The Vikings track team gears up for districts

MISSOULA — After a strong showing against the county’s best at the Lake County meet on May 5 in Polson, the boys and girls of Charlo track went on to face inter-county competition at the Seeley invite in Missoula on Saturday.

The Charlo boys chocked up 114 points for second place at Lake County, not far off of Polson’s 146.

“I thought our kids competed well not knowing what Ronan and Polson had,” Charlo head coach Bret Thompson said. “I thought they did a great job.”

Charlo senior Zach Daugherty was one Viking who wasn’t afraid of the new competition and senior Brandon Pope was another.

Daugherty captured first in the 800-meter race and second in the 1,600.

Pope high-stepped his way to a gold finish in the 110 hurdles and out-jumped the competition with a first place finish in the high jump.

A 6-foot-2-inch leap was what it took to give Pope his second gold.

The final title for the boys came in the 1,600 relay, where the team just snuck by Polson with a 3:42.69 finish.

Keeping a good thing going, the Charlo boys made a second place, 54 and 1/3-point finish at Seeley.

Charlo took both relays there, with alternates, as key junior Chance Firestone was unable to attend the meet.

The long relay time of 3:38.49 was a season best for the Vikings and the short relay time of 46.47 was the second best time of the year.

“So our alternates did a great job for us,” Thompson said.

The long relay cast was Daugherty, sophomores Chance Rosenbaum, Chico Stipe and James Roylance. 

In the shorter race, Thompson ran Daugherty, Pope, Stipe and freshman Josh Lords.

The major success for the Vikings was that they placed at least one boy in every event in both meets.

“It was a positive way of getting ready for Districts,” Thompson said.

The Charlo girls snagged a third place finish in Polson with 60 points.

Junior Jaris Kelley and freshman Deondra Brown each placed in three individual events.

Kelley took fourth in the 100 hurdles, took bronze in the 300 hurdles and went home with silver in the pole vault, crossing over the 8-foot-6-inch mark.

Brown recorded a personal best time of 13.97 in the 100 for fifth, and went on to snag fourth in the 200 and third in the 400.

Senior Kate Coburn out-threw all but two of the county’s competitors to take bronze in both the shot put and discus.

In Missoula, the Lady Vikings placed fifth with 36 points.

The Charlo girls placed second in the long relay and third in the short.

Brittany Shaver took fifth in the 1,600, Schaelyn Fell took second in the 100 hurdles, Dawn Blevins took fifth in the javelin, Coburn took sixth in the discus, Rochelle Toussaint tied for fifth in the high jump and Kelley took third in the pole vault.

Charlo competes at Districts at 9 a.m. today in Polson. The top six placers in each event move on to Divisionals.

“I’d say most of them have a great chance at advancing,” Thompson said of his athletes.

Close matchups to watch for are between the Charlo boys and Superior at the long relay and the 800. For the girls, Thompson said the short relay may be a battle between Charlo and Hot Springs.