Lady Pirates splash to state track title

By Trent Makela/Leader Staff

The Polson High School girls' track team ran, jumped, threw and nearly swam their way to the Class A girls' state title in Bozeman's swampy Van Winkle Stadium last weekend.

The Lady Pirates were involved in a tight race for team points over the meet's two days before pulling away from the two-time defending state champs from Belgrade 75-66.

The Polson girls trailed the Lady Panthers in the team scores 66-65 as late as 9 p.m. on Saturday's final night of competition. That is when the girls' last event, pole vaulting, finally began away from the rain at Montana State University's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

The girls' warm-ups were delayed an additional 15 minutes as the Polson vaulters attempted to recover their uniforms, shoes and meet-required identification numbers from a locked changing room before the competition.

Eventually, sophomore Nicole Davey posted her best height of the year at an even 10 feet to secure second place and seal the team title. Her classmate, Tara Johnson, tacked on some insurance points and tied for fifth place with her personal best height of nine feet and six inches.

"We were one point away from a championship and running around getting uniforms. You'd think [Davey and Johnson] would get nervous and I tell you they weren't," Polson head coach Bob Gunderson said. "They were a lot calmer than I was. I've never seen Davey pole vault that well and Johnson too."

The event continued until 11 p.m. and the team was forced to stay an extra night in Bozeman.

Most of the team points for Davey and the rest of the Lady Pirates, though, were scored far, far away from the climate-controlled comfort of a college arena.

No new state records were set over the weekend as the athletes endured a steady sprinkle of rain Friday before battling a heavy downpour Saturday that came with bursts of wind and hail.

"That was absolutely the worst weather I've seen at a state track meet in the 32 years that I've been in Polson," Gunderson said. "Absolutely it affected the athletes. The track drained pretty well, but it pooled in spots and there was a river of water on the finish line."

The 1,600-meter relay team, Polson's most consistent scorers this season, powered through the weather to take the state title in 4:04.73, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of second-place Hamilton. The Lady Pirates never trailed in the race and finished with their second-fastest time this season.

The team consisted of Davey, Breanne Kelley, Merilee Mowbray and Christa Redcrow. Redcrow was a late addition to the lineup after Sierra Pete's hamstring tightened up midway through her 800-meter run.

Redcrow was fighting through an injury herself, having torn a tendon in her toe at the Lake County meet.

"She said she could make it and I said she had better be telling me the truth," Gunderson said. "She hadn't practiced real hard in four weeks. I could tell it hurt, but she ran a great leg for us."

Davey, Kelley and Mowbray returned with Pete to take second in the 400-meter relay, finishing just twelve-hundredths of a second behind the Belgrade team.

Polson's only individual title came from Davey in the 300-meter hurdles. The race was dead even between the Lady Pirate and Belgrade's defending state champion, Kirsten Haas, as they crossed the race's final two hurdles. Davey sprinted away across the finish line, though, finishing with a personal record time of 45.18 for the win. Breanne Kelley finished fourth in the race.

"I figured if we did really really, really well we had 68 points and we got 75. We were outstanding," Gunderson said. "The weather didn't seem to bother them at all. They took the sweats off, got drenched and went to work."

Davey, a sophomore, added a second place in the 400-meters, falling by just a half second to Corvallis' Whitney Henderson. She finished with five top-two performances, including her results in both relays, the pole vault and the long hurdles.

Kelley, a fellow sophomore, was "tough as nails," according to Gunderson. She also placed in five different events for the Lady Pirates. She added a third in the 100 hurdles, fifth in the 200 and sixth in the 400 to her long hurdles and long relay scores.

Redcrow added to her long relay title and her aching toe by taking third in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet and eight inches.

Loni Havlovick exceeded her personal best by a full foot with a throw of 35 feet and seven inches to place fourth in the shot put after placing fifth in divisionals. She also took fourth in the discus. Teammate Natasha Lafferty finished right behind her for fifth in the shot put for Polson.

The state title is the third for the Lady Pirates. Gunderson led them to their first in 2003 and second in 2004.

"They all just stepped up. Most of the boys' times were a lot slower," Gunderson said. "Some of our girls' times were faster - that shows you how much they competed."

The Lady Pirates will lose just one senior, Merilee Mowbray, who was fighting through tightness in her hamstrings and back over the weekend.

"We could have scored 100 points if we had Merilee back and everyone else healthy, too," Gunderson said.

The rest of the Polson team, including all of this year's points scorers, will return for next season. Most will also return for the season after next.

"You never know from one year to the next, but we could win it next year, too," Gunderson said. "We should just be better next year if we can get all the girls healthy. I'm looking forward to next season with these kids."

Class A state track meet

Bozeman

Girls' team scores: Polson 75, Belgrade 66, Corvallis 43, Miles City 34, Billings Central 33, Livingston 30, Lewistown 28, Laurel 27, Frenchtown 26, Whitefish 24, Glendive 23, Hamilton 23, Bigfork 20, Sidney 20, Hardin 18, Stevensville 14, Dillon 9, Columbia Falls 7, Libby 6, Ronan-St. Ignatius 1.

200 - 5. Breanne Kelley, Polson, 26.67.

100 hurdles - 3. Breanne Kelley, Polson, 15.89.

300 hurdles - 1. Nicole Davey, Polson, 45.18; 2. Haas, Belgrade, 45.49; 4. Breanne Kelley, Polson, 47.42.

400 relay - 1. Belgrade, 50.49; 2. Polson, 50.61.

1,600 relay - 1. Polson, 4:04.73.

Discus - 4. Loni Havlovick, Polson, 112-11fi.

Pole vault - 2, Nicole Davey, Pol, 10-0fi; 5, Tara Johnson, Pol, 9-6.

400 - 1, Henderson, Corvallis, 58.34; 2, Nicole Davey, Polson, 58.88; 6, Breanne Kelley, Polson, 61.03.

Shot put - 4, Loni Havlovick, Polson, 35-7fi; 5, Natasha Lafferty, Polson, 34-2.

Long jump - 3, Christa Redcrow, Polson, 15-8fi.