Charlo teams shine at county meet

The Charlo Lady Vikings turned one or two Class A schools on their heads last week with a first place finish at the county meet in Polson, while the boys finished a respectable third out of a field of five.

On the girls side, Amanda Murphy took third in the 100, Adri Hammond took fourth in the 400 and fifth in the 800, Stevie-Leigh Sammons took third in the 1,600 and Ashley Lobdell took fifth, while Addy Rockwell took fourth in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200.

"We were able to get kids into every event. We actually had more girls than some of the other teams," said head coach Bret Thompson.

He noted Hammond, Murphy and Joey Ray all had personal bests last week. Murphy and Ray also set school shot put records the week prior.

"Amanda's shot is better than last year. The discus is still coming along. She's been the most consistent in the shot," he said.

Murphy edged Class A state winner Kara Walker by a few inches at the county meet to take first in the shot, while getting second in the discus. Teammate Amanda Hout took third.

Hayley Carr took second in the javelin, while Sammons and Kate Coburn took fourth and fifth, respectively. Samijo Kain and Rochelle Toussaint tied for fifth in the high jump.

Ma'Rya Hungerford and Rhondell Esterby took first and second in the long jump and third and fourth, respectively, in the triple jump. Hammond won the pole vault while Carr took fourth.

For hurdles, Carr took first in the 100, while Kain took third and Toussaint took fifth. Toussaint also got second in the 300 hurdles, while Ann Thompson took fourth and Naomi Knight got fifth.

On the boys side, J.P. Toussaint took fifth in the 200, while Brandon Rollins took fifth in the 400.

"That's the first time Brandon had run the 400, so he's only going to get better," Thompson noted.

Rollins took fourth in the 800, too, while Aaron Young took fifth in the 1,600. Toussaint finished second only to Class A state contender Michael Fisher from Ronan in the 3,200.

Bo Herak had a second place finish in the 110 hurdles, just ahead of Jared Kingery, who took fourth. Herak had a first place finish in the 300, while Kingery took fourth again.

TJ Kerr took second in the javelin, while Joey Ray cleaned up first place honors in the shot and took second in the discus. Teammate Andrew Marcure took fifth.

Brandon Pope had a fourth place finish in the high jump, while Roman Firestone took fourth in the triple jump. Toussaint finished in fourth for the pole vault.

The team turned its attention to districts in Polson Wednesday, but results were unavailable by press time. The top six finishers will go on to divisionals, and both teams have a good shot at placing some talent.

Thompson said Murphy is shaping up to defend her title in the discus, while Hammond will make a run for first in the pole vault after finishing second last year. However, they have some stiff competition, he noted. He said Ray, who finished sixth in the shot last year behind five seniors, should have a chance to do much better this year.