Maidens take second at Lake County Meet

KALISPELL — The Ronan-Mission Chiefs and Maidens put on a good showing at the Lake County meet in Polson before taking off up north to compete against the big boys and girls of the giant Archie Roe invite in Kalispell.

Running up 87 points against the competition, the Maidens took second only to Polson in the cross-county meet.

A first place finish in the long-relay was complimented by a couple of multi-event placers on the Maidens’ behalf.

Ronan’s senior track star Sadie McMillan proved she was the best in the 100-meter dash, the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles.

McMillan was joined by Ronan senior Tabitha Carlson, Mission sophomore Dessa Durglo and Mission freshman Christian Williams to finish first on that long relay.

Durglo was the other Maiden to really tear into the competition. She took first in both the high and triple jumps and third in the long jump.

She also set a Mission school record with a 18.78 time in the 100 hurdles for a fifth place finish.

Mission senior Kelsey Cable set the Mission school record in the pole vault with a 7-foot-6-inch height for fourth place. Carlson finished third in the event.

At the Archie Roe invite, McMillan placed second in the 100 and fourth in the 300 hurdles. A second place time of 15.23 in the 100 hurdles set the Ronan school record.

Durglo finished sixth in the triple jump and tied the Mission school record with a 5-foot high jump to finish fourth.

Five other Maidens: Rose Bear Don’t Walk, Taylor Cullen, Twyla Hogge, Jenny Larsson and Christina Williams set personal records at the meet.

“The girls had a good hard week with three Mission records tied or bettered and one Ronan record set,” Maidens head coach Crystal Pitts said.

The Ronan boys placed third behind Charlo and Polson at the Lake County meet with 66 points.

With the absence of Ronan senior Jamie Engeldrum, the team suffered a bit on the scoresheet, but the other members of the team made some good marks to make up for it.

Ronan senior Adam Skogen led the way with two first place finishes in the shot put and javelin and a silver finish in the discus. His throw of 44.3 was a personal best toss.

Ronan senior Danny Beavers was the other gold medalist at Lake County, in the 3,200-meter race. Beavers was also one of three Chiefs to place in two individual events with a fourth place finish at the 1,600.

Ronan’s Evan Waldren placed second in the triple jump and third in the javelin toss.

Mission senior Lynn Birthmark placed second in the long jump.

Ronan took third in both relays.

In Kalispell, Engeldrum was the only Chief to place, with a 16.37 time in the 110 hurdles.

“Jamie was disappointed with both of the hurdles races but I am not concerned. Jamie has been consistent all season long and will be fine,” Ronan boys coach Noelle Decker said.

Decker hopes to keep a strong core of 8-10 freshmen and sophomore boys together for the next few years.

“They are capable of becoming very successful at the varsity level,” she said.

Ronan-Mission competes at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in Polson. It is the last meet before Divisionals the following week in Polson.