County tracksters compete at Big Sky
Photo by Nick Ianniello Alberton Lady Panther Becca Petersen gets her balance after her long jump in the Seeley-Swan Track Meet at Big Sky High School Saturday. Petersen’s longest jump of the day was 12 feet, 4 1/2 inches.
In spite of dismal weather, Mineral County sent its best track athletes to Missoula Saturday to compete in the Seeley-Swan Invitational at Big Sky High School.
Buses left St. Regis, Superior and Alberton early in the morning in a flurry of snow to get to cold but clear skies in Missoula for the first half of the meet, which started at 10 a.m.
There were 20 schools at the meet, which was dominated in the girl’s category by Hamilton with 70 points and in the boy’s category, Frenchtown with 64 points.
By the end of the day, the clear skies gave way to snow clouds and the two-mile run, 3,200-meter run and 1,600-meter relay were all called off because of inclement weather.
The St. Regis Tigers suffered the most in the hands of the cold weather, not managing to score a point the whole day. Head coach Gena Ferlan said that the weather prevented her athletes from competing up to their full potential.
Even without scoring, the Tigers still managed to get some personal bests during the meet.
Willy Roper got a personal best time on the 1,600 meter with a 5:19.
Brianna Managhan set a personal best for herself and broke a school record in the mile run with a time of 6:25. She also set personal bests in four other events, the 100-meter run with a time of 20.56, the 400-meter run with a time of 1:11 and the discus with a throw of 79 feet.
“The other kids did really well, but due to the weather they really didn’t get their best times,” said Ferlan.
Head coach Rachael Clevenger said that the Alberton Panthers had a good day despite the cold weather. “It was a surprising day actually, that they did as well as they did,” said Clevenger.
The boys placed sixth overall for the day with 36 points.
James Wemple placed first in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, 11 inches and third in the triple jump with a distance of 41 feet, 5 inches.
Phillip Brovold placed fourth in the javelin with a throw of 146 feet, 6 inches.
Jordan Johnson nabbed fourth place in the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 7 inches.
“As far as the runners were concerned, everybody was actually getting better times, even though the weather was so cold,” Clevenger said.
The boys 400 relay team placed fourth with a time of 46.62. The team consisted of Blaine Myrstol, James Wemple, Jerry Brovold and Jordan Johnson.
The girls track team did not place overall. However, the 400 relay team got sixth place with a time of 56.01. The girls relay team consisted of Becca Petersen, Jenna Rausch, Shauna Hendrickson and Cleo Talbot.
Talbot also shaved eight seconds off of her mile to finish with a time of 6:08.
“I think overall we did really well. Lots of people improved on their times and that’s what we want. You can’t really ask for anything more on such a cold day,” Clevenger said.
The Superior Bobcats did not take a full team to the event because of the snow.
“There was just so much snow and it was so cold we made it optional,” said head coach Tori Lucier.
Despite only having a team of 13 athletes, the Lady Bobcats still managed to get 22 points, all of which came from Jessica Sperry.
Sperry nabbed first place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.09 and third place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.93. She also got third place in the long jump with a distance of 14 feet, 7 inches.
Lucier said that the letting some of her athletes stay home from the event was a good decision because it allowed them some time to rest. She said that several of her Bobcats pulled or strained muscles during their last meet and they needed the rest.