Local stars put on show at Archie Roe

When one of our own small town stars shines above the rest, it is a special thing.

In sports, it is perhaps magnified when a small town athlete rises to the top.

Just such a scenario is brewing, in fact the coffee may already be done, thanks to the power and athleticism of Plains student Lexie Demming.

Last year as a sophomore she won the state Class B championship in the discus, then finished third in the shot put the same day.

This year may be even better.

Demming unleashed a discus throw of 120 feet, 3 inches this past Saturday during the Archie Roe Memorial (ARM) Invitational track and field event at Legends Stadium in Kalispell.

Demming’s meet winning throw came against a field of Class AA and A shot putters from throughout the western half of the state. Her 120-foot plus toss was two feet further than the second place throw of 118-3 by Glacier High’s Kai Johnson.

It was the only individual title among local track athletes. Demming also placed second in the shot put, losing to Johnson by just under two inches, with a throw of 39-3.5

Demming and the Trotters, who have a solid, deep team this year with a promising group of underclassmen mix in, now move on to the District 7B tournament this Saturday in Libby.

Flathead of Kalispell, a Class AA school, won the women’s team title with a total of 140 points, while Plains finished seventh with 21 points.

In the men’s team competition, Glacier was the winner with 161 points, well ahead of second place Flathead (130). Thompson Falls’ boys were eleventh out of 13 teams in the team title chase (4).

Thompson Falls senior Trinity Riffle also had a good showing, with a seventh place finish in the women’s high jump, eighth in the 200 meter sprint, and eleventh in the 100 meter event.

Also having an outstanding meet was Plains sophomore Kali Tuma who placed sixth in the 100 meter hurdles, eighth in the 300 meter hurdles, and eighth in the 400 meter run. Trotters teammate Peyton Wasson was sixteenth in the 800 meter run (2:37.36), and twenty-first in the women’s 1600 meter run. Senior Faith Palmer of T Falls was 19th in the 1600 event.

Another Trotter having a good meet was Amy Hill, who was thirteenth in the 100 meter hurdles, and seventeenth in both the 100 and 200 meter sprints.

In the men’s competition, T Falls junior Braedon Ferris was the top local finisher, picking up fourth place in a crowded discus field. Ferris had a throw of 140-6, while Glacier’s Aiden Krause won the discus event with a heave of 185-4. Ferris’s T Falls teammate Zack Ames was eighteenth with a throw of 109-3.

Ferris also placed fourteenth in the 200 meter sprint with a time of 24.07, a new personal best. The event was won by Flathead junior Ben Bliven, who broke the tape at the 21.97 mark.

Plains John Thurston was eighteenth with a time of 24.52 in the 200, while teammate Nicholas Hill was 20th with a time of 24.58.

T Falls senior Braxton Dorscher was 22nd (24.73).

Plains’ senior Joseph Martin was thirteenth in the men’s 400 meter run, while teammate Aiden Silva was 23rd (1:00.10) T Falls’ Ian Myers placed twentieth in the 400 event with a time of 56.84. Martin was also 16th in the 800 meter run.

T Falls senior Cael Thimony finished twelfth in the 3200 meter run and nineteenth in the 1600 (5:01.24)

Plains and T Falls now move on to the District 7B meet this Saturday (May11) in Libby.

    Thompson Falls' Cael Thilmony runs the boys 3200 meter run at the Archie Roe Invitational at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 4. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)