Red Devils battle at district 14C meet

NOXON – The Red Devils track and field team put up a strong front at the district meet and will now be heading into divisionals with 15 kids. 

“The kids did what they have been working on for over two months – doing their very best at each meet,” said Head Coach Matt Havens.

The boys came in fourth place with 49 points, just behind Superior, Hot Springs and Charlo; the victors of the day.

Noxon’s Bradey Wilson had a strong performance on the day. Wilson placed first in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:47.12 and took third place in the 400 meter dash with a time of 53.79. Wilson also secured fifth place in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 43.95 and also helped the relay teams place.

“Bradey ran a 4:47 mile which is in the top five of Class C and qualified for five events this coming weekend,” Coach Havens said. 

The 4x100 meter relay team consisting of Wilson, Gary Wadman, Nik Mueller and Zach Osborne took third place with 49.74, while the 4x400 meter relay team consisting of Wilson, Wadman, Austin Johnson and Riley Fisher took fourth with a time of 4:02.11.

Coach Havens credited Wadman as the team leader and said the teams couldn’t have done it without him. 

Johnson took third place in the 3,200 meter run with a time of 11:26.68, while Osborne and Mueller both placed in the high jump with first and sixth place respectively. Osborne won the event with a final length of 1.83 meters or 6 feet, a personal best for him and also took fifth place in the boys’ triple jump with 35-7.5.

As for the throwing events, Wadman placed fifth with 35-10.

The girls played hard as well, taking fifth place at the meet with a total of 21 points. 

Bethanie Ulrick kicked off the day for the girls placing sixth place in the 200 meter dash with a time of 30.69, while in the 800 meter run Jenna Langdon took fifth with 2:57.34.

Michelle Zavoianu placed fourth in the 3,200 meter run and also took sixth in the 1,600 meter run with times of 15:12.01 and 6:34.77 respectively. 

Kristin Webley held the fort down for the girls in the 300 meter hurdles, placing sixth with 58.08.

Both of the girls relay teams saw success, as the 4x100 relay team took fourth. Hilary VanVleet, Kristin Webley, Sara Webley and Ulrick all pulled together for a time of 59.21. In the 4x400, Zoey Osborne, Zavoianu, S. Webley and Langdon came through at third place with 5:11.08.

S. Webley was also able to secure fifth place in the discus throw, being the only Noxon girl to place within the top six in a throwing event.

The next step will be divisionals in Missoula and the team has their eyes set on outdoing themselves again.

“Our goal all year was to do our best and to advance to divisionals or even state,” Coach Havens said. “We have been working on the little things to add distance to jumps and throws as well as cut more time off running events.”

Every competition from here on will get increasingly difficult as the athletes are competing against the best-of-the-best in the division.

The seniors will look to help the team advance further with their experience on their backs, even though all of the Noxon Red Devils have exceeded expectations all season long. 

The kids plan to give it their all at divisionals and hopefully move on to the state competition after this week’s meet.