'Beeter, Wildcat Runners Show Massive Improvement, Henry runs for Hays/Lodge Pole

Week three of the Cross Country season had the Chinook Sugarbeeters, Harlem Wildcats and Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds at the Havre Invitational Cross Country meet. The runners made two laps around the beautiful Prairie Farms Golf Course just north of town.

The Sugarbeeters were competing for the second time in school history and for the first time qualified a Girls Team score that placed them third at the Invitational behind Havre and Glasgow with 72 points. All seven 'Chinook runners along with the four runners from Harlem, saw drastic improvements to their times from the Cut Bank Time Trials held a week earlier. Senior Daniel Lawrence competed for the first time this season for the Thunderbirds.

The course at Prairie Farms is considerably flatter than Cut Bank and has a good mix of gravel and grass and the weather Saturday was perfect, mid-sixties with little wind. Chinook senior Anna Terry was once again the top overall finisher for our Blaine County athletes. Terry completed the two laps around the course in 20:57.23 to finish sixth overall in the girl's race. Terry took :37.74 of her previous time recorded in Cut Bank.

Freshman Emma Klingaman turned in a stellar run for the 'Beeters completing the race in 25:14.55. Bound and determined to improve her time from Cut Bank, Klingaman did just that, cutting a massive 6:21.97 off her previous mark. Junior Ryley Hofeldt also made a huge improvement, taking 5:13 off her Cut Bank time to finish in 26:28.61.

Freshman Kirby Hofeldt did fantastic as well, trimming four minutes from her first race to cross the finish line in 27:34.60 on Saturday. Sophomore Jeni Mord joined her 'Beeter teammates in time improvement, with a time Saturday of 27:53.85, bettering her time by more than two minutes.

Harlem senior Aimilia Blackcrow also turned in an incredible effort. Blackcrow ran a state qualifying time of 32:47.77 Saturday afternoon. The senior took 5:27 of her time from Cut Bank in a gritty effort.

For the boys, Harlem senior Landen Gray led the way with time of 21:11.65 to finish 20th in the field. Gray also made improvement to his time, trimming 1:11.10 from his previous week's effort. Hays/Lodge Pole's Daniel Henry wasn't far behind, crossing the finish line in 21:41.47 in his first race this fall for the Thunderbirds.

Wildcat junior Moses Lawrence was next to cross the finish line, taking more than 1:32 off his season best with a time of 21:52.85. Chinook junior Corey Bilger was 1:46 better than the week before with a time of 24:26.40. Harlem junior Kelbi Bigby improved by 3:04 on Saturday recording a time of 25:46.53. 'Beeter sophomore Lance Pitkanen, competing for just the second time in his career, was 1:43 better with an effort of 27:19.80.

Overall, it was a great weekend on the course for all our Blaine County runners with everyone showing massive improvement. This week the Chinook, Harlem and Hays/Lodge Pole runners will be at the Glasgow Scottie Invitational. The race will be run at Fort Peck Reservoir and by all accounts, this is one of the favorite courses to those experienced high school cross country runners. For the first year Sugarbeeters every course will be a new experience.

'Beeter Head Coach Kendal Harwood was thrilled with his team's performance on Saturday, "The runners were determined to improve on last week's times, and they delivered. Every practice they ran with personal records in mind. Our team split difference from our first place finisher to our fifth place finisher improved by over three minutes. We're looking forward to next week's meet at Fort Peck."