Scottie Cross Country Faces Tough Opponents At Billings

The Scotties girls and boys cross country teams finished in third and 14th place, respectively, at the Billings Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6.

The girls earned an impressive third place with 112 points behind two AA teams, Billings West (70) and Billings Senior (74). A good result and a way to see how the team stands regarding bigger school teams. Coach Rod Karst was pleased with the result and the efforts put into it. The fastest Scottie was junior Josie Braaten in 19 minutes and one second. She finished in fifth place overall. Senior Rachel Zeiger followed in 19 minutes and 49 seconds (ninth), and finally, Emma Fewer was the third fastest girl for the team, covering the distance in 20 minutes and 47 seconds (28th).

The boys placed 14th out of 22 teams with 343 points, despite some great running times. The fastest Scottie, Walker Allen, finished the race in 18 minutes and 18 seconds. Senior Matthew Phillips was not far behind in 18 minutes and 48 seconds. Both placed 47th and 56th, respectively. The podium was composed of Billings West (41), Billings Senior (86), and Hardin (95).

To understand how good the level of this meet was, we need to compare places and times from the Scotties’ last meet at Poplar. During that meet, Braaten took first place, running in 20 minutes and 33 seconds. Such a time at Billings would have placed her around the 25th place. As for the boys, Allen placed fourth at Poplar with a time of 19 minutes and 59 seconds. Running a minute faster, he only got 47th at Billings.

This invitational was a tough one for the teams, but it will surely help them for the future.

Results are as follows:

Girls:

Josie Braaten, fifth, 19:01

Rachael Zeiger, ninth, 19:49

Emma Fewer, 28th, 20:47

Amanda Wolff, 30th, 21:00

Amanda Mc Donald, 40th, 21:38

Ellen Walstad, 46th, 22:13

Julia Kolstad, 60th, 23:02

Boys:

Walker Allen, 47th, 18:18

Matthew Phillips, 56th, 18:48

Kasey Seyfert, 77th, 20:14

Braden Meland, 79th, 20:18

Bridger Sanders, 84th, 20:49

Andrew Fransen, 87th, 21:24

JV Girls:

Alex Simensen, 13th, 23:29

Brinlie Nielsen, 23th, 24:48

Kerry Hoffman, 29th, 24:56

Mary Fewer, 38th, 26:32

Carly Wesely, 41th, 26:43

Rachel Overby, 55th, 29:56

JV Boys:

Ethan Jamba, 22:15.

Chase Hughes, 23:08.

Logan Gunderson, 23:13.

Kevin Frigon, 25:57.

The Scotties will participate in the Malta Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 14.