By Ashley Emmons

The Broadus Lady Hawk Cross Country team made school history and finished in the top 10 at State in their first year of competition! Our three competitors came in ninth out of 20 complete teams competing in the girls' Class C division. The team traveled to Missoula along with 101 other schools across the state to run in their season ending race. This all-class event took place on the University of Montana's golf course. There were just over one-thousand competitors in all the classes combined and 111 runners in the Class C girls race.

The atmosphere of the state cross country meet was an unforgettable experience. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all day, with plenty of sun and perfect temperatures for running. Mount Sentinel provided a spectacular backdrop looking over the UM golf course for three to four thousand spectators who came to cheer on all of the competitors. People cheered on the runners from various spots around the course, and the last 200 meters of the race was lined shoulder to shoulder with people cheering each runner to the finish. With such a great environment and perfect fall weather, it was no surprise that we were able to witness a handful of new state records be set throughout the day.

Class C girls were selected to run the first race this year, and the starting gun sounded off at 11:00 am. The Broadus team finished 9th overall in class C. Rachel Rasmussen finished the race with a time of 24:16 and that put her in 34th place. In 40th place, Lea Aye came in next and crossed the finish line with a time of 24:53. Abbie Heacock came in close behind the other two with a time of 26:14 and placed 58th. All of the girls ran excellent races and put a great cap on their first season of cross country.

I would like to thank everyone who helped throughout the season and I am especially proud of our three freshman runners who made up our team this year. They gained invaluable experience and will be the base of our program for the next three years. I look forward to taking them and hopefully several more runners to the state meet in Great Falls next fall!