Trotters soar above competition

BIGFORK – The Plains track and field team will be proudly sending a large contingent to the divisional meet after successful district competitions during the weekend, kicking off their postseason meets.

On May 17, the District 7-B Meet was held in Bigfork, determining which athletes from area schools would head to the Divisional Meet next week in Missoula.

The Plains Trotters continued their recent success by winning the tournament, finishing ahead of Thompson Falls, Bigfork and Eureka with a team score of 192. The Horsemen collected 44 points and finished in fifth in the boy’s competition.

“Everybody did really well, the athletes keep getting stronger and faster,” Plains Head Coach Denise Montgomery said.  

In a somewhat rare experience for the track athletes the weather held and was fairly pleasant throughout the day even with a passing thundercloud or two.

“It was a beautiful day, a perfect day for a track meet,” Montgomery said.

In the individual competition, the top six placing athletes in each event moved onto the competition in Missoula, a two-day event beginning on Friday May 23.

Leading the charge for the Trotters was Hailey Phillips, who placed first in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.35.

Phillips also brought home first place in both hurdles events, winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.96 and the 300-meter hurdles with a finish of 45.86.

Phillips won’t be the only Trotter heading to Missoula for the 200-meter dash, with several teammates finishing close behind.

Nicole Rehbein finished in second, clocking in at 27.30, Shannon Dimond took third with a 27.90 and Kayla Holmes finished fourth at 28.01.

The 100-meter sprint featured another commanding performance by the Trotters. Rehbein crossed the finish line first with a time of 12.96, with Holmes the next to cross at 13.46. Dimond took fourth in the event with a finish of 13.86.

The Trotters moved onto the divisional round in bunches for the 400-meter dash as well, with Phillips taking second with a 1:00.01, Rehbein third with a time of 1:04.53 and Dimond fourth with a finish of 1:06.27.

The distance runs offered another chance for the Trotters to excel, and the girls did not disappoint.

In the 800-meter run, Kimberly Earhart finished third with a time of 2:32.82. In the 1,600 Earhart was also successful, taking second with her time of 5:39.62, while teammate Demi Horton finished in third with a time of 5:44.30.

Horton also placed in the 3,200 event, taking second with an end time of 12:27.38.

The team events ended with more Plains girls moving onto  the next level of competition.

In both the 400-meter and 1,600 meter relay, the Plains team took second place, with times of 52:81 and 4:27.45 respectively.

Corle Morefield punched her ticket to the divisional meet in Missoula with a third place finish and a jump of 31-08.50 in the triple jump.

The throwers for the Plains girls were not outdone by their counterparts in the running events, taking both the discus and javelin competitions.

Leah Thompson took first in the discus competition after a throw of 118-02, followed close behind by Holmes, who threw a 116-07.75 to place second.

Earhart won the javelin throw with a performance of 123-09 and will be joined at divisionals by Carley VonHeeder who ended the day in second after a 123-09 and Thompson who finished fourth with a 102-06.

Thompson will also be competing next week in the shot put, after a second place finish at Bigfork with a throw of 37-07.

Montgomery noted how critical it was to send multiple athletes to the divisional round.

“It is comforting for the students to have a teammate in the same event,” Montgomery said.

Thrower Ben Gorham, who took home yet another first place finish in the shot put competition, led the Horsemen. Gorham’s throw of 49-10.50 placed him above the competition on the day.

Gorham took second in the discus competition, throwing a 141-01 with Wyatt Winebrenner taking fourth with a throw of 130-06.

Winebrenner also took third in the javelin throw, with a final effort of 148-04.

In the high jump event Tyler Subatch finished in sixth with a jump of 5-06.

Additionally, Subatch took sixth in the 300-meter hurdles clocking in at 46.55.

The Horsemen got top finishes on the track too with Aaron Garrison of Plains taking fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.58.

In the 1,600-meter run Russel Kujala placed third with a 4:49.46, while the 3,200-meter endurance race featured Kujala taking fourth, crossing the finish line at 10:52.41.

The Horsemen will send a relay team to Missoula after the Plains boys finished fifth in the 1,600-meter relay, clocking in at 4:00.72.

Coach Montgomery noted how proud she was of both the boys and girls squads.

“It’s been really rewarding to watch their hard work pay off,” Montgomery said. 

The boys and girls of plains will need to stay focused next week when they head to Missoula to compete at Big Sky High School for the divisional tournament.