First meet sees strong victories for Alberton

ALBERTON – After only a week of practice the Alberton Panthers Track and Field team came back from their first meet in Ronan with some good results.

Alberton did not have a very big group at the meet. Only nine of the 20 kids on the team competed.

Three of those nine did especially well and got high points in their events. This included an early first place victory by junior Andrew Lommen in the discus throw.

Along with the first place victory, Lommen also took second place in the shot put. Senior Keir Sanzano took third place in the shot put and fifth place in the discus. The girls on the team also did very well with Delaney Hanley taking second place in the discus

There were no competitors in the javelin throw for this meet. Because of wet conditions on the field, the event was cancelled due to safety concerns. Standing water on the field led to concerns about athletes slipping on the wet grass and injuring themselves or others.

The guys on the team had a good overall performance and took a team total of 34 points. They had a good spread with eight points in the 300 meter hurdle, 14 points in shot put and a total of 12 in discus. The girls got a team total of 16 points, getting eight in the discus and shot put.

Clevenger said none of the Alberton kids performed at their best, but it was not unexpected this early in the season. Because this was only the first meet, and after only a week of practice, she said it was normal for the athletes to have some room to grow.

“It’s what we would expect at this time because we can just build on that,” Clevenger said.

The group’s performances got the coach excited for the competition. All the kids brought in good numbers for it being the first meet. Clevenger felt this was a good sign for the upcoming season and success at the Ronan competition made the future look good.

“It was a good day, it was pretty nice out,” Clevenger said. “So, yeah, it’s exciting right now.”

The athletes who did not participate had not attended the 10 practice sessions required to compete. Clevenger was confident the team would be at full strength soon and those kids would get their remaining practices finished quickly.

Alberton’s next meet will be on Thursday, April 3, at the University of Montana ’s Dornblazer field in Missoula. Clevenger felt the meet would go even better because they would have more kids available to participate. She was also hopeful the Alberton athletes who were at Ronan would be able to improve their performances.

“We’ll see if those kids can’t get a better score next week,” Clevenger said. “We’ll just keep working week to week.”