Williams leads Noxon at state meet

Sometimes the phrase or thought of someone being “the whole team” can be a negative term.

For the Noxon High Red Devils men’s track and field team, it was close to reality and likely not in dispute.

Junior standout athlete Ricky Williams collected a third place finish and two fourth place showings during this past weekend’s Montana State Class C track and field championships in Great Falls, helping the Red Devils finish twelfth in a field of 30 teams.

Belt won the men’s team title with 67 points, while Manhattan Christian was second with 56 team points.

Noxon had 14 team points, thanks mainly to Williams, who was third in the long jump, fourth in the high jump and triple jump and, for good measure, tenth in the 110 meter hurdles.

Williams had a jump of 21-3.25 in the long jump, just .3 inches short of second place Johnslee Pierre of Lustre-Christian, who was marked at 21-6.25. Cascade’s Caiden Sekuterski won the event with a leap of 23-4.25.

In the high jump, Williams cleared 6-2 to finish fourth in the event, which was won by Ty Leischner of Scobey, who cleared 6-5. Before the meet was over, Williams added a fourth place medal in the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 42-5.25. Sekuterski won that event with a jump of 48-01. Alberton sophomore Shea Fredette finished 19th in the triple jump with a mark of 38-07.

Williams capped off his performance with a tenth place showing in the 110 meter hurdles event with a time of 16.81. Hobson-Moore senior Jackson Swartz won the race with a time of 15.57.

Third in the 110 meters went to Hot Springs junior David Chapman with a time of 16.06. Chapman also had a time of 42.76 in the 300 meter hurdles, good for ninth place behind event winner Swartz, who clocked 39.74.

Chapman also had a 19th place finish in the 100 meter sprint, and placed 15th in the 200 meter race. Teammate Elijah Campbell finished 23 in the men’s 3200 meter run.

The other top finisher among local (Sanders and Mineral Count) athletes was Alberton junior Colton Baughman, who had a javelin throw of 153.09, placing him third among javelin competitors. Garet Lessleyk of Lima won the javelin event with a throw of 158-01.

St. Regis senior John Pruitt finished 18th in the javelin (127-06). Pruitt also had a ninth place finish in the Class C shot put, heaving the iron ball 44-08.25. The event was won by Belt senior Lane Waldner, who had a throw of 50-10.

No local female athletes finished in the top 20 in any of the 17 events and no local girls’ team had any points in the team standings.

The event, which was held in conjunction with the state’s AA competitors, was in Great Falls at the city’s Memorial Stadium.

As was the case with other high school sports events held this past week, competition was interrupted and or delayed by the late Spring snow and rain storms that pummeled the state this past week.