Spring track and field previews

Charlo boys and girls track and field

Head coach: Bret Thompson, 22 years.

Assistant coaches: Mike Krahn, eight years; Jim Petersen, three years; Jared Miller, three years.

Conference: 14C

Record last year: Boys and girls finished first at districts.

Last year: Girls took second at divisionals, boys took fourth.

Seniors lost: JP Toussaint, Jeff Bucholz and Justine Morigeau.

Returning boys: State placers:  Junior Chance Firestone placed third in pole vault and fourth in 1600m relay; senior Zach Daugherty placed fourth in 1600m relay; junior Cody Nitschke paced second in 110m hurdles but may not play due to an ACL injury.

Other seniors: Ben Eggers, Brandon Pope and Clay Hoyt. 

Returning girls: State Placers: Junior Jaris Kelley placed third in pole vault; senior Rochelle Toussaint placed fifth in High Jump

Other seniors: Kate Coburn, Teela Mat-Mitchell.

Expecations: “We would like to defend our district crown and place every athlete at district,  give ourselves a chance to finish in the top three at divisional and state,” Thompson said.

Challenges: “Good boy numbers, 29, but girl numbers are down at 11,” Thompson said.

Competition: “We compete against the bigger schools throughout the year in hopes of being able to compete with anyone,” Thompson said.

Team motto: “Improve every week, stay healthy, and compete hard,” Thompson said.

Arlee boys and girls track and field

Head coach: Sue Carney, first year, 19 years as an assistant coach.

Assistant coaches: Shawn Orr, seven years; Anne Tanner, first year; Anna Mize, first year.

Conference: 13C

Seniors lost: Mark Felsman, Scott Fisher, Harlan Glass, and Cody Haynes.

Returning boys: Senior Wyatt O’Neill, placed fifth at state in High Jump and third at the Triple Jump; junior Kyle Felsman placed second at the Triple Jump at divisional.

Returning girls: Seniors Niche Brown, Tela Whiteman and Veronica Nelson; juniors Chelsea Allaire, Veronica Nelson and April Burnett; sophomore Cassandra Kline.

Total numbers: 36 athletes going out.

Expectations: “We will have a successful year with our athletes by meeting their personal and team goals and improvement throughout the season,” Carney said.

Challenges: “Weather - but this is every track coach’s nightmare or pleasure. State last year was a reminder of how bad it can get,” Carney said.

Team motto: “Our program appreciates commitment, great work ethic and coachability in our athletes. Track is an individual and a team sport that is my favorite to coach. It allows kids to set personal goals with a team aspect that brings home the hardware,” Carney said. 

Ronan-Mission girls track and field

Head coach: Crystal Pitts, 28th year.

Assistant coaches: Noelle Decker, head boys’ coach; Jim Benn, first year; Clayton Curley, first year.

Conference: Northwest A

Seniors lost: Ishan Wylie

Returners: Senior Sadie McMillan, Ronan school record holder at 100m hurdles, fifth place finish at high jump last two years at state; senior Kelsey Cable, set Mission school record in the high jump and 800m ; senior Lisa Larsson; senior Tabitha Carlson; junior Roslyn Hardy; sophomores Adessa Durglo and Taylor Linse.

New additions: 14 new freshmen and sophomores.

Expectations: “To pick up hardware at divisional and to qualify 10 girls to state,” Pitts said.

Challenges: “The weather and with all of the spring events getting a full squad to compete at meets especially early in the season,” Pitts said.

Competition: “Whitefish and Polson are teams with lots of numbers and are deep in a lot of events. They will be the ones to shoot for,” Pitts said.

Team motto: “Dedication and commitment,” Pitts said. “Track and field is difficult because of the distraction of many activities taking place this time of year. We are focusing on athletes making a commitment and then dedicating the time to be the best they can be in a season.”

Ronan-Mission boys track and field

Head coach: Noelle Decker, third year.

Assistants: Clayton Curley and Jim Benn, first year.

Conference: Northwest A

Returners: Senior Jamie Engeldrum, made state last year in hurdles; senior Adam Skogen, made it to state and placed in the javelin throw; sophomore Kevin Wroblewski, did not place in state last year, was in the top 20 at state for cross country.

New additions: 10-12 freshmen boys.

Challenges: “Our biggest challenge is getting everybody to every meet and not having conflicts. Spring’s a very tough time because all of our meets are on Saturdays,” Decker said.

Expectations: “I have fairly high expectations. We’ll set some team and individual goals next week. We have a lot of talented boys in events and we’ll fill them with the strongest athletes and see what we can do,” Decker said.    

Competition: “Whitefish will be tough - they always are, especially in the distance part of it,” Decker said.

Polson boys and girls track and field

Head coach: Bob Gunderson, coached 32 of last 33 years, nominated Class A Track Coach of the Year 11 times.

Assistant coaches: Mike Ellis, first year; Rob Kelley, five years; Jenni Brown, second year; Rob Alfiero, second year.

Last year: The Polson girls finished second at the divisional tournament, then beat defending champion Belgrade to earn a state championship.

Junior Nicole Davey took state in the 300m hurdles and the 1600m Relay team made up of junior Christa Redcrow, Davey, sophomore Breanne Kelley and the team’s only departing senior Merilee Mowbray.

The Polson boys placed first at the divisional the last 14 seasons.

Last year, Polson’s Logan Torgison placed in the 800m and 1600m run, Cody Doyle placed in the 110m High Hurdles, senior Ryan Kelley placed in the Pole Vault, junior Ty Fouty placed in the Pole Vault and junior Brock Picard placed in the javelin throw. Torgison and Doyle are departing seniors.

Returning letterman: Girls: Senior Tara Johnson, Davey, junior Loni Havlovick, junior Natasha Lafferty, Redcrow, sophomore Katie Finley, Breanne and sophomore Sierra Pete. Boys: senior Chris Alfiero, Ryan, senior Tucker Morigeau, junior Trae Fouty, junior Alex Havlovick, Picard and junior Colter Bull.

Total numbers: 47 boys, 22 girls.

Expectations: Boys: “Our goal is to place in the top two at the divisional track meet and continue our streak of divisional trophies. We hope to have at least one individual state champion this year,” Gunderson said.

Girls: “Our girls have high expectations. They want to repeat as State Champions and have the opportunity to do so based on the returning letterman they have,” Gunderson said.