Horsemen boys place third at Seeley Invite

For every track meet that Plains attends you can always seem to expect two things: Dillon Fryxell will be sitting at the top of the high jump standings and Trent Thompson will take home a first place in one of the throwing events.

For every track meet that Plains attends you can always seem to expect two things: Dillon Fryxell will be sitting at the top of the high jump standings and Trent Thompson will take home a first place in one of the throwing events.

However, one more thing you can now expect this year is that Taylor Firestone will be the longest leaper in the triple jump.

Firestone once again took home first place in both the triple and long jump at the Seeley Invitational this weekend. So far, he has placed first in the triple jump at every meet he's competed at this year except the opening meet, which he shrugs away as first meet nerves and mistakes.

Not only is he placing first, but he's also beating his own records. On Saturday he triple jumped 43-9.5, good enough to serve as the second best mark in the state this year, while long jumping 21-3, both personal records. He now sits an agonizing five inches shy of the school record held by Boone Daniels.

"It would just give me that much more drive as a senior to break it again," says Firestone as he thinks of breaking the school record.

As for his aforementioned track mates, they both also had huge meets on Saturday. Trent Thompson threw a personal record of 50-5 in the shot put to capture first, while also placing second in the discus with a throw of 156, his best throw of the year.

Although his throws on Saturday were impressive, Thompson still expects even more of himself in the future. He says he throws 170s in the discus at practice and also throws further in the shot put, it's just a matter of getting that mark down officially.

"It could be a lot better, but to finally break the 50 mark feels really good," says Thompson. Thompson's mark on Saturday is the second best shot put throw in all classes this year.

As for Fryxell, he didn't quite break his own record as he jumped 6-6, but he did dominate the competition as the second place jumper at the meet jumped well short of his mark only making it to 5-10. His high for the year, 6-8 1/2 is 1/2 an inch shy of the state's best mark this year jumped by a high jumper from Billings West.

The three boys along with Carter Montgomery could make things very interesting for the Plains' boys team this year at the state level. With the three boys leading Class B in one event each they could theoretically snag 30 points at the state meet without including the other events they may place at or Montgomery's efforts. It's something that has been on Firestone's mind for quite awhile.

"I think we have a pretty good chance," says Firestone. "I think we can do it."

For throwing coach James Jermyn there is a big difference this year than last year in terms of confidence.

"The big difference is that they know that they can place at state," says Jermyn. "They're all right there it's just a matter of who has the day."

On the girls' side senior Heather Earhart had a big throw in the javelin of 106-8 as she placed third in the competition to be the sole Trotter who placed at the meet.

On Tuesday, the boys headed to the Top 10 meet in Missoula, which Thompson says is an opportunity to watch the other great athletes from the state and to pick up some of their techniques. For Firestone, his first invitation to the Top 10 meet just fuels his desire to get better in his events.

"It makes me get the drive, to know that I'm one of the best in state. It makes me want to jump even higher," says Firestone.