County meet sparks competition

PLAINS – Plains High School hosted the annual Sanders County High School Meet, featuring track and field teams from across the county.

County rivals flared in the friendly competition in a display of skill and athleticism. 

The Trotters and Horsemen of Plains competed against teams from Thompson Falls, Hot Springs and Noxon on Thursday, May 8. The meet lasted throughout the afternoon, with players and coaches lucky enough to have a nice sunny day to compete on. 

The pleasant weather was a change of pace for the teams at the tournament, after consecutive weekends of cooler temperatures and precipitation. 

For the girls, it was the Trotters who came in first narrowly edging Thompson Falls. Plains ended the day with 96 team points, while Thompson Falls tallied 95. Noxon came in third with 29 points and Hot Springs placed fourth with a team score of 18. 

By the end of the day, the Thompson Falls boys came out on top of the competition finishing with 106.5 team points. Hot Springs came in second with 81.5 team points, the Horsemen in third with 35 points and Noxon in fourth with a team score of 19 points. 

After faring well against competition in meets throughout this year, the Plains girls didn’t disappoint at home. 

“We were pleased with our victory, and how our athletes performed,” Plains Head Coach Denise Montgomery said. 

Nicole Rehbein continued her streak of strong performances, placing first in the 100-meter dash, in front of teammate Shannon Dimond, with times of 13.13 and 14.46 respectively. Gillian Nelson of Thompson Falls finished with 14.60, while Noxon’s Kristin Webley took fourth and Lady Hawk Madi Wheeler took fifth.

Rehbein also placed first in the 200-meter dash and notched a third place finish in the 400-meter event, a competition won by teammate Hailey Phillips with a time of 1:04.34. Demi Horton landed in between the two girls taking second place.

Nelson rounded out the 200-meter dash in second place for Thompson Falls and was the only Lady Hawk to place in the event. Dimond and Corle Morefield took third and fourth for Plains, while Rosa Dolson took fifth for the Lady Savage Heat.

In the 800-meter run the Trotters continued their success. Kimberly Earhart was first to cross the finish line with a time of 2:36.77, followed in second place by teammate Horton. Asia Curran finished in third for Thompson Falls and Jenna Langdon took fourth for Noxon with a time of 3:04.14.

A clean sweep of the relay competition also assisted Plains on their way to victory. In the 400 meters. Plains finished ahead of Thompson Falls with a time of 55.45. In the longer relay, 1,600 meters, the Trotters beat out Noxon, with their four runners clocking in at 4:58.30. 

In the distance competitions, a mix of athletes filled the ranks.

Noxon’s Michelle Zavoianu took first place in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 7:00.75, followed by Amanda Woods from Hot Springs. Phoebe O’Neill from Thompson took third with 7:53.40.

As for the 3,200 meter run, Lady Hawk Curran took first place, followed by Lady Red Devil Zavoianu and Woods in third. Nicky Zavoianu finished in fourth.

Lady Hawk Angela Padden secured first place in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 53.44 and also secured second place in the 100 meter hurdles. Rosa Dolson from Hot Springs finished second in the 300 meter hurdles, while Noxon’s Kristin Webley and Hilary VanVleet took third and fourth place.

Autrey Hannum secured first in the 100 meter hurdles and Dolson was able to secure third place, followed by Webley in fourth and VanVleet in fifth. 

The throwers also helped the Trotters on their way to a big day. Leah Thompson and Kayla Holmes finished first and second in both the shot put and discus competitions. 

In the shot put, Thompson’s throw of 39-6 ¼ took first, with Holmes’ effort of 35-8 took second. Logan Beckman took third, followed by Lily Huenink of Plains and Lady Hawk Shasta Wilson finished in fifth.

Plains took control of another throwing event, taking the top two spots in discus. Thompson finished in first with a throw of 126-10 and Holmes took second. Logan Beckman and Shasta Wilson secured third and fourth, with Trotter Huenink placing fifth. 

