Horsemen, Trotters track showcases talent

Plains track star Jessica Thompson has solidified Plains’ reputation as having some of the top throwers in the state as the two-time state champion placed first in the shot put, fourth in the discus and didn’t qualify in the javelin at the Missoula Top-10 Tuesday afternoon at MCPS Stadium in Missoula.

The senior placed first with a throw of 40 feet, 1 inches in the shot put and fourth in discus throwing 129 feet, 1 inches. The winner in the discus event was Calla Haldorson, out of Class A’s Corvallis. The other two participants ahead of Thompson were both from Class AA Sentinel. Emily Malone finished first in the discus with a throw of 138 feet, 3 inches, and Madi Arneson placed third with a throw of 131 feet, 3 inches.

Thompson finished first in throwing events in the Seeley-Swan qualifier Saturday at Frenchtown High School.

Thompson placed first in the shot put throwing a distance of 35 feet, 8 inches. Finishing right behind Thompson was teammate Kara Altmiller, who recorded a distance of 33 feet, 4 inches.

Thompson also placed first in discus throwing 134 feet to capture another first-place finish. Behind Thompson was Altmiller, who recorded a personal record of 110 feet, 10 inches.

In the jav, Thompson again was challenged by her teammate Lindsay Laws. Thompson, who placed first with a throw of 117 feet, 4.50 inches was challenged by Laws, who placed second with a throw of 112 feet, 10 inches. Altmiller finished fifth recording a throw 99 feet, 1 inches.

Plains continues to see improvement from their participants in the running events. Mariah Smith, who finished fifth in the 200-meter dash, recorded a time of 30 seconds, a personal record.

Audrey Brown placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 11.11 seconds, Cree Lulack finished first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 53.10 seconds. Lulack, Smith, Brown and Lindsey Laws ran the 4X100 with a time of 56.34 seconds and finished fifth.

The relay team also placed second in the 4X400 relay with a time of 4 minutes, 47.16 seconds.

With all of the publicity Plains track star Jessica Thompson generates, it can be easy to overlook a successful Horsemen team.

Horsemen trackster Brandon Managhan is single handily changing all of that.

Managhan recorded PRs in the triple jump, long jump, and high jump this Saturday at Seeley.

Managhan had four individual top-5 performances at Seeley with two first-place finishes in both the high jump and long jump. Managhan placed first in the high jump leaping to a distance of six feet and placed first in the long jump leaping to a distance of 20 feet, 6 inches, another personal record. His teammate Sinjin LaDeaux finished third in the long jump with a distance of 19 feet, 3 inches and second in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 10 inches, another PR.

Monaghan and LaDeaux also excelled in the running events. Monaghan finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 11.79 seconds, a personal record. The relay team featuring Managhan, LaDeaux, Gavin Regalado and Malachi Paulsen placed fourth with a time of 48.69 seconds.