Injuries hamper Savage Heat in Polson
HOT SPRINGS track athlete Elena McAllister competes in the 100-meter hurdles Thursday afternoon at the Dave Tripp Memorial track meet at Polson High School. (Jason Blasco photos/Lake County Leader)
HOT SPRINGS distance runner James DeTienne leads the pack in the early portion of the 800-meter relay Thursday afternoon at the Dave Tripp Memorial track meet at Polson High School.
The Hot Springs boys and girls track team entered the 2017 Dave Trip Memorial track meet Thursdayat Polson High School and struggled because of injuries.
Katrina Engeldrum said the injuries really affected the Savage Heats’ boys performance this week.
The Savage Heat overcame the injuries to have several runners that experienced personal records, according to Engeldrum.
“Dave Tripp had a pretty successful run for our team,” Engeldrum said.
According to Engeldrum, Hot Springs had an “outstanding performance” in the 4X100 relay team that finished third with a time of 48.93 seconds. The team is comprised of Tyler Carr, Marco Degel, Kane Lawson, and Brandon Neal.
As an individual, Degal placed third in the high jump with a jump of five feet, two inches.
Savage Heats’ Trevor Paro placed first in the high jump with a jump of 19 feet, 4 inches and the triple jump with a jump of 40 feet, 5.25 inches.
Carr also had a personal record by placing second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.73.
Savage Heats’ Kane Lawson also had a PR in the 300-meter hurdles, finishing second with a time of 45.56.
Hot Springs’ James DeTienne also finished second in the 800-meter race with a time of 2 minutes, 12.94 seconds.
“It wasn’t a very good day weather wise but I kept having the kids run over to me and telling me that they had PRed,” Engeldrum said. “Both sides on the boys and girls were doing their best. I think we’ve had 10 kids out now and for them to perform at the level they did was a pretty big deal, I think.”
According to Engeldrum things are starting to “fall into place.”
“Our teams are working hard to improve and trying to take time to repair their injuries,” Engeldrum said. “They are going to be poised to have some pretty big successes. Right now, Paro is recuperating from a back injury and once we get everyone healthy again, our team will be making the strides it’s been doing.”
Lady Savage Heat making strides
For the first time in a while, the Hot Springs’ girls team has enough participants to field an entire track squad.
In the latest meet in Plains, they had several participants compete in a wide variety of events.
Karly Lawson set a personal record in the javelin and she finished third with total throws ending in 111 feet, 7 inches. According to Engeldrum, Lawson just “keeps getting better every time.”
“It seems like every meet she is exceeding her PR by five feet,” Engeldrum said.
Elena McAllister also PRed in both hurdle events she participated in. McAllister finished 9th with a time of 19.67 in the 100-meter hurdles and 7th in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 58.06.
Another runner the Savage Heat hope will be a contributor is Polson transfer Madison Wheeler.
“She is pretty good in the hurdles and she is coming off of a year off from track,” Engeldrum said. “I expect she will be competing well. She is a pretty athletic young lady.”
Engeldrum said this fact has just made them “more hungry” to compete.
“The girls are pretty hungry for placing and they are really going for some kind of place at District,” Engeldrum said. “I have had a hard time kicking them out of practice because they will stay an hour late each time.”
Reporter Jason Blasco can be reached at 406-883-4343 or jblasco@leaderadvertiser.com.