Scottie XC Teams Close Season At State Meet

The Scottie girls cross country team scored 243 points at the MHSA State Cross Country Meet Oct. 26 to take sixth place. The Glasgow boys put up 355 points in Missoula for 13th place. "I was very happy with how our kids ran at state. We didn't quite have the fire power to hit all our team goals, but they did run very well!" Head Coach Tim Phillips told the Courier. He added, "I did some comparisons to the Sidney Invitational (held 2 weeks ago) for our runners and other runners (in all classes). Most our kids were near the top in either cutting time or being just slightly slower on the harder Missoula course. Our six boys who ran the same course for the Mountain West meet improved by at least 24 seconds each."

The Glasgow girls finished behind Manhattan, 105; Sweet Grass County, 152; Jefferson, 201; Columbus, 231, and Plains, 237 points.

Tanae Baker, in her third meet of the season, led the team with a seventh place showing out of 185 runners. She completed the course on the University of Montana Golf Course in 19:50.2. Kheyerah Bilger took 46th with a 22:16.7 time. Her time was 41 seconds faster than the Mountain West and 16 seconds faster than last year's State meet while falling 22 seconds short of her personal best. Jensina Tweten set a personal record at 22:28.5 and took 49th place. Her time was a one-second new record, a 69-second improvement from the Mountain West and 77 seconds faster than her time at the 2023 State Meet.

Haleigh Huntsman came in 61st with a 22:47.6 time. Despite battling injuries this season, her time was only five seconds slower than the Mountain West. Kimber Dulaney ran a 23:24.2 for 80th place, five seconds slower than the Mountain West meet, and Riley Evenson-Glasoe was close behind her at 23:31.1 and an 82nd place showing. Evenson-Glasoe dropped 61 seconds from her showing at the Mountain West. Josie Kemp set a personal best and took 121st place with a 25:05.2 time. Kemp dropped 33 seconds from her previous personal best and 97 seconds from her Mountain West performance.

"I was hoping we could sneak in for a trophy, but with the time some have had to take off we just couldn't quite get there," Phillips said. "We had 2 personal bests for the girls (Josie & Jensina), and 5 of the 7 ran faster than the Mountain West meet on the same course a month ago. And the 2 that didn't were only 5 seconds off despite losing training time to injury."

The Scottie boys finished behind Manhattan, 86; Florence-Carlton, 160; Plains, 171; Joliet, 176; Jefferson, 186; Harlem, 193; Colstrip, 204; Loyola-Sacred Heart, 228; Columbus, 235; Fairfield, 295; Poplar, 311, and Broadwater, 342 points.

Kyler Holinde led the Scottie boys with a 51st place showing out of 217 runners. He finished the course with a 18:25.2 time and dropped 24 seconds from the Mountain West showing. Ted See ran an 18:49.6 for 65th place while Adam Mickelson took 78th with a 19:10.3 time. See was just 4 seconds shy of his personal best while 24 seconds faster than the Mountain West meet and 39 seconds slower than State last year. Mickelson was also 4 seconds shy of his personal record but was 43 seconds faster than Mountain West and 11 seconds faster than 2023 State.

Kyler Whitman and Garrett Thompson took 80th and 81st, respectively. Whitman ran a 19:15.4 while Thompson was a half-second behind him at 19:15.9.Thompson was 9 seconds shy of his personal best but 61 seconds faster than his showing at Mountain West. Rowen Kloker finished in 19:38.6 for 97th place. He was 39 seconds faster than his 2023 State showing and 24 seconds faster than at Mountain West. Timothy Pearson finished in 102nd place with a 19:46.1 time. Pearson finished 13 seconds shy of his personal best time but was 56 seconds faster than he was at Mountain West.

Phillips said, "For the boys, we had a very good pack. It was just too far back to get what we wanted for a team score. However, we scored less points this year than last, but finished three places lower."

Coach Phillips concluded, "I'll really miss our seniors: Kyler Holinde, Adam Mickelson, Owen Thompson, Ted See, Tanae Baker, Mary Dykema, Riley Evenson-Glasoe, and Kheyerah Bilger. Between all of them, they took off 21 minutes from their opening times as freshmen, to their personal bests. I've certainly enjoyed working with them, and I am proud of their development as athletes and as people. It's always sad to see them go, but there are many returners that will make next year another great one, I'm sure!"