Christensen leads Hot Springs to second at 14C meet

On a clear, blue sky Montana day, the stars were out in force over Missoula County Public Stadium this past weekend.

And there were several who shone bright, but perhaps none more so than Hot Springs sophomore Kara Christensen, who won three events, placed second in another, and finished third in another event, helping lead the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat to a second place

    Alberton's Shea Fredette releases the javelin during the District 14 track and field championship this past weekend at Missoula County Public Stadium in Missoula. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
  

 in the District 14C track and field meet this past Friday and Saturday.

Charlo’s boys and girls won both team titles, while the Hot Springs girls and boys were second in each category. The meet, which was held in conjunction with the 6B District tourney and the 13C District championships, is a stepping stone up the postseason ladder, with the Western B-C combined Divisional tournament at MCPS again this coming weekend.

Several individual performers put on eye-catching performances during the two-day event, including Christensen’s boys team counterpart, junior David Chapman.

And it was impossible to overlook the dominating performance by Noxon junior Ricky Williams, who swept the long jump and triple jump events, and won a two-person competition in the high jump despite a sore leg he has been working to get in shape for most of the past year.

Charlo’s girls won the 14C team title with 164 team points, a tribute to their talent and depth. Hot Springs finished second in the girls team chase, while St. Regis was third.

In the boys competition, Charlo easily outdistanced second place Hot Springs, 179-97, also testimony to their overall talent and depth.

Noxon was third in the men’s team standings with 68 points, while surprising Alberton, which continued to have a strong showing with a small number of athletes, was fifth with 46 points, one point better than sixth-place St. Regis.

In the girls competition, Christensen began the two-day run with a second place finish in the women’s 200 meter sprint, which was won by St. Regis sophomore Jamie Kearby, another athlete who has been working to overcome a leg injury suffered last year.

Kearby won the 200 with a time of 28.63 seconds, while Christensen was second, crossing the tape at 29.29.St. Regis’ Kyla Bush was third (29.57).

Kearby was second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 14.10. Two Eagle River’s Christine Tenas won the race with a time of 13.72. In the women’s 400 meter run, Charlo’s Aida Cote came in first with a time of 1:05.06, while Kearby was second at 1:06.16 and Bush was third (1:08.71).

Cote and Kearby also finished 1-2 in the 800 meters, with St. Regis sophomore Lilly Sansom fifth.

Despite the heavy load, Kearby was not done with her medal collecting ways, picking up a third place showing in the 1600 meter run, which was won by Charlo’s Elsie Detert , while Noxon eighth grader Sophie Pizzini was second. Detert also won the 3200 meter run, easily outdistancing second place Georgia Boehme.

Christensen, who won the 100 meter hurdles Friday with a time of 18:01, made it a hurdles sweep Saturday with her victory in the 300 meter hurdles event, while second place went to St. Regis’ Bush and third to Sansom. Noxon senior Natalie Fisher was fourth in the 300.

Charlo’s girls swept the top three spots in the women’s shot put event, with first place going to senior Shonlea Matt, who threw the iron ball 30-11.

Charlo also got a win in the women’s discus, when Cote uncorked a throw of 102-6, beating second place Georgia Uski of Hot Springs (98-7) and Christensen, who was third, with a put of 90-5.

Christensen came back and won the javelin with a throw of 103-0, almost 15 feet better than runner up Layla Tenas of TER.

The Lady Vikings from Charlo also recorded a three-way sweep in the pole vault.

Hot Springs long jumpers went 1-2 in that event, which was won by Lanet Jakabosky (13-11.5) Teammate Kora hensrude was second with a leap of 13-8.50, and Sansom finished third with a jump of 13-03.50.

Charlo also finished fifth in the triple jump, with sophomore Abbigail Wagner hop, skipping and jumping 27-06.

In the boys competition, Chapman spent the day collecting first place medals, including top place finishes in the 100 and 200 meter sprints.

Charlo’s Hayden Hollow won the men’s 400 meter run with a time of 53.28, just ahead of second place Jabez Madplume (TER), who crossed the tape at the 53.47 mark. St. Regis sophomore Barrett Bassette was third with a time of 55.37.

Hollow and teammate Hayden Smith went 1-2 in the 800 meter run, with Hollow breaking the tape at the 2:00.06 mark. Alberton’s Shea Fredette was third with a time of 2:11.19. Smith then won the 1600 meter run, while Fredette was second and Hot Spring senior Elijah Campbell was third.

Smith made it a sweep of the long distance runs, winning the 3200 meter event over a foursome of runners from Hot Springs, including Campbell, who was second.

Meanwhile Chapman was dominating the hurdle events, winning the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.61. Noxon’s Wiliams was second with a time of 17.16. The Chapman-Williams 1-2 finish was repeated in the 300 meter hurdles, Chapman crossing the finish line with a time of 44.04, while Williams was runner up with a 44.70 clocking. Hot Springs freshman Ben Aldridge was third with a time of 48.60.

Charlo senior Jacob Tomlin won another first place ribbon when he threw the shot put 46-04, well ahead of St. Regis senior John Pruitt, who had a heave of 42.80. Chapman was fourth in the shot put. Charlo sophomore Ryan Sharbono led a Vikings sweep of the discus with a winning toss of 122-0.

Before the day was over, Tomlin added another first place finish to his collection, winning the javelin with a throw of 149-0, 1.5 inches ahead of second place Colton Baughman, a junior from Alberton. Noxon’s Shane Murray was third with a throw of 140.50, while Pruitt finished fifth at 136.05.

Williams finished his day with a win in the high jump, where just he and second place Tayre Brown of Charlo were the only competitors. Williams cleared 5-7 to win the event.

In the men’s pole vault, Charlo senior Hollow won the event with a vault of 10-6, while teammates Brown and Colter Roylance took second in third.

Earlier Saturday Williams swept the long jump and triple jump events, winning the long jump with a leap of 20-2, and topping the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 41-010.50. Alberton’s Fredette was second in the triple jump with a mark of 40-feet even.

This next weekend the Class C competition goes to the next level with the Western C Divisional, also held at MCPS in Missoula.

    Noxon junior Ricky Willaims, who won the men's high jump title at the District 14C meet in Missoula, clears the bar. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)