When words don’t quite do it justice, numbers can say it simply.  As the Malad Cross Country team participated at the Bob Firman Invitational Cross Country race in Eagle Idaho, it might just sound like another day, another race and another course.  But a little look at the numbers demonstrates not only the intensity of such a race, but also how well the MHS runners stepped up for their Dragon team.

The Bob Firman Invitational XC meet was run over 2 days and included 18 races that totaled up more than 9 hours of racing.  Competing in the races were 4,432 athletes representing 158 high schools and 69 middle schools from 7 states, bringing an additional estimated 5,000 spectators and fans.

For the Malad XC teams, both the Men’s and Women’s Varsity Teams scored in the Top 10 with the Men’s taking the 9th place finish out of 41 teams and the Women's team earning the 7th place finish, racing against 37 teams.  

All of the athletes of MHS Men’s team placed in the top half of the racers, coming in 42nd (Brycen Talbot), 56th (Braun Nalder), 61st (Levi Angell), 83rd (Boston Burbidge), 84th (Porter Allen), 133rd (Brex Martinsen) and 149 (Baylor Bean) out of 316 total runners, each of them setting either a season record or personal best.  

The Women’s Team similarly placed well in the top half of racers, taking 22nd (Cally Coleman), 48th (Brooke Issacson), 64th (Hadlee Summers), 83rd (Kaylee Nalder), 95th (Brynlee Bastian), 144th (Jenna Talbot) and 157th (Madelyn Shaw) with half of them setting new season records.

Malad also had six racers compete in the Men’s and Women’s JV races.  The Men’s JV five man team placed 13th out of 32 teams, taking 47th (Colt Coleman), 91 (Caden Jeppson), 94th (Carter Smith), 116 (Jaxon Blaisdell) and 202nd (Joshua Pickett).  Oakley Hebdon alone represented Malad in the JV race, took 26th place out of 207 racers.  

Lily Coleman, an 8th grader racing on the Malad Middle School XC team competed in her first 3000 meter race of the season on Friday, taking 8th place out of  279 and setting a new personal record with a time of 11:35.1.  Her top 10 finish earned her not only a medal but also some fun swag from Nike+Bob Firman XC.

By the numbers, the Malad XC runners are truly an impressive team, athletes that continually show up despite the competition they face and the courses they race.  They allow each run to better them and, by the numbers, it's beginning to show.