Track action

Phillips County track teams were busy last week with both the Cal Wearley Memorial (CWM) and Havre Lions Meet happening in Havre. The CWM was held last Wednesday, April 5, while the Havre Lions meet was held on Saturday April 8. At the CWM, both Malta teams took tenth place with the M-ettes scoring 11 points in the Varsity Women's events and the Mustangs scoring 12 in the Men's Varsity events. Christina Jaynes scored six points as Dodson's lone Lady Coyote, which was good enough for 14th overall and seventh amongst Class C Schools. At the Lions meet, the Mustangs took fifth with a score 36.5 while their JV squad placed seventh with 23. The M-ettes took seventh with a score of 23, while their JV Squad took second with 36. The Whitewater Penguins participated in the Lions meet and took sixth as a team. The Lady Penguins took eighth among the women's teams. Malta's Jace Bishop took first in the CWM javelin event with a new personal best of 178-9 The Mustangs long relay team consisting of Cru Darrah, Bishop, Travis Epperson and Tyson Jones took second place at the Lions meet with a time of 3:55.46, losing to Box Elder by a fourth of a second. Though a freshman, Tanner Smith has participated in varsity events exclusively and took second in both the high jump and triple jump at the Lions meet. His length in triple jump was a personal best of 38-6 ¾ and he cleared 5-6 in high jump. Smith also took third in long jump with a personal best of 17-8. M-ette Shay Garfield took third in discus at the CWM with a personal best of 98-9. She also took fourth in shot put with a throw of 31-11 ¾. "I'm feeling pretty good about it," Garfield said of her performance in shot put. "Especially, since I didn't get to do track last year because of an injury." Garfield would take fifth in discus at the Lions meet with a throw of 98-4. Lady Penguin Kayleigh Cummings took third in shot put at the Lions meet, with a personal best of 33-2 ½. Cummings also took fifth in javelin with a throw of 95-1. In her first high school meet Dodson's Christina Jaynes took third in shot put with a throw of 32 ½. "Placing third in shot put did help a lot with my confidence," Jaynes said. "I had a pretty good day in discus also. I wasn't stressing about it. I just got up and threw and it flew." Mustang Jon Fox took fifth place in shot put at the Lions Meet with a throw of 38-9 ½. Jalen Lamb took fifth in the Lions long jump after a leap of 17-4. He also took seventh in javelin at the meet with a throw of 114-9. Tel Jensen took sixth in the 110 meter hurdles at the CWM, with a time of 18.37. Andres Lopez took sixth place in shot put at the CWM with a personal best of 39-3. Lopez would again take sixth in shot put at the Lions meet with a throw of 38-8 ¼. He also recorded a personal best in discus of 109-3, while taking eighth in the event. His discus throw was an improvement over his previous best of 101. "I had good form on that throw," Lopez said. "I just hucked it out there and it went out there. I want to at least get to 120 in discus." At the CWM, the Malta girl's long relay had a solid showing, taking sixth with a time of 4:49.90. The runners were Kyleigh Schipman, Ashton Oxarart, Jillian O'Brien and Kelbee Denham. "I think it went pretty well," said Denham who was the third leg. "We all had pretty decent hand offs and we didn't end up taking last so that's good." Denham was in her second meet of the season. "It's a lot different than middle school," she said. "There is a lot more competition and so you try a lot harder." Malta's Cru Darrah is in his senior season and the CWM was his first track meet. He ran the 800 at the Cal Wearley for the first time and posted a time of 2:33.30. Darrah recently enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves. "I'm running the 800 and 1600 just to get in shape," Darrah said. "It was alright. It was my first time running it. I paced myself and ran my race." In future long distance events, Darrah shared what he plans on doing different. "Start off faster and finish harder," he said. O'Brien took first place in the JV high jump at the CWM after clearing 4-8. O'Brien also participated in varsity events including the 800 meter run in which she took eighth with a time of 2:49.50. Shelby Jones took first place in JV discus at the Lions meet with a personal best of 84-7. She also took second in JV javelin with a throw of 72-3 and third in JV shot put with a throw of 24-3 ½. Carly Garfield took first in JV discus at the CWM with a throw of 85-5 and second in JV shot put with a throw of 26-1. C. Garfield took sixth in varsity discus at the Lions meet with a personal best of 95-7. Kaden Moore tied for second in the JV high jump in both meets after clearing 5-2 in each meet. Lady Penguin Hannah Anderson took second in the JV long jump with a season best of 11-10 1/4. Anderson took third in the JV 200 with a time of 32.14. Jayce Murdock took third in the JV 400 meter run at the CWM with a time of 1:03.74. The Mustangs JV short relay team consisting of Kolter Schipman, Epperson, Michael Pugh and Kendall Moore and they took third at the CWM with a time of 51.44. Moore took third in the Lions meet in the JV javelin with a personal best of 105-11. He also finished fourth in long jump at both meets with a leap of 14-10 (personal best) at the Lions meet and 104-10 at the CWM.