Locals shine at Missoula's Western Top 10 meet
Photo by Trent Makela -- Polson's Breanne Kelley takes the baton from teammate Katie Finley as she begins the third leg of the 1,600-meter relay. The Polson team, shuffled due to injuries, won the event with two freshmen and two sophomores competing.
By Trent Makela / Leader Staff
A handful of local track athletes showed just how well they can stack up against their competition from various classes around the region Tuesday at the Western Top 10 meet at Missoula County Stadium.
The Polson girls' 1,600-meter relay team ended the meet with perhaps the best showing of the night, as anchor Christa Redcrow came from behind in the last 100 meters to pull out the win by six-tenths of a second, ahead of Hamilton.
"Those girls really surprised me," Polson coach Bob Gunderson said. "We have our two fastest girls down with injuries, we're running two freshman and two sophomores, and the freshman Katie Finley probably ran the fastest leg of them all."
Nicole Davey and Breanne Kelley joined Finley and Redcrow to win the title. Redcrow also placed second in the 300-meter hurdles.
Polson's Logan Torgison won the only title of the day from Lake County on the boys side. Torgison's best-ever time in the 1,600 (4:28.4) gave him the win. He was also able to regroup and grab second place in the 800-meter race with another career time (1:59.4) shortly after his first race.
"Logan really did a great job today. There's not much time between any of the events and I can't tell you how hard it is to get both of your best times back-to-back like that," Gunderson said.
Arlee's Jordan Pfau had Lake County's only other top-three finish, grabbing third in the triple jump with an effort of 34 feet and four inches.
Sadie McMillan had the best showing of the day for Ronan-St. Ignatius, placing eighth in the 300-meter hurdles and participating on the ninth-place 1,600-meter relay team.
The Charlo boys were able to grab fourth place in their 1,600-meter relay race and Jeff Bucholz paced the team's individual efforts with a sixth-place finish in the 800-meters.
Boys
800 - 2, Logan Torgison, Polson, 1:59.40; 6, Jeff Bucholz, Charlo, 2:01.40.
1600 - 1, Logan Torgison, Polson, 4:28.4.
110 hurdles - 10, Ryan Kelley, Polson, 16.30.
1600 relay - 4, Charlo, 3:33.70; 7, Polson, 3:36.00.
Pole vault - 4, Ryan Kelley, Polson, 13-00fi; 7, J.P. Toussaint, Charlo, 12-6fi.
Triple jump - 7, Wyatt O'Neill, Arlee, 40-6.25fi.
Girls
400 - 4, Breanne Kelley, Polson, 59.80.
110 hurdles - 5, Breanne Kelley, Polson, 15.90.
300 hurdles - 2, Christa Redcrow, Polson, 46.90; 8, Sadie McMillan, Ronan-St. Ignatius, 49.80.
400 relay - 5, Polson, 51.70.
1600 relay - 1, Polson, 4:05.80; 9, Ronan-St. Ignatius, 4:21.10.
High jump - 9, Ishan Wylie, Ronan-St. Ignatius, 4-10fi.
Pole vault - 4, Nicole Davey, Polson, 9-6fi; 5, Tara Johnson, Polson, 9-0fi.
Long jump - 4, Christa Redcrow, Polson, 15-2fi.
Triple jump - 3, Jordan Pfau, Arlee, 34-4fi.
Shot put - 5, Stephanie Murphy, Charlo, 36-1fi.