Makena makes Montana proud

It wasn’t enough that Bigfork running sensation Makena Morley made her mark on Montana tracks and cross-country courses or established herself in national competition.

Now she’s done it on an international stage.

On Saturday in Scotland, Morley outran a field of the best cross-country athletes in the world to win the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International Challenge.

Wow!

We’ve spoken in superlative terms in the past about Morley’s dominance of high school racing in Montana and her performances at regional and national meets.

A four-time Gatorade Montana cross-country athlete of the year, she obliterated state and course records on her way to four straight Class B state championships.

Now the Bigfork High School senior has taken it to an even higher level. 

She’s the pacemaker on Team USA, made up of six of the nation’s top distance runners under 20 years old. Her triumph in Edinburgh vaulted the Americans to the team title over Team Great Britain and Team Europe.

Kudos, again, for the latest in the long line of races well run for Morley, who is headed to the University of Montana in the fall.

Support Wings radiothon

There are some stories that never get old. The Wings radiothon is one of them. 

Every year at the end of January, Wings Regional Cancer Support holds its fund-raiser on Bee Broadcasting at the Kalispell Sportsman & Ski Haus store, and every year thousands of dollars are raised to help Wings carry on its mission of assisting families fighting cancer in Flathead, Lake and Lincoln counties.

Those families face thousands of dollars in medical expenses, but there are also costs incurred for travel, hotels and other expenses needed to support the cancer patient. That’s where Wings comes in. It helps lighten the load and make a heavy burden more bearable.

If you want to help out, visit Sportsman in Kalispell today from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. or visit the website at www.wingsnwmontana.com.