Boys do well at Archie Roe
Daniel Jones competes in the shot put at the Archie Roe meet in Kalispell last Saturday. (Chris Peterson photo)
Derrick Williams continues to shine in the 800 meters, winning the race at one of the toughest meets in the state last week. Williams notched a time of 2:01.07 and teammate Patric Jessat was just a hair behind him at the finish with a 2:01.11.
It was the Columbia Falls track team's best performance of the day at the Archie Roe Invitational in Kalispell Saturday. The meet draws the best athletes from across western Montana.
The Cats also saw a great performance from Nate Thompson, who took second in the triple jump with a jump of 41-10. Kodiak Gimbel also did well in the triple with a jump of 40-6. Mike Macijunas scored sixth in the discus with a throw of 136 feet. And the 1600 relay team was edged by Whitefish by a little less than a second. Patric Jessat stumbled on the exchange and yet still got the baton off to keep the Cats in the race. Williams, who normally anchors the race, didn't run it and the Cats still got second.
Whitefish had a time of 3:28.53, the Cats time was 3:29.86.
Coach Jamie Heinz was pleased with the boys' performance. Unlike the Whitefish meet, the runners didn't compete in multiple races.
The boys team took seventh at the meet and the girls had one athlete score points — Kelsey DeWit tied for sixth in the long jump with a leap of 5-0.
"Now we start focusing on the end of the year, getting ready for divisionals," he said.
Both teams wrap up the regular season this week with a triangular meet at home Thursday against Flathead and Glacier and then an away meet at Polson Saturday. They're the last tune-ups before divisionals in Libby May 21-22.
Heinz said the team will treat it like the divisional tourney. They'll run the events in the triangular like they would in the first day of the divisional meet, then they'll run events in Polson like it was the second day of the divisional meet.
The team goes into the last two regular season meets healthy, though sprinter Dean Phillips may not compete.
He's been nursing a sore hamstring and probably won't run until the divisional meet.