Bluehawks land in first place

THOMPSON FALLS – The Bluehawks once again ended in first place this time at the district tournament in Kalispell. The 7B meet seemed to be no challenge for the boys of Thompson Falls as they took first place 148 points, just two points ahead of Bigfork.

“That’s what we hoped we would (do),” said Head Coach Randy Symon. “ That’s kind of what we had set out to do as far as our season goes is to take a good shot at the boys title.”

The boys relay team, which consisted of Garrett Strine, Trais Hoisington, McKenzie Holt and Dylan Vaught won the short relay smashing an old district record from 1986. The boys now hold the new record with a time of 44.33. 

The 1,600 relay took second with a time of 3:48.91.

Holt continued to dominate as he placed in multiple events. He took first place in the 100 meter with a time of 11.33 and also, took second place in the 200 with 23.50 with his teammates Dan Kanak and Nate Norris following him in fourth and  fifth place respectively. Holt also took third place in the 400 with 52.39.

Vaught also placed before he pulled a hamstring in the long jump competition. Vaught took second in the 100 with 11.39. Although he is currently injured, the hope is he will be rested for the state competition. 

In the 800 meter, Kyle Kennick placed second with 4:46.52, while Logan Naegeli took third and William VanHuss placed fourth. 

Kennick also pulled out a second place finish in the 1,600 meter in 4:46.52 and later placed in the 3,200 with 11:28.18 for fifth place. Tanner Laws took fourth in the 1,600 and also took third in the 3,200, while Logan Naegeli placed second in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600. William VanHuss tailed the team in sixth place for both events. 

The 110 hurdles saw more boys place as Josh Wulfekuhle took fourth with 17.91, Joe Lundberg finished in fifth and Garrett Strine placed sixth. 

Wulfekuhle and Lundberg continued on to the 300 hurdles where they placed third and fifth respectively. 

The boys saw some success in the throwing events as well. Bluehawk Dietrich House placed second in the shot put with 44-5.5, right behind Horseman Ben Gorham. 

In the javelin throw, Kade VanElswyck threw 136-10 for fifth place, followed by Kolt Shaw in sixth. 

Hoisington and Spencer Stel represented the boys in the long jump competition snagging both fourth and fifth place, while Lundberg and Jake Gascon took third and fourth in the pole vault competition.

The girls also finished right where Coach Symon expected them to, in second place behind the Trotters.

“We knew we didn’t have enough power to beat Plains so we wanted to beat Bigfork. We’re happy with that,” Symon said. 

The girls landed in second with 128 points. Both Hannum girls were credited with a strong performance as Autrey Hannum took second in the 100 hurdles with 16.71 and Shey Hannum placed sixth with 18.10.

Angela Padden also contributed to the hurdles success, placing fifth in the 100 meter hurdles and fourth place in the 300 hurdles, right behind A. Hannum. 

The girls relay teams both placed fourth with a time of 56.09 and 4:50.10 in the 400 relay and the 1,600 relay respectively. 

Gillian Nelson brought in quite a few points for the team placing fifth place in the 100 and sixth place in the 200 meter. 

Another girl placing in multiple events was Aicia Curran who took sixth place in both the 800 and 1,600 meter events, while also nabbing fourth place in the 3,200 with a time of 14:52.43.

As for throwing events, Logan Beckman placed third and Shasta Wilson took sixth in the javelin competition. Beckman also placed fifth in shot put.

Shey and Autrey Hannum managed to take first and second places respectively in the high jump, while the girls switched roles in the long jump with Autrey taking second with 14-08 and Shey taking third. Nelson was able to back up the girls in fourth, while Curran took sixth.

Autrey and Shey also led the triple jump, taking first and second place. Autrey had a length of 33-1.5, while Shey finished with 32-9.5.

Autrey pulled off a first place win in the pole vault, followed by both Padden and Madison Wheeler who tied in second place. 

From here on out, the competition will only get harder.

“If we go on to divisional and state a lot of times in all classes, the boys and girls start to perform a lot better,” Coach Symon explained. “The competition gets better so they have to run a lot more, jump harder and throw harder in order to beat people. 

Overall, Coach Symon was happy with the outcome. At divisionals there will be another five or six teams thrown into the competition, widening the competition field. With Vaught out of the picture, Thompson Falls is now unsure of where they stand.

“If we had our sprint boy back and healthy, we probably could have won the divisionals,” Coach Symon said. “Now we don’t know who’s going to win it.”

Symon’s hope is to qualify as many kids as possible. All of their hard work has come down to this moment and Coach Symon has faith that the kids will fight to the end.