Trotters dominate Jim Johnson Invitational
PLAINS – The Trotters and Horsemen traveled to the Jim Johnson Invitational track and field meet on Thursday, April 3 at Dornblaser Field to compete against 13 other Class B and C schools. The invitational was named for Panthers coach and teacher Jim Johnson and was co-hosted by Alberton and Drummond.
This was the first meet of the season with the full teams competing so it was a better indication of what the rest of the season might bring. At the invitational in Ronan, the Trotters triumphed while the Horsemen struggled because of missing members. With the whole team together though, the Horsemen improved this time around.
Junior and defending State Wrestling Champion, Russell Kujala, took first in the 1,600 meter with a time of 4.57. He also placed third in the 3,200 meter race with a time of 11.05.
Seniors Ben Gorham and Wyatt Winebrenner nearly swept the throwing events. Gorham won the shot put with a distance of 46.08 feet. He also placed third in discus with a distance of 129.07. Winebrenner took first in discus with a throw of 136.09 and also placed fifth in javelin at 133.03 feet.
Caleb Connolly also contributed to the throwing standings by placing sixth in discus with a throw of 103.08 feet.
As a team, the Horsemen placed sixth overall out of 14 schools with a total score of 44.5 points.
The Trotters crushed the competition for the second time this season.
Nicole Rehbein and Shannon Diamond each placed in both the 100 and 200 meter runs. Rehbein placed second in the 100 meter with a time of 13.66 seconds. Diamond came in sixth with 13.92. In the 200 meter, Diamond got third place with a 28.47 time and Rehbein took fourth with 28.64 seconds.
Kimberly Earhart dominated the distance events by finishing first in both the 800 and 1,600 meter races. In the 800 meter she had a time of 2.33 and in the 1,600 she had a time of 5.47. Demi Horton also placed in the 800 meter. She took fourth place with a time of 2.39 minutes.
Hailey Phillips was a quadruple threat. She swept the hurdle events. For the 100 meter hurdles she had a time of 16.20 seconds and for the 300 meter hurdles she had a time of 46.58 seconds. Phillips earned the Trotters another first place victory in the long jump with a distance of 16.04 feet. Phillips then placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 32.10 feet.
Leah Thompson once again took first in both shot put and discus. She threw 37.01 feet in shot put and 118.08 feet in discus. Kaya Holmes also did well in these events. She placed second in shot put with a throw of 33.01 feet and she placed third in discus with a distance of 100 feet.
Earhart tried her hand at javelin for the first time in competition and displayed a knack for it. She took first place with a throw of 115.07 feet. Carley VonHeeder took second with a distance of 112.11 feet and Thompson placed sixth with 102.01 feet.
Corle Morefield placed fifth in the high jump reaching a height of four feet and two inches.
The girls racked up even more points by winning the 1,600 meter relay (Diamond, Earhart, Horton and Phillips) with a time of 4.23 minutes.
The Trotters finished with a final score of 145.5, more than twice as many points as the second place finisher.
Head Coach Denise Montgomery was very pleased about the beautiful weather they had and the improvement that was shown.
“Everybody’s times came down and distances went up,” Coach Montgomery said. “We are continuing to grow and get stronger which is great to see.”
Next the Horsemen and Trotters will travel on April 12 to Bigfork. This meet offers a JV competition which Coach Montgomery plans to utilize in order to see how certain athletes do with new events.
“It is an opportunity for them to try it out without too much pressure. It also allows us to get more athletes in each event because there are limits with varsity so it is good to try new athletes out,” Coach Montgomery said. “We will put them in so they can gain some confidence and practice.”