week, but still found a way to run 2:47 faster than at our meet last year! Gage had a 1:15 personal best, and drew 1:11.," Phillips said. "Tim didn't have a great day, but wasn't far off his best. Tristin had a bit of a knee issue; he looked really good at the mile, but slowed a lot in the middle.

"We'll keep working hard and train a bit through the next week and a half before we start tapering for state."

The Scotties will run the Sidney Invitational Saturday, Oct. 7 at the Sidney Country Club. Varsity and JV girls will run at 10 a.m. followed by the boys varsity and JV race at 10:45 a.m.