Western C Divisional sees solid performances
The recently completed Western C Divisional track meet in Missoula produced some mild surprises, some expected results and more young athletic talent.
Manhattan Christian was first in the boys’ team competition, while Hot Springs was a mildly surprising second. In the girls’ team chase Granite County (Philipsburg) reigned supreme, with Manhattan Christian second.
Hot Springs’ boys got solid performance throughout their lineup, with members of the senior class having a good point-scoring meet.
Seniors Nick McAllister, David Chapman and Wesley Adams, all of whom are multiple sport standouts for the Savage Heat, all contributed to Hot Springs second-place team finish with 77 points. And while they were well behind team champion Manhattan Christian’s 133 points, the Heat had one of their best overall meets of the year.
In the women’s team chase, Granite amassed 86 points, while runner up Manhattan Christian had 71.
Other teams from Sanders and Mineral counties involved in the team title pursuits were St. Regis, a surprising tenth place (21 points), Noxon (thirteenth, 7 points) and Hot Springs (fourteenth, 6 points).
The Hot Springs girls’ hopes were severely curtailed by the loss of junior all-around athlete Kara Christensen, who broke her ankle last week during hurdling practice and had surgery to repair the damage. She is expected to return in time for Fall volleyball.
One other mild surprise was the non-sweep of the jumping events by Noxon’s senior standout Ricky Williams, who won the high jump and triple jump but was denied the long jump leg of the trifecta when he finished second to Manhattan Christian’s Christian Triemstra by three-quarters of an inch.
Hot Springs’ Chapman won the men’s 110-meter hurldes event with a time of 14.84. Braden Tuning of Gardiner was second (15.20) and Williams was third (15.72). The Savage Heat also got a sixth-place finish from McAllister 17.02 and a seventh place from sophomore Ben Aldridge.
Chapman added a second-place medal in the men’s 200-meter run and a third in the shot put (40-05.75) to his day’s work. Teammate Daniel Slonaker, a sophomore, was third in the 200 (23.62), and Hot Springs’ Brazilian exchange student Pedro Vidotti was seventh in the shot put (38-05.75).
Chapman also ran the anchor leg on the Heat’s second-place 4X100 relay (Slonaker, McAllister, Aldridge, Chapman) and the second leg on the 4X400 relay team that finished third (same as the 4X100 team). Valley Christian was first in both relays.
McAllister won the men’s 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.20, while Williams was second at 42.23. Aldridge was sixth in the 300-hurdles.
Slonaker added a third in the 100-meter sprint (11.91), while Valley swept the top two spots, with Brayden McCoy first (11.49) and Robbie Miller second (11.52).
Senior Wesley Adams added to the Heat’s total with fourth place in the 3200-meter run and sixth in the 1600. Teammate Wyatt Cambell was fifth in the 3200 and eighth in the 1600.
Alberton was led by multi-sport standout Shea Fredette, who was second in the 800-meter run (2:02.17) and fifth in the 1600-meter event.
Noxon, meanwhile got another outstanding meet from Williams who won the high jump (6-2) and the triple jump (42-09) as part of his two-day run.
Williams, who three weeks ago set a school record in the high jump at 6-8, won the Division title with a leap of 6-2. Fredette of Alberton was third in the triple jump (40-05.00) and St. Regis junior Barrett Bessette was fourth (39-08.50). McAllister was fourth in the high jump, clearing the bar at 5-8, while Williams’ Noxon teammate was seventh (5-4). Murry also had a fifth-place finish in the javelin (136-00), while Aldridge of Hot Springs was fourth in the long jump (19-05.50).
In the women’s competition, St. Regis eighth grader Cielee Mitchell was third in the 300-meter hurdles, fifth in the 200-meter sprint and seventh in the 100-meter dash. Teammate Jamie Cleveland was fourth in the 100 and seventh in the 200-meter events.
Cleveland was second in the long jump (16-09), while the event was won by Granite’s Montannah Piar (17-02.75)
With Christensen out of the lineup, senior Georgia Uski did her best to help out with a fourth in the shot put (32-09) and sixth in the discus (98-02). Lady Heat teammate Lilia Sapanel, a foreign exchange student from France, was sixth in the shot put (31-03) and eighth in the discus (93-04).
Noxon’s girls were led by eighth grader Sandy Bonney, who was third in the javelin (105-00), sixth in the long jump (15.05.50), seventh in the high jump (4-6) and ninth in the 100-meter hurdles (17.89).
Hot Springs got a ninth in the long jump from Lanet Jakabosky to go with her seventh in the 100-meter hurdles.
The class C State championships are this coming weekend (May 24-26) at MCPS Stadium in Missoula. Athletes who finished in the top six at the division meets advance to the state finals.