Chiefs, Vikings do battle on Bigfork track

By Trent Makela / Leader Staff

The Ronan boys' and Charlo girls' track teams each came away with top-five finishes and some lake-area bragging rights at the Bigfork Invitational last Saturday.

The Chiefs wrapped up a third-place finish with 64 points behind two individual champions and four second-place finishers.

The Lady Vikings finished in fifth place with 54 points, led by three individual champions and five other top-three finishers.

Ronan senior Makenzy Kelch posted the top time of :23.42 in the 200-meter dash, grabbing Ronan's first title of the day.

Jamie Engeldrum raced to Ronan's second title in the 110-meter hurdles. His time of 16.12 edged Cut Bank's Orin Johnson by one-hundredth of a second. Johnson returned the favor, narrowly taking the title from Engeldrum in the 300-meter hurdles.

Stephanie Murphy grabbed two of Charlo's individual titles, topping the field by more than four feet in the shot put and by nearly two feet in the discus. Her distances with the shot (36 feet, four inches) and the discus (96 feet, 5 inches) were Murphy's best of the season.

Senior Jaris Kelley grabbed another win for the Lady Vikings, clearing an even eight feet in the pole vault. Kelley also placed third in the javelin and placed in both hurdle distances.

The Ronan Maidens were led by a strong all-around performance from Sadie McMillan. The versatile junior placed third in both the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump, while also grabbing fourth in the 300-meter hurdles.

Senior Ishan Wylie grabbed both of the Maidens' other placing finishes in the meet, finishing third in the shot put and fourth in the high jump.

The Charlo boys were led by J.P. Touissant's second-place finish in the pole vault with a height of 12 feet, six inches. The Vikings also received fourth-place finishes from senior Jeff Bucholz in the 800-meters, and their team in the 1,600-meter relay.

Both Charlo and Ronan will return to their schedules this Saturday at the Seeley-Swan meet in Missoula. A few Vikings, Chiefs, Maidens and Lady Vikings will also make their way to Missoula next Tuesday for the state's Top Ten Meet. The region's music festival will also be held in Missoula next weekend, so many local students will be running between the two events, according to Ronan girls track coach Crystal Pitts.

Boys - Team scores: Thompson Falls 105, Libby 98, Ronan 64, Bigfork 41, Cut Bank 32, Eureka 27, Charlo 22, Florence 21, Shelby 18, Glacier 13, Columbia Falls 11, Dutton 0.

200 - 1, Kelch, Ron., 23.42; 6, Birthmark, Ron., 24.98.

800 - 4, Bucholz, Charlo, 2:14.18; 6, Lacy, Ron., 2:17.91.

1,600 - 5, Wroblewski, Ron., 4:59.81.

3,200 - 2, Wroblewski, Ron, 10:42; 3, Beavers, Ron., 11:12.31; 5, Maughan, Ron., 11:24; 6, Rosenbaum, Charlo, 11.29.

110 hurdles - 1, J. Engeldrum, Ron, 16.12; 6, B. Pope, Charlo, 17.57.

300 hurdles - 2, Engeldrum, Ron, 44.64; 6, Pope, Charlo, 47.47.

400 relay - 3, Ronan, 47.53; 5, Charlo, 48.63.

1,600 relay - 4, Charlo, 3:52.36; 5, Ronan, 3:54.47.

Discus - 2, Skogen, Ron., 133-5.

Pole vault - 2, Toussaint, Charlo, 12-6; 6, Firestone, Charlo, 11-0.

Girls -Team scores: Bigfork 84.3, Florence 73, Cut Bank 65, Libby 60.3, Charlo 54, Ronan 44.3, Dutton 41, Thompson Falls 38, Eureka 32, Seeley 24, Whitefish 6, Glacier 2, Columbia Falls 1, Shelby 0.

100 hurdles - 3, McMillan, Ron., 16.53; 6. Kelley, Charlo, 17.48.

300 hurdles - 4. McMillan, Ron, 49.47; 6. Kelley, Charlo, 52.83.

400 relay - 4. Ronan, 55.4.

1,600 relay - 2. Ronan, 4:25.86.

High jump - 3. McMillan, Ron., 4-10; 4. Wiley, Ronan, 4-8.

Long jump - 2. Cable, Ron., 14-5.

Shot put - 1. Murphy, Charlo, 36-4fi; 2. Coburn, Charlo, 32-4fi; 3. Wylie, Ron., 32-3fi.

Discus - 1. Murphy, Charlo, 96-5; 2. Coburn, Charlo, 93-7fi.

Javelin - 3. Kelley, Charlo, 96-6.

Pole vault - 1. Kelley, Charlo, 8-0.