T-falls boys finish first in first meet
Photo by Aaric Bryan Hot Springs’ Drew Flagen and Thompson Falls’ Taylor Bradley battle it out down the homestretch of the 200-meter dash at the Drummond/Alberton Invitational. Bradley finished just ahead of Flagen with a time of 25.2 seconds.
The Thompson Falls boys' track team hit the ground running. In the first track meet of the year they sprinted out in front of 17 other teams and scored 80 points to take home the Drummond/Alberton Invitational crown Thursday.
“They did pretty good. At the first meet of the year, you have a lot of questions to answers,” said Bluehawk coach Randy Symon. Symon said that to beat 17 other teams at the Dornblaser Stadium in Missoula wasn't easy. “That's a pretty big meet. To win is not an easy thing to do,” he said.
If Symon had any questions about his team's strength in the javelin they were answered. The Bluehawks finished in all top six positions, except for second. While Symon expected the Bluehawks to be strong in the javelin, he was surprised who won the event. He said Will Dalby's first place throw of 153 feet, 3 inches was a welcomed surprise. He said he was expected, Jason Flemmer, who went to state in the javelin last year, to win the event. Flemmer finished in third with a throw of 149 feet and three inches.
Thompson Falls' Brian Schenavar started his season strong by finishing first in the pole vault. Schenavar, who broke the school record last year with a vault of 14 feet, 1 inch, out-vaulted all other vaulters by a foot. Schenavar finished with the height of 13 feet, six inches. “That's a great start for him,” Symon said. The senior also finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.74 seconds.
Bluehawk senior Jason Shaw finished in second place in the shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 3 inches and Eugene Benesch finished in second in the discus. Steve Block finished in third in the 800 meters and ran the 400-meter dash in 55.34 seconds to finish fourth.
The Lady Hawks scored 39 points to finish in sixth place. The Lady Hawk's sixth-place finish was anchored by the performances of Rheanna Padden, Delcie Peters and Becca Gunderson.
Padden finished in second in the javelin with a throw of 111 feet. The junior also finished in third in the 100-meter hurdles, fifth in the pole vault and was on the fourth place 1600-meter relay team. Peters, a junior, finished in second in the pole vault with a height of 7 feet and was fourth in the 800-meter run and was also on the 1600-meter relay team. Gunderson finished in second in the 800-meter run and fifth in the 1600-meter run. Symon said that the sophomore had a big debut.
“They all had a good performance. They did everything they're capable of,” said Symon.
The Savage Heat took 19 athletes to the event and their coach Dustin Herbert was pleased with their effort. “There were a lot of good early year marks,” Herbert said. “They're all making progress and that's all I want to see,” he said.
“The girls were able to score 19 points, so I was happy with that,” Herbert said. The Savage Heat's 19 points put them in ninth place.
Eight of Hot Spring's 19 points came in the jumping events. Matea DePoe finished fourth in the long jump, Randi Arnold finished in fifth in the long jump and Devon White finished fifth in the triple jump.
The Savage Heats highest finish came in the 4x400-meter relay. The team of Arnold, White, Jordon Fisher and Richelle Flagen ran the 1600 meters in 4 minutes and 42 seconds. Fisher also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash and Flagen finished fifth in the 400-meter dash. Riley Pavelich had a sixth place finish in the 3,200-meter run for Hot Springs.
The only one on the boys' team to place for the Savage Heat was Reiley Winebrenner. Winebrenner finished in fifth place in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.74 seconds.
Both teams will be at county track meet Thursdays in Plains. The meet was initially scheduled to be in Thompson Falls, but was moved to Plains because the Bluehawk's field is still wet from the heavy winter snow.