Red Devils rising

The Red Devils are rising, and they are not done yet.

The rising Noxon track and field teams enjoyed measurable success at the District 14C meet in Missoula last week and, as a result will be looking to make memories again this week at the combined Western C/Western B divisional meet at MCPS Stadium.

Led by running phenom MacKenzie Morgan, who won the 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 meter races, the Red Devil girls piled up 112 team points to just nudge out Charlo (111) for second place to Clark Fork (178). St. Regis (45) placed fourth, Hot Springs (37) fifth and Plains (32) sixth.

Led by throwing phenom Cade VanVleet, who won the shot put (with a season-best throw of 50-4) and the discus (132-0), the Noxon boys scored 56 points and placed fifth in the 14C meet. Clark Fork won the boys crown with 152 points, Charlo (104) was second, Hot Springs (100) third, St. Regis (65) fourth and Plains (41) sixth.

Morgan was dominant in her races for the Devil girls, claiming the 400 meters (edging out teammate Emily Brown for the victory), winning the 800 meters by almost 10 seconds, the 1600 by around 15 seconds and the 3200 by 30 seconds. She also joined Brown, Maygan Swanson and Skye Igrens in winning the 1600 meter relay for Noxon.

Brown, Irgens and Jaedyn Murray provided strong backing for the Devil girls. Brown won second to Morgan in the 400, 800 and 1600 meters, in addition to spearing third place points in the javelin, Irgens took third place in the 200 meters, fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 400, and Murray, another Noxon throwing specialist, won third in the shot put and fourth in the discus.

Martha Klaus won fourth place in the 3200 meters and Natasha Fisher fifth in the 300 meter hurdles. The relay team of Kylee Erwin, Fisher, Klaus and Irgens placed fifth in the 400 meter relay.

Although VanVleet’s big wins in the throws were the highlight for the Noxon boys, several other Devils placed in the top five and will also be moving on to this week’s divisional meet.

Jared Webley won second place in the 200 meters and in the long jump, and third in the 100, Josh Baldwin was fifth in the 200, 400 and javelin, and just missed a divisional berth in the 100 with a sixth place finish there, and Nate Cano won fourth place in the 300 meter hurdles and fifth in the 110 hurdles.