MHS Cross Country ends season strong at state
Nov 06, 2024 01:43PM ● By Allison Eliason
The Lady Dragons finished in 4th at State.
The Malad Cross Country team returned home from the IHSAA state meet loaded down with hardware, won at both the individual and team level by driven and determined Dragon racers. Flying high with adrenaline and sheer exhilaration for her team’s impressive work, Head Coach Tia Talbot shared, “ I’m just so proud of them! There is something about this team. They were so determined and confident they could do it and they did. I can’t say it enough- I’m just so proud of them.”
For the second year in a row, both the MHS Men’s and Women’s teams qualified to race in the final state meet of the season. The Men’s team was led with seasoned members including senior Brycen Talbot, running in his fourth straight XC state race, and juniors Boston Burbidge and Levi Angell.
The experience, grit and willpower motivated the boys team to an overall 2nd place finish as well as three top twenty medaling finishes. Burbidge finished first for Malad, earning an incredible 3rd place finish with a new personal best time of 16:15.95 for the 3000M (1.86 mile) course. Talbot placed 16th at 17:32.46, followed closely by Angell in 20th place at 17:40.98. The race was highly competitive with just under two minutes from the first place finish to the 20th and only 15 seconds deciding places 11-20.
The Lady Dragons XC team was made up largely by young freshman races that had far less experience at the state level, but made up for it with incredible grit and resolve. Leading the charge for the MHS women’s team was Aezlyn Summers, coming in to the finish line in 7th place and with a personal best of 19:55.48. Kaycee Venable medaled with Summers as she earned 19th place at 20:48.74, also a personal best.
Finding strength and confidence running together, Kallee Talbot, Ellie Angell, Brielle Bastian, and Samantha Schrenk came across the finish line one after another with Adi Schow just three places behind. Their speed, strategy and teamwork earned the young races an overall 4th place finish, something they could hardly be more surprised and equally proud of.
Coach Talbot shared that coming into the race she and her team knew that finishing in the top teams was a realistic goal but it didn’t mean that there weren’t challenges to overcome along the way. The night before the race, Angell fell sick and was unsure if he would be able to compete. Freshman alternate Dawson Beutler stood ready to step up if needed, but he and his team knew that the only way they would stand a chance at bringing home a trophy was if Angell ran his race.
Still feeling weak and unwell, Angell lined up at the starting line with his team. It might not have been his best race, but it was just enough for a top 20 finish and just enough to help his team with their second place finish.
Earlier in the season, Coach Talbot had scheduled to bring her team to race on what she knew would be the state meet course. Due to later conflicts, the team had to pull out of the race, which meant that her young team would be running the course for the very first time in their final race of the season. “It’s a difficult course with a steep hill, varying terrain and even sandy stretches,” said Coach Talbot. But this challenge was just another that the MHS XC met head on.
Looking back just days after the exciting weekend of races, Coach Talbot says, “I get chills every time I think about everything this team has done to accomplish what they have. They have been running in June, pushing themselves for months and it has paid off. Already we are looking forward to the next season because this team just has something special.”