Bobcat boys take 8 events

The Superior boys finished in first in eight of 17 events at the 14C District Track Meet in Polson Thursday to finish in second place and send 13 boys to the divisional meet.

The Bobcats racked up 189 points, which was over 100 more than third place Hot Springs. Charlo led all five schools competing in the boys event, finishing with 244 points.

Bobcat senior David Repke, who started his career as a long-distance runner, proved he also had a knack for the short-distance races, finishing in first in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes. Repke ran the 100 in 11:80 seconds and finished just ahead of teammate Drew Walen in the 200 with a time of 23.60 seconds. Repke finished over a second ahead of everybody in the 400 with a time of 53.19 seconds.

Bobcat coach Tori Lucier said Repke wasn’t satisfied with his three first-place finishes. She said after finishing fourth in the 800-meter run, an event he took to state last year, he told the long-distance coach he would get his time down. Lucier said Repke is competitive and a great athlete and she has no doubt he’ll be able to get his time in the 800 where it should be.

Strong winds in Polson Thursday couldn’t stop the Bobcats’ late-season dominance in throwing events. Superior finished first in all three throwing events. “They’ve really stepped it up. They’ve been steadily improving as the season’s been going,” Lucier said.

Weston Super won the shot put with a throw of 45 feet, 11 inches. Super’s personal best throw was three feet further than the second-place finisher. Rob Cole finished in first ahead of teammate Chris Chatterley in the javelin with a throw of 140 feet, 1 inch. Bobcat senior Jake Higgins finished first in the discus with a throw of 122 feet.

The Bobcats also dominated the jumping events. Tyler Stenberg, who has been nursing a leg injury, returned to the form which let him advance to state last year and compete in the top 10 meet this year in the triple jump. Stenberg won the triple jump with a distance of 41 feet, 5 inches. “He seems to be back,” Lucier said. Bajin Smith won the long jump with a jump of 19 feet, 7 1/2 inches and Wesley Yarnall finished second in the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 8 inches.

The Lady Bobcats finished in third with 110 points and had 10 girls advance to the divisional meet. Charlo won the girls event with 156 points and Hot Springs came in second with 156 points.

Bobcat senior Jessica Sperry, who has been nursing a lower leg injury since the top 10 meet April 22, finished in second in the 100, 400, javelin and the long jump. Sperry was just edged out in the 100 by Noxon’s Kimmy Moore. Moore finished in 13.23 seconds and Sperry finished in 13.24 seconds. “She ran with pain all day,” said Lucier. “I thought she ran real well coming off an injury.”

Lucier said that Sperry was told to ice down her leg over the weekend and her being able to compete at the divisional meet is still up in the air. “We don’t want to make it worse,” she said.

Bobcat sophomore Shelby Cooper finished in second in the 200, fifth in 400 and sixth in the triple jump. In the 200, Cooper finished just ahead of Sperry, with a time 27.40 seconds. “I think she is doing exceptional for a sophomore,” Lucier said.

The Western C divisional meet will be at the Missoula County Stadium Friday and Saturday. Four districts with 20 teams will be competing with the top five finishers in each event qualifying for the state tournament. Lucier said her expectations are high for the meet. “I think we can do something,” she said. “I think we’re going to do pretty well, we had a lot of first and second place finishes at districts,” she said.