BHS track heads to divisionals on high note

With just one week left before the Northwest A Divisional Track Meet, the Bigfork team showed they were ready, placing 14 times at Saturday's ABC meet in Polson. The Bigfork girls placed sixth and the boys were seventh among the 10 schools that participated.

"We're ready," said BHS Head Track and Field Coach Sue Loeffler. "We're peaking just at the right time, so we'll just have to see what happens."

Sophomore Mallery Knoll led the girls with top finishes in three of the sprints. She took first in the 100-meter and narrowly missed breaking the school record. Her hand-clocked time was 12.3 and tenth of a second faster than the fastest recorded by a Val, however her official time was 12.84.

"She ran an exceptional race," Loeffler said. "Like I told her no matter what the time was she ran a beautiful race."

Knoll improved her time in the 300-meter hurdles from last week by one-and-a-half seconds and won the race with a time of 46.92. She also took second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.12.

Kayla Carlson took first in the 800-meter with a time of 2:22. The Vals 400-meter relay team placed fifth, finishing the course in 52.88. Making up that team were, Jill Hamilton, Jenna Egdorf, Caitlin Charlebois and Knoll.

Charlebois, a sophomore, competed in the javelin in varsity for the first time ever and her throw of 97-8 earned her sixth place.

Donny Tudahl led the boys with second place finishes in the shot put, with a distance of 47-5.5, and the discus, 43-5.

Garrett Pewe placed in two events as well. He was second in the high jump, his best finish of the season, after clearing the bar at 6-02 for the third week in a row. He also placed in the long jump for the first time this year. He made it 19-11 and earned fifth place.

Zac Bruer placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 43-5. Garrett Hibbs competed in varsity for the first time in the discus and took third with his throw of 131-5.

Travis Knoll was the only individual from the Bigfork boys to place in the races at the meet. He took sixth in the 100-meter with a time of 11.69. The boys 1600-meter relay team of Matt McGady, Keenan Evans, Phil Sandry and Pewe also placed sixth at the meet, with a time of 3:36.06.

The divisional track meet starts tomorrow, May 22, in Polson with events being held on Saturday as well. Athletes must place in the top five of an event to qualify to compete in that event at the state track meet, which will be held in Butte next Friday and Saturday.