Local tracksters have success at 7B meet

District tournament host Bigfork was not a very accommodating place for visiting track and field fans and athletes in town for the Western 7B District championships this past Saturday.

It was not because Bigforkians were not friendly, courteous, helpful and put on a first-class event.

It was because their boys and girls track teams were simply dominating in an unaccommodating way.

Bigfork, which entered the highest number of competitors in both genres overwhelmed the boys field, finishing first in the team standings with a whopping 270 points, well ahead of runner-up Thompson Falls, whose young and improving team collected 80 points.

It was a bit closer in the girls competition, but dominant nonetheless as the Lady Valkyries rolled up 258 points to more than double the 114 collected by second place Eureka (Lincoln County), and three times the team points picked up by third place Thompson Falls.

Bigfork won 14 boys events, while the girls were first in 11 events at the scenic Bigfork High stadium, which was shrouded in clouds and whipped by chilly winds throughout the day.

Sanders County’s other Class B entrant, Plains, finished fourth in the women’s team pursuit with 37 points, while the boys took sixth with 16.

Thompson Falls was led by seniors Ryan Bucher and William Hyatt who each recorded a first place and top five finish during the six-team meet.

Bucher had a PR time of 51:93 in winning the 400 meters race by more than 1.5 seconds over second place Carson Komac of Eureka, who came across the line at 53.26. He also recorded a fourth place finish in the 200 meters sprint earlier in the day.

Hyatt, meanwhile, continued his season-long dominance in Class C long distance running events, taking home first place in the grueling 3200 meters race with a time of 10:22.02, more than eight seconds ahead of second place Jack Jensen of host Bigfork.

Hyatt had earlier finished third in the 1600 meters event with a time of 4:42.59. That race was won by Mission’s Andrew Rush who broke the tape at 4:36.52.

Breck Ferris also had a good day for the Blue Hawks, picking up a third place medal in the 100 meters race, second in the long jump and third in the high jump.

Plains got a third place showing in the 300 meters hurdles and a fifth in the 110 meters hurdles from junior Mason Elliott.

Thompson Falls girls also had success in the long distance runs, with sophomore Faith Palmer winning the 3200 meters run to go with a second place medal in the 1600 meters run. Teammate Mollie Nichols finished second in the 3200 and fourth in the 1600 to add points to the Lady Hawks haul.

One of the most watched match-ups of the day came in the girls weights events, where Plains freshman Alexis Deming uncorked a throw of 108-8 to win the girls discus title by more than 11 feet over runner-up Scout Nadeau of Bigfork.

Nadeau had earlier won the shot put event with a throw of 37-4.5, well ahead of Deming’s second place toss of 33-4. The two throwers have been battling back and fourth all season for best distances in both events.

The Lady Hawks also got a first place finish from junior Chesney Lowe who captured the pole vault title by clearing 8-6. Lowe add a second place finish in the javelin and a sixth place showing in the long jump as part of her day’s contributions.

Another Thompson Falls athlete who had a very good day was sophomore Hattie Nessvig, who won the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 32-3. She was also fourth in the high jump, clearing 4-7.

Plains middle distance runner Alexis Helterline brought home a second place medal for the Trotters with her PR time of 2:42.93 in the 800 meters run. Teammate Peyton Wasson came in fourth in the 800.

The top six finishers in each event move on to this weekend’s Divisional championships in Frenchtown.