Running Wildfire

• Marah Friez

Press Photo by Dustin Monke Mott-Regent sophomore Marah Friez, above, has the state’s best times in the 100 and 200 meters entering this weekend’s Class B state track and field meet.
• Abby Honeyman

Mott-Regent freshman Abby Honeyman runs the 100-meter hurdles, one of four events she'll compete in this weekend at the Class B state track and field meet.

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Some kids shoot hoops all summer to get better at basketball. Football and volleyball players attend as many camps as they can in an effort to improve.

Marah Friez and Abby Honeyman? The Mott-Regent duo dedicate themselves to track and field — and it has shown in their performances this spring.

Friez, a sophomore, has Class B’s best times in the 100 and 200 meters coming into this weekend’s state track and field meet at the Bismarck Community Bowl.

Honeyman, a freshman, is seeded in the top five of the triple jump, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.

The duo also join sophomore McKayla Roll and freshman Alyssa Olin for the 800-meter relay, which has Class B’s second-fastest time by less than one-tenth of a second.

“Everyone is just really dedicated and everyone goes out every time and does their best,” Honeyman said. “It’s really fun to be with them. Everyone pushes everyone. Everyone helps each other try to do their best.”

It all begins with Friez though.

She has times of 12.44 seconds in the 100 and 25.54 seconds in the 200. She anchors the 800 relay team, which has a season-best time of 51.45.

Mott-Regent coach Ron Benson said it’s hard to tell Friez to slow down.

He tried telling a winded Friez to take the 1,600 relay easy at the Region 8 meet last week.

She didn’t. Instead, she took the baton with the Wildfire in seventh place and moved her team up to third.

“She can’t run without running hard,” Benson said. “She’s competitive. She won’t go out there just to do it half speed. It’s not in her nature.”

Honeyman is the same way, Benson said. But he added that her season was much more of a surprise.

“I had a hunch she’d be pretty good,” Benson said, “just not this good, this quick.”

The lanky freshman exceeded Benson’s expectations early in the season when she began winning the hurdle events with ease.

Honeyman said she put in a lot of work last summer and got a boost from Dickinson State University’s acceleration training program.

“I didn’t imagine I’d ever get this far this year,” Honeyman said.

Though they are young, Friez and Honeyman are both quickly becoming veterans of the state track meet.

Friez was an all-state finisher in the 100 and 200 as an eighth-grader and freshman. She was the runner-up in the 200 last year. Honeyman went for the first time last year in two relay events.

The nerves will still be there this time around, Friez said, mostly because she has never run the 400 meters in this big of a setting. But mostly, she added, the meet is old hat.

“I didn’t know what to expect two years ago. Now I just kind of know,” Friez said. “You have to come with a positive attitude every time. You have to do your best for your team.”

If the Wildfire get off to a good start Friday, competing for the team could take on an entirely different meaning.

As points begin to get spread around to different teams at the Class B state meet, often it doesn’t take many to win the title. This year, the Wildfire believe the possibility exists for them to take home a title.

If the Wildfire compile points according to where they are seeded, they would score 59. In theory, that could be good enough to win the title. A couple above-average finishes here and there, and Mott-Regent’s point total could increase quickly.

Bowman County won a state championship in 2008 with 62 points. That season the Bulldogs were the Region 8 runner-up, just like Mott-Regent was last Saturday.

“If everything goes right at the meet, there’s a good chance we’ll be right up there,” Honeyman said.

Benson said his goal for the girls is a top-five finish as a team.

But, he added that they have the physical tools and the willpower to do much better than that.

“They’re competitive,” Benson said. “It’s hard to teach that. They’ve got that competitive spirit.”

If the Wildifre don’t win a state title this year, they won’t fret. The team is taking no seniors and just one junior to the meet.

“It could be this year. If not, we have two more years to do it,” Friez said. “Every year we should be getting better, we hope.”

Tags: track and field, mott-regent wildfire, marah friez, abby honeyman, sports, preps