Knapp shines for Thompson Falls
In a weekend meet where team points were in short supply for the Thompson Falls boys' and girls' team, Senior Charlie Knapp swept all three jumping events for the Bluehawks paving the way to a fourth place finish.
In a weekend meet where team points were in short supply for the Thompson Falls boys' and girls' team, Senior Charlie Knapp swept all three jumping events for the Bluehawks paving the way to a fourth place finish.
Knapp squeaked out victories in the long jump with a jump of 21-3 and in the triple jump as the only one to crack 40 feet besting that mark by six inches.
He then added to his point total by placing sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:16.47 and then finished off the jumping trifecta by jumping 6-1 on tired legs, having just ran the 800.
"He didn't have his best high jump," said Coach Randy Symon. "But he did well and did well enough to win the event."
It's Knapp's first year at the jumping events and last week he wowed his teammates by jumping 6-4 at Missoula. In all, Knapp finished the day with 31 points, more than half of the Bluehawks 57.5 points.
The team needed the lift from Knapp's stellar performance as both the girls and boys were hampered by the loss of several of their athletes who missed the meet because of ACT tests and several of their freshmen who competed in the freshmen category instead of the varsity category.
This especially hurt the girls as Hope Reid won the 100-yard dash and the 100-yard hurdles at the meet in the freshmen category, and has excelled at high jump as well. Another Freshmen Allison Vaught excels at the throwing events, but also competed in the freshmen category.
Despite the smaller team, the boys saw Stephen Blocke bounce back from getting a nail stuck in his foot during Easter weekend to place third in the 800 with a time of 2:09.83 and place fifth in the pole vault with a leap of 10-6.
Cody Phillips who beat out Blocke in the pole vault to place fourth with a leap of 11 feet, had a big day setting a personal record in the pole vault and set a personal record in the javelin as well
Will Dalby, one of the best javelin throwers in the state was beat out by Austin Landis of Corvallis with what Coach Symon calls a college level throw of 201-5 ½. Dalby came in second with a throw of 187-3.
On the girls' side, Senior Beca Gunderson once again led the way by placing third in the mile and 800 and Reid placed second in the 300 hurdles, the only event she competed in at the varsity level.
The team now gets a chance to stay home this weekend as they host the Thompson Falls Invitational featuring a number of teams that Thompson Falls hasn't gotten a real good look at yet including Plains and Eureka. The two teams met up in Corvallis for their first meet of the year, but many of Plains' athletes couldn't attend the meet.
It will also be the last home meet for the seniors on the team, which is always a special moment and a chance for the athletes to compete on an old-school dirt track.
"It's a unique track. It's the original. It's like Hoosiers playing in the old gym," says Coach Symon who prefaces this statement with the fact that it doesn't matter what you're running on you still have to go head to head with the person you're running against.