Bigfork track holds off for district tourney

It definitely rained on the Vikes and Vals parade at the Archie Roe track meet in Kalispell on Saturday. Cold, wet, and windy weather kept the majority off the track and field, but the few that were able to compete during the meet did well.

“After the 400 I shut all my sprinters down,” Coach Sue Loeffler said. “The weather just got so bad that I didn’t want anyone to pull muscles so I stopped it after that because we have Districts this week and we can’t lose anyone.”

The unique thing about the Archie Roe track meet is it’s the biggest meet of the regular season and allows for freshmen to compete against each other. The Vals have an exceptionally large number of freshmen this year, most of which have had to compete with older athletes.

“”It’s just really neat for the freshmen to go against freshmen,” Loeffler said. “Especially for the girls, they’ve had to compete at a higher level than I normally do with freshmen right off the bat because the majority of my team is freshmen.”

Freshman Marissa Hiza brought home a double victory, winning first in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Hiza finished the 100 with a time of 17.79 and the 300 with a time of 53.12.

“Hiza performed really well,” Loeffler said.

Kayla Casalegno also brought home a victory when she won the shot put with 29’8.00”.

It was a successful weekend for Casalegno as she also placed third in the discus and the javelin where she threw an 80’10.00” in the discus and an 87’6.00” in the javelin.

Tessa Roberton won the discuss with a distance of 90’11.00.”

There were plenty of second place finishes to back up the first place victories as well.

Riley Coleman placed second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 30.87 and Carson Cantrell placed second in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:11.86.

Ryan Hayes placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.22. The JV Vikes placed second in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 45.18.

Josh Sandry and Trae Habel of Flathead High School tied for second in the boys high jump with a 5’5.00.”

The Vikes did exceptionally well in the 300-meter hurdles. Austin Jordt came in second with 44.69 and Daniel Fellows was close behind in third with 45.11.

The Vikes also placed third in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 47.55.

Ellessa Henion placed third in the triple jump with 29’5.75” and Tyler Iverson got third in the shot put with 34’3.00.”

This week the Vikes and Vals are going to be fine-tuning their skills as they prepare for Districts. Districts will be held at Bigfork High School’s track on May 12, field starts at 10 a.m. and running starts at 11 a.m.