One of the best athletes ever from Montana?

[kennethnoisewater]

I'll take a beating for saying this because she won't go pro and nobody (especially me) cares about cross-country. But Bigfork's Makena Morley needs to be in the conversation, at least after she finishes her career. She has never lost a race in cross-country and she just finished her Junior season. She broke the all-class record by 15 seconds (an eternity, especially when nobody is pushing her), and that was set by Zoe Nelson, who went on to run at Oregon. She's been the Gatorade Runner of the Year each of her first two years and is a lock for it this year. I don't see her not winning it next year either. She has a handful of state titles in track too, and will get a handful more before it's all said and done. She was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" this week.

I'm a track coach at Bigfork (throwing events), so I'm a little biased, but it's hard not to put her in the conversation if you look at everything. She's one of the top runners in the nation, and she's gotten considerably better this year. If you have a chance to watch her run at a track meet this year, take advantage of that. And come say hello to me...I'll be out in the south 40 watching the big uglies throw stuff around. My real name is not Kenneth Noisewater, by the way.

[WeedKillinCat]

The Aragon girls from Billings Senior seem to dominate cross country and track. The older 2 are on scholarships at Notre Dame and the sophomore @ Senior just won state cross country

[kennethnoisewater]

The Aragon girls from Billings Senior seem to dominate cross country and track. The older 2 are on scholarships at Notre Dame and the sophomore @ Senior just won state cross country

They are impressive, no doubt. But to give some context, Morley's time at state this year was almost a full minute faster than Christine Aragon's this year, and over a minute faster than Dani's in 2011 (their best performances at state). Both of those times are in the top 10 all time in class AA. Morley is only the second girl in Montana to run the 3-more race in under 17 minutes... and she did it by 25 seconds.

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[Whitefish cats]

I can't argue with you. Morley is indeed is a very special athlete and seems like a great kid as well. Not sure I can recall a high school athlete being that dominant in their sport over their high school career. Seems to still be getting better too. The Aragon girls dominate in the shorter runs in track, 800 especially, and as good as they are in XC they just aren't in Makena's league, which helps to show how impressive she really is.

[RickRund]

As a runner myself, albeit a VERY old runner, this is impressive.....

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[Platinumcat]

According to one site, her time ranks as 7th best in the nation this year. All-American type status. Pretty cool.

[altonsuny]

Keep an eye on 3 sport star Jesse Simms from Stevi. He's very much like former Flathead and Nebraska standout Mark Gillman. The kid will easily get D1 looks for football and is already on the radar for D1 hoops as he's been playing in national AAU tournaments for quite a while. I live in Washington and heard about him a few years ago when he was an 8th grader.

[Cat Grad]

Makena is incredible. What are the times for her 8th grade sibling?

[kennethnoisewater]

Makena is incredible. What are the times for her 8th grade sibling?

Her little sister Bryn ran the 1,600 in 4:47 (right around the all-class record for high school girls) at a middle school meet this year and placed in the 1,500 at a national meet this summer. She's a slightly different runner than Makena--better at the shorter distances, not as strong in the longer distance. They'll be fun to watch this coming year.

[Jobu]

Damn impressive. As a distance runner, I love to see a Montanan putting up those kinds of times.

[kennethnoisewater]

The all-class record for the girls' 1,600 is 4:48.24, set by Chiara Warner of Townsend in 2013. Problem is, to be a state record, a person has to run it at a state meet. The problem with that is that many great runners will run four or five events in a two-day meet, possibly taking a little bit away from their times. With that said, however, Warner's 4:48 was the best time she ever recorded in a meet. Bryn Morley was under that twice in middle school meets last year. Interestingly, there was a girl from Kalispell Middle School (not sure which high school she'll attend next year) who was also around (or under) 4:50. I'd be willing to bet there's never been a high school meet in Montana with two girls running a 1,600 in under 4:50. For reference, Zoe Nelson's (Flathead HS) best time in the 1,600 was 4:54.8.

Speaking of Zoe, who is regarded by many as the best distance runner ever from MT, her best time in the 3,200 is 10:26.18. Makena Morley's best time in that event in Montana is 10:27.74. At a national meet in California, however, she ran a 10:16.38, which, adjusted for altitude, would be 6-7 seconds slower.

As for Cross Country, Makena broke the 3-mile record last year by 15 seconds (previously held by Nelson), running 16:35.31. After Nelson, the next-best time (all-class) is 17:25.56 by Caroline Hardin of Bozeman in 2011. It's clear that Makena is better as distances get longer. Barring injury or a surprise phenom this fall, she should win her fourth-consecutive Gatorade POY in Cross Country. I'd like to know how many athletes have ever accomplished that in any sport.

[Cat Grad]

I'll take a beating for saying this because she won't go pro and nobody (especially me) cares about cross-country. But Bigfork's Makena Morley needs to be in the conversation, at least after she finishes her career. She has never lost a race in cross-country and she just finished her Junior season. She broke the all-class record by 15 seconds (an eternity, especially when nobody is pushing her), and that was set by Zoe Nelson, who went on to run at Oregon. She's been the Gatorade Runner of the Year each of her first two years and is a lock for it this year. I don't see her not winning it next year either. She has a handful of state titles in track too, and will get a handful more before it's all said and done. She was featured in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" this week.

I'm a track coach at Bigfork (throwing events), so I'm a little biased, but it's hard not to put her in the conversation if you look at everything. She's one of the top runners in the nation, and she's gotten considerably better this year. If you have a chance to watch her run at a track meet this year, take advantage of that. And come say hello to me...I'll be out in the south 40 watching the big uglies throw stuff around. My real name is not Kenneth Noisewater, by the way.

The all-class record for the girls' 1,600 is 4:48.24, set by Chiara Warner of Townsend in 2013. Problem is, to be a state record, a person has to run it at a state meet. The problem with that is that many great runners will run four or five events in a two-day meet, possibly taking a little bit away from their times. With that said, however, Warner's 4:48 was the best time she ever recorded in a meet. Bryn Morley was under that twice in middle school meets last year. Interestingly, there was a girl from Kalispell Middle School (not sure which high school she'll attend next year) who was also around (or under) 4:50. I'd be willing to bet there's never been a high school meet in Montana with two girls running a 1,600 in under 4:50. For reference, Zoe Nelson's (Flathead HS) best time in the 1,600 was 4:54.8.

Speaking of Zoe, who is regarded by many as the best distance runner ever from MT, her best time in the 3,200 is 10:26.18. Makena Morley's best time in that event in Montana is 10:27.74. At a national meet in California, however, she ran a 10:16.38, which, adjusted for altitude, would be 6-7 seconds slower.

As for Cross Country, Makena broke the 3-mile record last year by 15 seconds (previously held by Nelson), running 16:35.31. After Nelson, the next-best time (all-class) is 17:25.56 by Caroline Hardin of Bozeman in 2011. It's clear that Makena is better as distances get longer. Barring injury or a surprise phenom this fall, she should win her fourth-consecutive Gatorade POY in Cross Country. I'd like to know how many athletes have ever accomplished that in any sport.

I'm extremely happy to see a family such as the Morley's instill in their kids their love of lifetime sports and as an added bonus, they'll enjoy running competitively at a great college with most of their education paid for and in all probability return to Swan Lake. I'm certain Dylan Carlson appreciates all the Bigfork schools did for her and she made me kind of a Kansas State fan just to watch her cheer. She wouldn't have received that scholarship without y'all providing a place for the KSU cheerleading camps through the years. Not to derail your thread, but how cool would it have been to have had a state basketball tournament such as the old Big 32 this year? Glad to see the small schools producing not just state level athletes but national level athletes again.