The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Chinook Sugarbeeter Cross Country team made history this past Friday, competing for the first time in a Cross Country Meet in School History. After years of being denied a program, the stars aligned this past spring when the decision was made to add Cross Country to the list of sports available at the school to student athletes.

This past Friday afternoon at the Mike Reynolds Cut Bank Time Trials, five girls and two boys donned the black and orange and represented the school proudly. The girls contingent included senior Anna Terry, junior Ryley Hofeldt, sophomore Jeni Mord, freshman Emma Klingamen and freshman Kirbey Hofeldt. Junior Corey Bilger and sophomore Lance Pitkanen represented the boys.

Of the seven athletes only Terry and Bilger had any experience running distance races of any kind. Terry earned All-State honors this past spring, finishing fourth in the 3,200 Meter Race. Terry has spent her off seasons competing in a number of 5K and half-marathon races, finishing near or at the top repeatedly. This past summer she even completed her first full marathon. Bilger has competed for the 'Beeter track and field team his freshman and sophomore years in both the 1,600 Meter and 3,200 Meter races.

For the five remaining team members not one had ever competed in or even ran a race of the distance they covered Friday afternoon in Cut Bank. None of that mattered Friday afternoon and at the end of the day all seven members of the newly formed Chinook Cross Country team had qualified for the Class C Cross Country Meet in Missoula, Saturday, October 22. Not a bad showing for a team in it's initial competition.

Terry has high expectations for her one and only season of Sugarbeeter Cross Country and her performance Friday in Cut Bank was spectacular. Terry finished the race third overall, just behind runners from Class AA CMR Russel and Class A Columbia Falls. Terry crossed the finish line in 21:34.97 despite the 100º temperature.

Generally when one heads to Cut Bank it's the wind everyone complains about but that was not the case on Friday, "Never even really noticed the wind. It was the heat, it was so hot," said Terry later. She added that water wasn't available on the course either, which in her case only motivated her to reach that finish line sooner.

Terry's closest Class C competitor was from Sunburst and crossed the finish line in 22:01.06, 25 seconds behind. Anna's time is currently third best in Class C statewide.

'Beeter sophomore Jeni Mord was the second team member to cross the finish line, completing the race in :30.0047. Freshman Kirbey Hofeldt wasn't far behind recording a time of 31:34.33. Klingamen crossed in 31:36.52 and Ryley was clocked in at 31:41.26 to round out the girls contingent. Bilger completed his run in 26:10.24 while Pitkanen completed the race in29:02.48.

Running for the first time of any significant distance certainly has a learning curve, and to do it competitively on temperatures exceeding the century mark only makes the task more difficult. With a race under their belt it is likely that these runners new to the sport will see rapid improvement as they improve their skills and learn how to breathe and pace themselves better. Cooler temperatures will surely help as well.

Head Coach Kendall Harwood was more than pleased with his teams performance week one, "I'm so proud of all of them they worked hard and everyone of them qualified for state their first time out, They have been getting better each and every practice and it's nice to see the hard work pay off for them. Anna has been amazing. She has really excelled at being a leader on this team. She is such a huge influence and help to the other runners, encouraging them every step of the way."

The Chinook Sugarbeeter Cross Country team competed in its first ever meet Friday afternoon in Cut Bank and qualified all seven athletes ran qualifying times for the State Cross Country Meet in Missoula, on Saturday, October 22.

The Sugarbeeter will be back in action this Saturday morning at the Havre Invitational. The races will be ran at the Prairie Farm Golf Course with the varsity girls race getting started at 10:00 a.m. The boys varsity race will follow.

Harlem Wildcats Start Season

The Harlem Wildcat Cross Country team was also in action this past week as pair of runners got their season started in Wolf Point on Thursday. Senior Landen Gray completed the race in 22:22.75 to finish 17th overall and junior Moses Lawrence crossed the finish line in 25:14.87 to finish 37th.

In Cut Bank Friday afternoon Lawrence recorded a time of 23:24.82 and Gray clocked in at 25:04,24. Joining the boys in Cut Bank was junior Kelbi Bigby who turned in a time of 28:50,00. All three Wildcat boys have met the qualifying standard for the Class B State Cross Country meet in Missoula.

Harlem's Cross Country contingent in Cut Bank also included senior Amelia Blackcrow representing the Lady Cats. Blackcrow finished the course in 38:14.24. Harlem will be in Havre Saturday morning as well.