Arlee, Two Eagle heat up at Hot Springs Invitational
HOT SPRINGS — Arlee won numerous events at the Hot Springs Invitational last Thursday with the girls winning first place in impressive fashion with 238 points while the boys earned second place with 154 points. Two Eagle also had several placers at the event and took fourth place in both boys and girls.
HOT SPRINGS — Arlee won numerous events at the Hot Springs Invitational last Thursday with the girls winning first place in impressive fashion with 238 points while the boys earned second place with 154 points. Two Eagle also had several placers at the event and took fourth place in both boys and girls.
BOYS
Sam Nelson led the Arlee boys, showing plenty of versatility as an athlete. Nelson won first in the long jump (18-1), the triple jump (39-1.5) and the javelin (137.7). Nelson was also a member of the Arlee 400-meter relay team with Dustin Baker, Donovan McDonald and Mark Fullerton that won first place.
Clayton Trimble won first place in the shot put (37-8.5) and McDonald won the 1,600-meter race (5:26). Fullerton ended up placing second in the javelin (129-1) and Mc- Donald was fourth (122-7).
“He just started trying it out this week,” Arlee head coach Russ Baker said of Fullerton. “Mark and Clayton were probably the two that stood out for us this week along with Sam.”
Two Eagle’s Marcus Brown was a do-all for the Eagles. Brown was third in the 800-meter race (2:41.58), sixth in the 1,600-meter race (6:07), second in the shot put (34- 1.5) and first in the discus (116-3).
GIRLS
The Arlee girls won the Hot Springs Invite in lopsided fashion. After their 238 points, the next closest team was Hot Springs and St. Regis with 62 thanks to the Scarlets’ talented group of athletes that don’t specialize in one individual event but rather excel in many different events.
Sophomore wunderkind Whitney Malatare placed first in the long jump (15.25) and triple jump (30-7).
“Her long jump mark was her best of the year,” Baker said. “We took the first six places in the long jump.”
Senior Becca Nelson was first in the discus (95-4) and javelin (115-11). She was second in the long jump (13- 1.75) and shotput (29-4.5), while notching third in the high jump (4-6).
Eula Fullerton placed first place in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles and was part of the first-place 400-meter relay team with Jenna Pablo, Tiffany O’Neil and Jessica Knoll.
Pablo was second in the triple jump (29-3) and Knoll was second in the 400-meter dash (1:15). Aspen Meidinger was first in the shot put (31-7).
“Our throws for both the boys and girls are doing pretty good,” Baker said. “We’re going to get Rachelle Meidinger back from her ankle injury and they’ve been pretty consistent every week.”
Arlee’s ability to score points in bunches in several different events should pay dividends further down the road.
“That pays off in the district meet,” Baker said. “It’s these handful of girls that have been getting the trophies for us but there are some younger girls that are going to fill in for us this year too and score some points.”
For Two Eagle, Daryl Conko-Camel was second in the discus (88-4) and third in the shot put (28-1). In the 400-meter dash, Zharelle Edwards was third and Hamida Jridi was fifth.
Arlee and Two Eagle will travel south to Missoula on Thursday for the Jim Johnson Invite, and Arlee will go south again to Missoula on Saturday for the Seeley High School Invite.
“Hopefully we have good weather on that good track so we can get some good times,” Baker said.