C. Falls track teams finish in back of pack at home meet

Hungry Horse News

It's tough for a team to be competitive when it's missing almost half its athletes.

That's the situation the Columbia Falls boys track team confronted Saturday in the Columbia Falls Invitational. So, needless to say, expectations were low.

"We told them it's an extension of what we're doing in practice," boys coach Mark Beckwith said.

As expected, with only 23 of 45 team members, the boys were not much of a force. They scored 38 points and took sixth. Thompson Falls won the meet with 114.5 points.

The girls team, also missing key athletes, sputtered, too. It scored 31 points and finished 10th. Cut Bank won with 80 points.

Both teams had athletes out due to injuries and not having the required 10 practices. The athletes who did compete were rusty. Cold weather has kept the teams from working on their skills. As an example, none of the pole vaulters had been over a bar before Saturday.

"We looked at it as a practice," girls coach Wes Knutson said. "We wanted to get a good workout in. That's all it is this time of year."

Nevertheless, there were some quality performances for Columbia Falls.

Jace Ladenburg won the discus with a 140-6 1/2. The throw was only two feet off his personal best. Greg Macijunas took third in discus with a 125-2 1/2, which was a personal best.

In the boys 1,600, Kallen Bodily had an impressive second place finish. He finished in 4:56.8. Shelby's Daniel Bridge won in 4:52.7.

"Kallen Bodily ran a great 1,600," Beckwith said. "That's a pretty decent time. For this time of year it's very good."

A new addition to the boys team is also showing promise. In his first high school track meet, junior Bobby Opp took fourth in the triple jump (39-3 ) and fifth in the 200 (25.0).

Nick Beckwith, fourth in the 110 hurdles (19.0), and Jeremiah Fauske, fifth in long jump (19-5) and sixth in high jump (5-6), also contributed points for the team.

Sophomore Jessica Boyer had a solid run for the girls. She took second in the 1,600 (5:58.8).

"Jessica had a real good day," Knutson said. "That was pleasant to see that. It's a good starting point."

Senior Cassie Stoneman also got off to a good start. She took third in the triple jump (33-8) and fourth in the long jump (14-8).

Some other contributors were Amber Lampman, fourth in the triple jump (30-5), Danielle Vukonich, fourth in the 400 (68.8), and Alona Raymond, sixth in the 3,200 (14:11.6).

Knutson was glad to see some success on the track. He said he knows they will be solid in field like they were last year when they took second at state, but he hopes the track athletes will contribute more this year.

Some top athletes missing from the girls team were Bekah Stoltz, Kim Pearce and Shanelle Swift.

The boys team was missing Dillon West, Kyle Rosenbaum and Devin Schmidt.

The next meet is Saturday in Bigfork. Both coaches said their teams should be closer to full strength after a full week of practices. The athletes will also have time to knock more of the dust off their skills.