Bigfork freshman Makena Morley isn’t accustomed to finishing anywhere in the standings except first place, but I’m willing to bet she’s happy with her ninth place finish at Saturday’s National Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in San Diego. After all, she was competing against the best high school runners in the nation and she was only one of two freshmen to even qualify for the national finals.
Morley, who won the Class B state title in record-breaking time in October, completed the Foot Locker national course in 17:40, which was 18 seconds behind the winner, Molly Seidel, a senior from University Lake School in Hartland, Wis. Seidel and second-place Erin Finn, a junior from West Bloomfield, Mich., were the only girls to finish under 17:30. Just six seconds separated Morley from third place.
After Morley placed third at Foot Locker’s west regionals a week ago, qualifying her for nationals, I spoke with longtime Flathead cross country coach Paul Jorgensen, a veritable encyclopedia of Montana distance running facts. He said Morley was the fifth Montana girl ever to qualify for nationals. I haven’t spoken with him since Saturday’s race, but I’d be curious to know how many of those other girls finished as high as ninth. I know Flathead’s Zoe Nelson did it multiple times, including her sophomore season when she was the Foot Locker national champion.
Even in the absence of consulting Jorgensen for specifics, I think it’s safe to say this: Morley’s ninth-place finish was one of the finest running performances ever by a Montana girl on a national stage. Congrats, Makena. In your first months of high school, you’ve quite literally hit the ground running.