Trotters win Libby Invite

Track fans could quite possibly have seen this coming.

After several weeks flirting with the top spot on a track meet team championship, the Plains Trotters found themselves atop the stack at this past weekend’s Libby Invitational meet. 

The Trotters amassed 85 team points to take the top spot on the team medal stand, five points ahead of Browning (81 points) and tournament host Libby (64) in the girls’ competition. 

Ronan piled up 151 points to win the men’s team title, well ahead of runner up Columbia Falls, which had 98.25 points.  Plains’ boys were the top team from the Sanders/Mineral County areas with 53 points, while Thompson Falls placed seventh (39 points). 

Leading the way for the Trotters was senior Alexis Deming, who continued her mastery of the discus and shot-put events with a pair of first place medals from the two-time defending Class B discus champ. 

Deming won the discus in Libby with a throw of 124 feet even, more than 28 feet better than runner up Zoey Hanson of Eureka (95-2). Deming added the shot-put title to her day’s haul when she uncorked a put of 36-0.5, almost half a foot beyond second place Sidnie Thompson of Libby, who threw 31-5.5. 

In what was a feature matchup in Libby, Plains sophomore Martina Tulloch, the defending Class B cross country champion, swamped the field with a time of 13:05.43.  She had been expected to wage a close dual with Libby’s distance ace Capri Farmer, who placed seventh, but Farmer came up short in the latter stages of the event and had no time. 

Thompson Falls sophomore Evy Edwards was fifth in the 3200 with a time of 14:29.30.   

Farmer came back and won the 1600-meter run, beating Peyton Eagle Feathers by more than 20 seconds. 

Plains also got first-place points from junior Kali Tuma, who won the 300-meter hurdles event with a time of 51.99, while teammate Katelyn Subatch was fourth in the event. 

Tuma added a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurldes event, which was won by Trotters’ freshman Hadyn Rice, who broke the tape at the 17.52 mark, .07 seconds ahead of Tuma.  Rice also placed fourth in the 200-meter sprint with a time of 29.11. 

Thompson Falls’ girls, who placed seventh in the team chase with 41 points, got a bag of points in the women’s 400-meter run, led by sophomore Addyson Deal’s first place showing.  Deal broke the tape at the 1:07.22 mark, a second ahead of teammate Lexi Franck (1:08.32).  Thompson Falls runners Evy Edwards (1:14.61) and Peighton Kenney were fourth and fifth respectively for the Lady Hawks. 

Subatch also contributed a third-place finish in the women’s high jump with a leap of 4-6, just two inches behind event winner Amani YellowOwl of Browning. 

Plains added to the Trotters’ point total with a fourth-place high jump from freshman Jayden Cook, yet another member of the talented group of underclasswomen who are creating a buzz among local track fans for their first-half season success and their promising futures. 

In the boys’ competition, Plains’ Italian exchange student Luciano Ferranti continued burning up the track in the men's sprints, capturing the 100-meter event for the second week in a row with a time of 11.44, just nosing out second-place Josh Lambertson of Eureka (11.45). 

Noxon’s Chance McDaid was ninth in the 100-meters with a time of 12.46.  Noxon was without multiple event standout Ricky Williams, who was taking part in the District Music Festival and did not compete in Libby. 

Ferranti also added a sixth-place effort in the 200-meter sprint (23.59), which was won by Bigfork’s Tayden West with a time of 23.23.  T Falls sprinter Ian Myers was tenth with a time of 24.90. 

Myers had a strong meet for Thompson Falls, placing second in the men’s javelin (154-5).  Plains senior Darren Standeford was third in the javelin with a toss of 149-5, while T Falls sophomore Brylon VanElswyk was fourth (140-11).  The event was won by Eureka senior Jesse Day with a throw of 166-10. 

Noxon’s Shane Murray placed seventh in the javelin (131-9), while Red Devils’ teammate McDaid was tenth (121-11). 

Myers, meanwhile, added a fifth place in the high jump (5-8), third in the 400-meter run (56.26) and fifth in the high jump (5-6).  Blue Hawks’ teammate Blake Hershberger (1:00.25) was sixth in the 400. 

Hershberger and Myers also placed sixth and seventh respectively in the men’s long jump. 

The Blue Hawks had one event winner, senior Braedon Ferris, who won the discus throw with a toss of 146-11, more than 13-feet better than second place Mayson Wayman of Ronan.  Zach Ames (T Falls) was fifth, while Plains teammates Caleb Lakko (111-6.5) and Standeford (110-11) placed sixth and seventh in the discus. Lakko was tenth in the shot put (37-11), while T Falls’ Gabe Hutton was fourth (40-10) and Blue Hawks teammate Ames was sixth (40-0). 

Another big point contributor for Plains was sophomore distance standout John Owen Jermyn, who was second in the 1600 meters with a time of 4:51.03.  The event was won by Libby sophomore Cody Watson (4:45.47). 

Thompson Falls freshman Weston Block was seventh in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:18.79.  Plains freshman Cord Greer placed fifth in the 3200-meter run (11:04.61).  Libby’s Watson made it a sweep of the long-distance runs with a win in the 3200-meter event, crossing the tape at 10:33.56. 

Cody West also added a fourth in the 110-meter hurdles and third in the 300-meter hurdles events.  Cooper Meredith was third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 17.65.  Bigfork hurdler Austin Savik won the 300-meter event with a time of 16.00. 

Next up for most of the Sanders-Mineral track athletes is the Thompson Falls Invitational today (April 15).  Also on the agenda for this coming week is the Missoula County Public Schools Invitational this Friday in Missoula.