The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks 2019 Cross Country team (L-R): Emily Maughan, Sariah Maughan, Hannah Ayers and Jayla Kauffman.
The Seeley-Swan Blackhawks 2019 Cross Country team (L-R): Levi Reinitz and Chase Haines.
DEER LODGE – The Seeley-Swan Blackhawks were one of four teams that participated in the inaugural 5K race at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge Aug. 30. Despite battling the heat, the Ladies swept the top three spots.
Seeley-Swan, Arlee, Thompson Falls and Deer Lodge brought runners to the field. The race was delayed so the Ladies didn't start until around 10:30 a.m. The 5K loop course took runners through pasture, long grass, short grass and then finished on a gravel road.
"It was all open and no trees so it was very warm," said Head Coach Zelda Haines.
The Ladies started out in a group and three stayed in the lead for the entire race.
Sophomore Sariah Maughan started off strong but couldn't keep her pace after playing in four long volleyball games against Arlee the night before.
Freshman Emily Maughan followed her sister for the first two miles and then she took the lead. Emily won the race with a time of 22:43.52. Sariah finished second in 23:18.06.
"Emily will be a force to be reckoned with," said Haines. "She's been killing it in practice."
Sophomore Hannah Ayers came in third. Even though she had to stop at the two mile mark because of the heat, she beat fourth place by more than 40 seconds with a time of 24:25.38.
Senior Jayla Kauffman, who also plays volleyball, ran her best opening meet finishing in 11th place with a time of 31:24.06.
"I was really encouraged by how well she did," said Haines. "We would have won the meet but we didn't have a fifth runner [for a complete team]."
The Maughan sisters and Ayers each received a hand-made medal that was a four-inch disk with the ranch's brand burned into it.
Since the race was delayed, the boys didn't start their race until 11:30. The boys were slower than they had hoped. Coach Haines attributed it to the heat.
Freshman Chase Haines led the boys finishing in ninth place with a time of 24:16. Senior Levi Reinitz followed him in taking 10th place with a time of 25:58.47.
Following the meet, the runners enjoyed a free Taco bar.
The team heads to Big Sky Sept. 5. Freshman and seniors will run separately and sophomores and juniors will run together.
"We are just hoping to get some more kids to help us complete a team," said Haines. "It would be so nice."
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