Carley VonHeeder ensured Plains also took home first in the javelin event, with a throw of 118-9. Her teammate Earhart came in second with a distance of 110-7. Wilson and Beckman once again represented Thompson Falls, taking third and fourth place respectively.

The Thompson Falls girls dominated the long jump competition, securing the top four spots. Powerhouse A. Hannum took first place with a distance of 15-0, followed by Gillian Nelson with 14-4, Madi Wheeler with 13-8 and Curran with 12-9 ½. Noxon’s VanVleet was able to represent her team in the event as well, taking fifth place with 12-9.

A. Hannum was able to bring in another first place finish in the high jump with 5-5, followed by Shey Hannum with 5-0 and Lady Savage Heat Dolson in third. 

A. Hannum secured first in the triple jump competition, followed by Morefield and S. Hannum in third.

The Bluehawks were able to remain on top with a solid lead against their competitors, winning the meet. 

The Savage Heat boys took the relay competition, taking the short relay with a time of 48.09 and the long relay with a time of 3:49.34. Thompson Falls placed second in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4.13.67, while Plains took third place. 

Thompson Falls once again took second place in the 400 meter relay, followed by Noxon.

Tanner Hoff of Hot Springs also took home first in both hurdles events, winning the 110-meter variety with a time of 16.60 and the 300-meter event with a finish of 43.70. Josh Wulfekuhle took second in the 110 meter hurdles.

Jimmy Holland of Hot Springs helped bring in second in the 300 meters, following his teammate Hoff, while Tyler Subatch took third. Bradey Wilson finished in fourth and Wulfekuhle took fifth.

Thompson Falls had a solid performance in the 100 meter dash with McKenzie Holt taking first with 11.65, Trais Hoisington taking third, Garrett Strine following in fourth and Nate Norris tying Trevor Paro of Hot Springs for fifth place. Anthony Byrns of the Savage Heat took second in the 100-meter dash, fourth in the 200-meter dash and second in the 400-meter dash. 

Dylan Vaught, Holt and D. Kaneck cleared the top three positions in the 200 meter dash, with teammate Hoisington following in the rear at fifth place.

In the 400, Strine took first with 57.34, followed by Byrns and Noxon’s Wilson who finished in third with 57.97.

In the triple jump the Savage Heat’s Jarod White took home first with a jump of 42-1 ½ with Vaught of Thompson in second and Trevor Paro of HS in third.

During the long jump, Vaught took first, followed by his teammate S. Stell and White in third place.

The Savage Heat also came away with a win in the high jump, with Jack Dolson tailing a 5-8, closely followed by teammates Tanner Hoff and Jamo Morgieau who both posted a jump of 5-6. Noxon’s Zach Osborne placed fourth and Tyler Subatch of Plains took fifth.

In the longer events, Blaine Carr took second for the Savage Heat in the 1,600-meter run and fifth in the 3,200. His teammate James DeTienne posted a third place finish in both the aforementioned events. 

Red Devil Wilson secured first place in the 1,600, while Bluehawk Kyle Kennick took first in the 3,200 followed by teammate William VanHuss.

In the 800-meter race, Russell Kujala took first for the Horsemen with a time of 2:15.26, while Tanner Laws and Logan Naegeli of Thompson Falls followed closely behind. Kane Lawson of Hot Springs ended in fourth and teammate Aaron Garrison of Plains in fifth. 

The Bluehawks cleaned out the top three positions in the javelin event with Kolt Shaw taking first with 143-1, Dietrich House securing second and Kade Vanelswyck in third. 

House, Shaw and Holt would take second through fourth place in the shot put, following Ben Gorham who took first with 50-2.

Ben Gorham took first in the discus competitions with a throw of 133-11 ½, while Horsemen teammate Wyatt Winebrenner placed second. House, Holt and Vanelswyck took the remainder of the slots.