OFF AND RUNNING

It was a cool and windy day in Polson last Friday at the Dave Tripp Memorial Track Meet, but that didn't deter the young athletes, most of whom achieved their personal records. The meet was hosted by Hot Springs and the top three individual places in each event received a cool T-shirt. There were several athletes who achieved the top three spots.

"We had a very good meet. A lot of our veterans came in and had better marks than the end of the season last year," said Blue Hawk Coach Trenna Ferris. The men's team placed third out of 14 teams and the Blue Hawk women placed third as well. Ferris said that it was a terrific way to start the season and the team is looking strong.

Returning from last year is senior Breck Ferris, who placed fifth in the long jump at State and junior Trinity Riffle, who placed sixth in the high jump at state. Also returning are Braxton Dorscher, Kaiden Robins and Justin Haagenson, whom along with Ferris, placed fifth at State in the 4x100 relay. The women's 4x400 relay team, Faith Palmer, Chesney Lowe, Hattie Neesvig and Riffle, also made State last year and are looking forward to returning.

The top finishers for Thompson Falls men and women are as follows:

Jaden Bewick placed 3rd in the 3200; Riffle placed 4th in the high jump; Ellie Baxter placed 1st in the 1600, 1st in the 3200 and 2nd in the 4x400 relay; Katelyn Subatch placed 3rd in the 800; Lowe placed 6th in the long jump, 3rd in the javelin and 2nd in the 4x400 relay; Palmer placed 3rd in the 1600, 2nd in the 3200 and 2nd in the 4x400 relay.

Braedon Ferris placed 6th in the shot put and 4th in the discus; Breck Ferris placed first in the long jump, second in the 100, second in the high jump, and third in the 4x400 relay; Bryson LeCoure placed sixth in the javelin, sixth in the high jump and sixth in the 4x400 relay; Nick Tessier placed fifth in the 200, sixth in the long jump and third in the 4x400 relay; Ian Myers placed 6th in the 3200; Brock Ryan placed 4th in the 800, fifth in the 1600 and sixth in the 4x400 relay; Cael Thilmony placed second in the 3200, third in the 1600 and sixth in the 4x400 relay; Ethan Geisbusch placed sixth in the 4x400 relay; Robins placed third in the 4x100 relay and Haagenson placed third in the 4x100 relay.

"This year we will see a lot of improvement as we have quite a few athletes who are just beginning their track and field career. We also have athletes on our team who should be looking to hit a qualifying time/distance in a couple of events during the regular season. This would guarantee them a place at State," said Ferris.

Assisting Ferris this season are: Jake Susic, the throws coach; Sarah Naegeli, the distance coach; Amy Gilbert, the jumps/sprints coach and volunteering for jumps and sprints is Scott Gilbert. As well as the head coach, Ferris is coaching: pole vault, sprints, relays, hurdles and jumps.

The top finishers for Hot Springs men and women are as follows:

David Chapman placed 10th in the 100, third in the 110 hurdles, fifth in the 4x100 relay and 8th in the shot put; Weston Slonaker placed 13th in the 100, ninth in the 200, fifth in the 4x100 relay, 13th in the shot put and first in the discus; Elijah Campbell placed seventh in the 1600 and third in the 3200; Wyatt Campell placed 13th in the 1600, eighth in the 3200 and fifth in the 4x100 relay; Nick McAllister placed second in the 110 hurdles, first in the 300 hurdles, fifth in the 4x100 relay and eighth in the long jump.

Kara Christensen placed 14th in the 200, third in the 100 hurdles, seventh in the discus and fifth in the javelin; Georgia Uski placed 14th in the shot put, sixth in the discus and 12th in the javelin.

"I thought the track meet went well for us last week. We're almost at full strength. Quincy Styles-Depoe is still hoping to participate in a meet. He's coming along well and will compete in Bigfork," said Coach Andrew Leichtnam.

Thompson Falls and Hot Springs track and field teams will be trekking to Bigfork this Saturday for the Bigfork Invitational starting at 10 a.m.