Track season starts with a bang at Ronan invitational meet
<p>Representing Ronan/St. Ignatius, Shelby Grant attempts his poll vault last Thursday in Ronan. Grant would vault 10-06.00 for a third place finish, giving his team five points. Ronan/St. IgnatiusÕ boys gave a strong performance Thursday and walked away from the invitational with 69.5 points.</p>
<p>Stephanie Lewandowski leaps over her first 100-meter hurdle last week in Ronan.</p>
<p>Two Eagle RiverÕs Selina Gerst sprints toward the finish line Thursday in the 400-meter run. Gerst finished in 13th place for the Eagles.</p>
<p>Ronan's Stephanie Lewandowski in mid-air during her long jump attempt last Thursday at the Ronan Invitational. </p>
<p>Jalen Bell attempting his high jump in last weeks Ronan Invitational.</p>
RONAN – Even a day full of drizzling rain couldn’t slow down the track and field athletes representing 18 schools during the non-scoring track invite in Ronan Thursday. Three Lake County teams, including Ronan/St. Ignatius, Arlee and Two Eagle River, looked to gain momentum early in the season.
Athletes dressed in sweatpants and sweatshirts desperately tried to keep warm in between events. The cold morning rain threatened to put a damper on the day, but by the time afternoon hit, the sun crept out, the athletes were warmed up, and despite being a non-scoring track and field event, the competition was at full-throttle.
Ronan/St. Ignatius (RSI) turned out a solid performance in both the boys and the girls competition. The boys scored 69.5 points and were a force in several events. Their two returning all-state athletes Paden Alexander and Jalen Bell were again electrifying, leading the RSI boys team. In the boys 800-meter run, Alexander finished first, running the two laps in a time of 2:06.19, just edging out Corvallis’ Jake Purlee by 66 tenth of a second.
Alexander wasn’t done. In his next event – the 3200-meter run – Alexander was facing the same race he finished first in at state in 2012. This year, it was evident what Alexander was doing in the offseason, as he shattered his all-state time of 10:18.44 and posted an incredible 10:00.92. Logan Morley of Bigfork was second, nearly 19 seconds behind Alexander. The time suggests that Alexander is already in mid-season form and is one of the favorites to win another state title in the 3200-meter.
RSI’s other returning all-state athlete – Bell – looked to stay on top in the triple jump. Bell’s jump last year at state of 43-8.5 was good enough to take home the title of best triple-jumper. Despite jumping nine inches shorter Thursday in Ronan (42-11.75) it was still enough to post the best jump of the day.
Bell finished an encouraging third place last year at state in the long jump. Bell leaped four inches farther Thursday than he did at state and finished first in the invite with a jump of 20-06. With Bell finishing on top in both the triple and long jump, accompanied with his fifth place finish in the high jump (5-08), Bell will be in serious contention to place in all three events at state.
Arlee’s Isaac Desjarlais finished seventh in the boy’s 200-meter dash and eighth in the 800-meter, giving him a total of three points on the day. The freshman runner should have Arlee fans excited for the future, as Desjarlais will only get faster with more experience. Zachariah Tapia of Two Eagle River placed 13 in the 110-meter hurdle to round out the top performers for Lake County.
The girls from Ronan/St. Ignatius also fared well at the invite, scoring a respectable 64 points. RSI showed they have plenty of speed in Jessie Lewis and Alexandra Dennis. Lewis finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at 13.18 and sixth in the 200-meter, right behind her teammate Dennis who ran a 28.65.
Arlee’s Jessica Knoll turned in a courageous effort in the 400-meter dash, finishing fifth in 1:06 flat. Her teammate Beca Whitesell finished ninth and Two Eagle River’s Selina Gerst finished in 13th place. Knoll also finished in 10th place in the 800-meter and RSI’s Kiana Howell finished in fifth with a time of 2:44.93.
In the 100-meter hurdles, RSI’s Stephanie Lewandowski stole the show for the Lake County girls, finishing second with a 16.56, while Dennis finished eighth.
Lewandowski didn’t stop at the 100-meter hurdles. The senior out of St. Ignatius showed she is going to be a strong presence during the season, tying for third in the high jump (4-08), finishing fourth in the long jump (14-04) and earning third in the triple jump (31-00.50). The four strong events gave Lewandowski 23 points on the day. She also represented one leg of RSI’s seventh place finish in the 4 x100 meter relay.
RSI’s Aspen Jore gave a strong performance Thursday, placing second in the javelin throw and fifth in the shot put.
Arlee’s Mahalia Hendren finished eighth in the shot put and seventh in the discus throw.