The burgeoning Savage Heat

Coach Andrew Leicthnam’s track and field team is burgeoning, flourishing into the best team they can possibly be at the best possible time.

Led by the multi-talented Kyle Lawson, who won three individual events and ran legs on both relays, Leicthnam’s Savage Heat boys scored 100 team points and finished third in the District 14C portion of the combined 13C/14C/6B meet held at MCPS Stadium in Missoula Friday and Saturday.

Paced by the one-two punch provided by rising stars Josie Uski and Lauryn Aldridge, who both placed in four events each, the Savage Heat girls wound up scoring 37 points and took sixth in the 14C final results.

Bert DeTienne was Hot Springs’ other event winner in the 14C meet, running down first place in the boys 800 meters.

Leicthnam was impressed with his burgeoning Heat’s efforts in Missoula, and looks for more of the same again in the same place this weekend, as the combined Western C/Western B divisional, where individual state berths will be granted or denied, will be held at MCPS Friday and Saturday.

“The kids had a very good weekend for sure,” he said. “The boys finished only four points behind Charlo for the second place spot. They were really trying to perform well as a team to squeak out every possible point they could. I am very proud of the effort that all our kids put forth this past weekend.”

No one puts forth more effort than Lawson and he proved it again by winning both hurdles races (the 110 meters in 18.02 seconds and the 300s in 43.98) and the pole vault (with a career best mark of 10-6), in addition to running legs on both third place relays.

Lawson was joined by WilJames Courville, Michael Marrinan and DeTienne in the 400 meter relay, and by Marrinan, Quincy Styles-DePoe and DeTienne in the 1600 meter relay.

DeTienne won the 800 meters in a time of 2:10.45.

Kawika Ilac also enjoyed an outstanding meet for the Heat, running to second place in the 3200 meters, to fourth place in the 1600 and 110 meter hurdles, in addition to winning fourth in the pole vault and placing fifth in the 300 meter hurdles. Ilac impressively cleared 8-6 in the pole vault.

“That was big,” Leichtnam said, “as he had not posted a mark in that event this year.”

A freshman, Styles-DePoe is just beginning to scratch his potential. He won third place in three events in the 14C meet, in both hurdles race and in the high jump.

Austin Campbell won third place in the 3200 meters to clinch the Heat boys’ final entrance into the Western C.

Uski, a sophomore, and Aldridge, a freshman, did the majority of the scoring for the Heat girls and look like a power couple for Hot Springs to build on for the future. “Both posted PRs is several events,” Leichtnam said. “We are very excited about their track and field future because they are so young.”

Uski won second place in the 300 meter hurdles, third in the 100 meter hurdles and long jump, and fourth in the triple jump, while Aldridge won third in the high jump, and fifth in the long and triple jumps, and in the javelin.