Simonson wins shot put title at State C meet

Two Phillips County Class C teams were present at the 2018 State C Track Meet in Great Falls this past weekend, as the Whitewater Penguins and Saco Panthers hit the field for the last meet of the school year.

Men

The Whitewater Penguins were the lone team to put up numbers on the board, thanks to Trace Simonson, who scored ten points for Whitewater in the last action of his high school career.

Those ten points came from his first-place finish in discus, which made him the first champion that Whitewater Head Coach Charlene Wasson has helped lead to a title.

Simonson won discus with a throw of 145-8, which was over five feet away from the next best throw of 140-0 by Reed Point's Sol Arno.

"I felt going into the state track meet he was going to take it," Coach Wasson said. "He has been putting some extra time in the last few weeks throwing a ton. It feels incredible to have coached a state champion. He deserves it."

At Whitewater's Award Banquet, Simonson earned the very first Penguin award, an award that replaces two track awards the school gave in previous years.

"This award is new this year, it replaces two awards I use to give for High Point Male Scorer and High Point Female Scorer," Coach Wasson said. "I wanted an award that would represent what I see as a complete athlete."

Simonson took eleventh place in high jump by clearing 5-10, a new season record. Allexender Kosel of Roberts cleared 6-4 to win the event.

Simonson also took twelfth in shot put with a throw of 41-1.

Saco's Ty Murphy took seventh place in pole vault by clearing a new personal best of 12-6.

"Not bad for a sophomore," Saco Head Coach Barry Malone said of Murphy. "He showed much improvement from last year."

Saco sophomore Brady Albus took ninth place in the 800 with a time of 2:05.90.

Whitewater senior Cody Scheffelmear set a new personal best in high jump by clearing 5-8 and taking fifteenth in the event.

"He was the third jumper and he had a great approach, jumped and cleared the bar, landed on the mat," Coach Wasson said. "He jumped up and got off and the smile on his face when the bar was still up on the standards was priceless. I jumped up, yelled and screamed, and he turned toward us in the stands and you couldn't be happier for him."

Women

The Whitewater Lady Penguins had a duo of freshmen that finished one spot out of placing, with both taking seventh in their respective events.

Whitewater's Kia Wasson took seventh in the 1600 with a personal best of 5:45.76 and seventh in the 3200 with a time of 13:03.32.

"Kia did a great job this weekend as a freshman," Coach Wasson said. "She had a learning curve to figure out. With the new waterfall starts in the distance races she had to figure out how to contend with nineteen other people and not get tripped up. She also had to learn how to use a kick at the end of a race which she has never really had to do. These two things are valuable tools to take into future track meets."

Whitewater's Kelsee Cummings took seventh in shot put with a throw of 34-04.50.

"She was pretty nervous and didn't get any of her first three throws out there very far but was able to make the finals being in 10th place," Coach Wasson said. "With three more throws, she bettered her distance to a throw of 34-4.5, which put her in seventh place. Looking at the placing from state four out of six girls who did place were seniors. That says a lot for a freshman."

Saco senior Bailey Funk took tenth place in pole vault after clearing 8-0. Funk also placed 16th in the 200 with a time of 29.84 and nineteenth in long jump with a leap of 14-0.50.

"Bailey had a stellar career," Coach Malone said. "Went to state all four years of her high school career."

Saco senior Sydney Zeller took eleventh in high jump after clearing 4-8. Zeller also took fourteenth in long jump with a leap of 14-08.50.

"Sydney had a very impressive two years of track at Saco," Coach Malone said.