Makena Morley takes third at national championship
<p>Makena Morley cruises to her fourth class B state cross country championship Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 at Bill Roberts Golf Course in Helena. Morley broke her own state record with a time of 16:33.20. She went on to take third at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals.</p>
It’s official. Makena Morley is one of the fastest high school runners in the country.
The Bigfork High School senior placed third on Saturday at the Foot Locker cross country Nationals in San Diego with a time of 17:23.
She came out fast and stayed within the top pack for the first half of the race, before eventual winner Anna Rohrer of Indiana and second place finisher Ryen Frazier of North Carolina pulled ahead.
“Right around the two mile mark I lost focus for like two seconds, and that’s when the gap kind of formed,” Morley said. Once she realized Rohrer and Frazier were too far ahead to catch she focused on keeping her third place position.
“It felt really good,” she said. “I definitely wanted to win it, but I gave it everything at that race.”
Morley has competed in the national championship race all four years of her high school career. She placed eighth as a junior, 24th as a sophomore and ninth as a freshman.
Her freshman sister Bryn made her first appearance at the national championship and finished 26th with a time of 18:33. Glacier High School’s Annie Hill, also a freshman, competed as well and finished eighth with a time of 17:52.
“To have Bryn and Annie both down there, it was awesome,” Makena Morley said.