The MHS Cross Country team jumped into their 2025 with their first meet Thursday, August 28.  Malad hosted their annual Terry Jones Invitational meet, honoring the long time Dragon XC coach.  The day featured a total of six races with more than twelve teams from northern Utah and southeastern Idaho, totalling over 650 runners. 

The rainy days leading up to the race were both a blessing and a hindrance.  The inches of fresh rain left puddles and a muddy course, forcing a last minute change to the running route.  On the flip side, the temperatures settled at 75 degrees, 20 degrees short of the blistering heat the annual runs usually faced.  

The Lady Dragon varsity team toed up to the starting line promptly at 4pm for the first of the high school races.  The 2025 MHS women’s team is made up of a number of underclassmen, led by juniors Jenna Talbot and Kaycee Venable.  Sophomores Ellie Angell, Brielle Bastian, Aezlyn Summers, and Kallee Talbot make up the majority of the team with Katie Palmer the lone freshman.  

Despite being young, the Malad team is made up of talented runners.  Summers came in at 20:57.72 for a fourth place finish, just 51 seconds behind first place.  Bastian rounded up the top 10 with a time of 21:37.02.  With the Lady Dragons racers coming across the finish line earlier in the race, the team tallied 69 points for second place finish.  

The MHS men’s varsity followed with a number of their own impressive finishes for the race.  Senior Bostyn Burbidge began another great season with his fourth place finish and a time of 16:25.85, shaving off 1:19 from his time on the same course last season.  Freshman Jace Nalder trailed in sixth place at 16:36.93.  Making up the remainder of the Dragon varsity XC team, Joseph Angell, Levi Angell, Dawson Beutler, Caden Jeppson, and Braun Nalder came across the finish line in a notable fashion to award them just 80 for third place behind Highland and Rigby who tied for first place.

Hosting the opening meet brings an extra layer of challenge for the Malad cross country coaching staff and admin.  Head Coach Tia Talbot shared,”I’m so grateful for my assistant coaches, Tylee Skinner, Kooper Daniels, and Shauna Nalder, and everyone who helps us pull off the meet!  From the maintenance crew with course set up, to AD Mr. Price and the other administrators- Mr. Rupp, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Hannah.  It was great to have them all there!” 

Speaking of her team, Coach Talbot continued, “As always, I am so proud of all our runners!! I really thought they did awesome. The boys only got beat by Highland and Rigby, which are 6A schools! And the girls only got beat by Highland. I feel pretty good about a second and third place finish.

“After working hard at practice for 2.5 weeks it feels good to get a race in. Many of them started training before the first official practice on August 11th,” shared Coach Talbot in answer to what her team has done to prepare for the upcoming season.  As they have done in the past, the MHS XC team worked towards their 100 mile club, each athlete working to run over 100 miles during the summer months.

The 2025 Summer 100 Mile Club included:

Levi Angell - 400 mi

Jace Nalder - 400 mi

Joe Angell - 350 mi

Bostyn Burbidge - 250 mi

Aezlyn Summers - 250 mi

Ellie Angell - 250 mi

Cameron Allen - 220 mi

Dawson Beutler - 180 mi

Brecken Price - 140 mi

Caden Jeppson - 130 mi

Brex Martinsen - 100 mi

Coach Talbot had a few final shoutouts for her team as she celebrated the accomplishment of adjusting from the middle school race distance (2.5K) to the high school race distance and starting the season with new personal records.  Coach Talbot said, “I’m always impressed with the freshmen that double their distance from MS. On top of that, Jace had the fastest time of any freshman in all classifications for week 1!  Ellie, Brielle, Trigger and Kayson all STARTED the season with PRs.  I’m just so proud of what they have done to start this season.”

The MHS cross country team will next race in Soda Springs on Saturday, September 6 at they compete in the 2025 Cardinal Classic meet held at the Kelly Park Nordic Ski
Trails course.