Ronan-St. Ignatius has 20 placers

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| April 5, 2012 3:22 PM

The Ronan-St. Ignatius track and field team got their season started last Saturday in Corvallis and had 20 placers between the boys and girls events.

“The sun came out, the athletes got some sunburns, and our track and field season got off to a good start,” Ronan head coach Crystal Pitts said.

The boys, led by speedster Riley Dennis, placed fifth out 13 teams thanks to the impressive athleticism of the Chiefs. Dennis, who will be playing college soccer next fall for Rocky Mountain College, turned on the jets and finished sixth in the 200-meter race (24.60), then third in the 400-meter (54.0).

Dennis was also on the 4x100 meter relay team that included Carston Baertsch, Jalen Bell and Jake Skelton. The four finished fifth with a time of 47.08. Bell would go on to win the high jump event (5’10”) and take third in the long jump with a personal best of 20’08.25”. He also placed fifth in the triple jump (40’10.5”).

Ronan-St. Ignatius’ Patrick Eichert got a personal best in the triple jump (37’09”). Marcus “The Jet” Hungerford got some flight time and placed sixth in the high jump (5’06”).

The boys had a strong showing in the throwing events. Lucas Gerhardt placed third in the shot put event (41’ 09”) and Nikko Alexander notched a personal best of 35’05” in the same event to take sixth. Gerhardt also registered a personal best in the JV javelin throw (151’00”). It was a 25-foot improvement from his previous best. Brennan Andrews also recorded a personal best in the javelin (130’06”).

In the pole vault, Connor Benn and Shelby Grant both tied for sixth in the pole vault with a 9’00” height. Benn also earned a personal record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46.7.

Paden Alexander continued to show why he was great, posting the best times of any Class B runner at the meet. He placed fifth in the 3,200-meter (10:58) and sixth in the 1,600-meter (4:57).

The Ronan-St. Ignatius girls placed sixth anchored behind a pair of impressive distance races by Jade Gray. The talented Ronan cross country runner placed third in the 1,600-meter race (6:04) and fourth in the 3,200-meter race (13:47).

Courtney Heath was fifth in the 3,200 (13:47) to round out Ronan-St. Ignatius’ scoring in the distance races. Ronan basketball star Courtney Clairmont continued to show inexhaustible energy, placing third in the 800-meter race (2:39), while Mission’s Stephanie Lewandowski was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles (18.24).

In the throws, freshman Aspen Jore set a new Ronan High School record and placed fourth in the javelin (99’01”). It broke the old record of 92’09” set by Kelly McMillan in 2005. Mission’s Twyla Hogge placed fifth in the shot put with a personal best of 32’09”.

Kaylie Durglo was fifth in the triple jump (30’10.5”).

“We were pleased with the day and happy to get out and compete and get some marks that we can work on,” Pitts said.

Ronan-St. Ignatius hosted a non-scoring meet on Tuesday but results were not available at press time. They’ll be off until April 14 when they travel up north for the Bigfork Invitational.