Charlo on track for big postseason

For the duration of the season, Charlo Track and Field athletes have often found themselves on the podium meet after meet. In the battle of Lake County’s finest, as well as at the Seeley-Swan Invite, not much changed.

For the duration of the season, Charlo Track and Field athletes have often found themselves on the podium meet after meet. In the battle of Lake County’s finest, as well as at the Seeley-Swan Invite, not much changed.

On Tuesday, May 1, the Charlo Lady Vikings raced their way to the Lake County title by knocking off Polson, Ronan-St. Ignatius, Arlee and Two Eagle, scoring 129 points.

“We knew going in that we had a really good chance to win that meet,” head coach Bret Thompson said. “We thought this was the year and the girls really stepped up.”

Aspen Runkel swept the hurdle races, winning the 100 in 16.54 seconds and the 300 in 49.81, narrowly edging teammate Rachel Hoyt (16.73, 50.61) who took second to Runkel in both races.

Jordan Ludeman helped Charlo to the top three spots in the 300 hurdles, finishing in 52.98 seconds, while Haley Berkram took fifth in 53.43.

“They always get a good workout against each other and are always pushing each other,” Thompson said.

Both relay teams also swept, with the Lady Vikings edging the Lady Pirates by just 11 hundredths of a second in the 400, finishing in 52.59, while dominating the 1,600 in 4:24.08.

“I’ve been really happy with our hurdles and our relays,” Thompson said.

Dawn Blevins kept her stellar year running with a second-place finish in the 800 (2:43.93) and a first-place 117’1” javelin toss. Madison Foust also earned first and second-place finishes, winning the triple jump at 30’4.5” and finishing second in the 400 in 1:07.7.

Deondra Brown and Michaela Krahn took second and third,\ respectively, in the 100 and 200 races, though Brown’s times of 13.84 and 28.65 very narrowly edged Krahn’s 13.86 and 28.73. Deondra’s sister Sienna finished second in the long jump at 13’10.5” and Ludeman and Stipe each pole vaulted 7’6” for the Lady Vikings.

The boys, meanwhile, finished in third place of the five teams with 58 points, led by Tyler Delaney, Tra Ludeman and Webb O’Neill.

Delaney fell just .03 seconds shy of winning the 400-meter race, finishing behind Polson’s Chris Cote in 54.44 and also helped both relay teams to third-place finishes. The Vikings ran the 400 in 53.09 and the 1,600 in 3:50.87.

“That was one of his better races because he’s been hurt,” Thompson said. “The 400 has been his best race. We want him to get healthy and get to state there, but he’s a big part of both relays as well.”

Ludeman flew through the field in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 15.52 and also captured second in the long jump with a 19’2.5” leap. O’Neill, meanwhile, took home the pole vault win with a 12’6” performance and finished second in both the triple jump (38’2.5”) and high jump (5’2”).

In the 300 hurdles, Jesse Long raced to a third-place finish in 47.38 seconds for Charlo. Four days later, both the boys and girls earned third place at the Seeley-Swan Invitational.

The boys rallied around the return of senior Stephen Delaney, who missed some time, but returned as if he hadn’t. Delaney won the 200 (23.13), 110 hurdles (15.15), 300 hurdles (39.34) and was on both relay team that won in 44.68 (400 with Tyler Delaney, Ludeman and Jacen Petersen) and 3:37.07 (1,600 with Connor Daugherty, Tyler Delaney and Kail Pope).

“He’s the leader for the other kids and it’ll be a positive thing down the road that the kids will feed off of,” Thompson said.

O’Neill had another solid meet, improving his pole vault to 13’ while recording a 40’8” triple jump, over two feet better than his second-place Lake County Invite leap.

“He’s been really consistent with his jumps and hit 13 feet on Saturday,” Thompson said. “We’ve been waiting for him to get to higher heights and we’re hoping he can over the next three weeks.”

Petersen took sixth in the pole vault with a 12’ showing, Ludeman finished third in the 110 hurdles in 16.05 seconds and Pope nabbed fifth in the 300 hurdles, crossing the line in 44.26. The Lady Vikings were led by Runkel, who took third in the 100 hurdles (17.10), sixth in the 400 (1:06.56) and teamed with Jordan Ludeman, Deondra Brown and Blevins to win the 1,600 relay in 4:22.25.

Hoyt followed Runkel across the finish line in the 100 hurdles in 17.39 and edged Ludeman in the 300 hurdles, with her third-place time of 50.54 just a bit ahead of Ludeman’s 51.80 fifth-place sprint.

Ludeman, meanwhile, took fifth in the pole vault at 8 feet, Krahn took fourth in the 200 sprint in 28.71 and, of course, Blevins continued her dominant season by winning another javelin, this time with a 122’ throw. The 400 relay team also scored for Charlo, taking third in 52.92. With districts on Thursday in Polson, Thompson is excited about his team’s prospects to advance to divisionals May 18-19 and then state the week after.

“We need to stay focused and keep improving,” Thompson said. “We can’t let our guard down. Now, it’s more about placing than times. They just need to do the things they’ve been doing and most kids have a chance to advance to state."