Devil boys surge to 3rd in Western C

Call it a Red Devil redux, a revival of fortunes in Noxon track and field.

Led by super-jumper Levi Brubaker, who won the long and triple jumps in convincing fashion, in addition to running down fifth place in the 100 meters and joining up with Jared Webley, Edison VanVleet and Josh Baldwin to take fifth in the long and short relays, the Noxon boys teamed up to score 54 points and win third place in the Western C divisional in Missoula meet last week.

Manhattan Christian won the Western C crown with 103 points, Seeley-Swan was second at 98.5 and Noxon third with their 54 hard-earned points. The District 14C champs a week earlier in Polson, the Charlo Vikings finished one point behind Noxon this time, in fourth with 53.

Noxon coach Matt Havens thinks it has been at least nine years since a Noxon team won a trophy in the Western C, until now that is.

"Hard work pays off in the end!" Havens said by email Monday. "I am so proud of each and every one of our kids for what they have done this year."

In addition to Brubaker and crew mentioned above, Rylan Weltz placed third in the discus and fifth in the shot put, and Cade VanVleet won fourth place in the shot put to also advance on to this week's State C meet, which will be held in conjunction with the Class A event, at the Laurel Sports Complex in Laurel Friday and Saturday.

For the Noxon girls, Delaney Weltz won second place medals in the shot put and discus, and a fifth place

Please turn to page 15

shiner in the javelin to score 18 team points and advance to Laurel in all three events. Elizabeth Lampshire ran down seventh place in the 3200 meters and will join Weltz in competing at the State C.

Weltz pushed the shot out 33 feet, 8 inches, spun the discus 115-1 and tossed the javelin 105-10 to earn her Western C honors.

Seeley-Swan won the girls meet with 123 points, Charlo was second at 91.5 and West Yellowstone third at 63. The Lady Devils tied for ninth in the 21-team meet with their 18 points.

On a mission this spring to break the existing Class C record in the triple jump, Brubaker won the event with a best effort of 44 feet, 1 inch Friday. Brubaker won the State C meet with a jump of 44-3 last spring and has marked a Montana-best distance of 45-0 this season.

The existing C record of 45-7.75 was set way back in 1976 by Greg Stene of Columbus, and that is the mark Brubaker will be aiming for this week in Laurel. Brubaker also won the long jump in the Western C Saturday with a best effort of 20-8. No other

Edison VanVleet contributed vital team points, winning third place in the 110 meter hurdles and running down fourth in the 300 hurdles.

Rylan Weltz flung the discus 136-6 to place third in that event and put the shot 41-8.5 to take fifth in that venue, and Cade VanVleet pushed the steel ball 41-10.25 to win fourth in the shot put.

With Baldwin and Webley joining Brubaker and Eddie VanVleet, the 400 meter relay clocked 46.82 seconds and the 1600 meter relay squad timed out in 3:46.69 as the Devils won important fifth place points in both of those races.

Red Devil athletes competing in Missoula but not earning spots in this week's State C meet were Michael Antonich and Shane Reishus with the boys and Riley Richter, Gabby Stough and Angel Hamel with the Noxon girls.