Saco girls take second at Eastern C

The Dodson, Saco, and Whitewater teams competed in the 2021 Eastern C Divisional Track Meet last Thursday, May 20.

The Saco Lady Panthers finished highest amongst all Phillips County teams taking second in the Women's Varsity meet.

The Plentywood Lady Wildcats won the Women's Varsity meet with a total of 65 points. The Lady Panthers were second with 60, Fairview was third with 57, Savage was fourth with 57 points, Hinsdale and Scobey tied for fifth with 50 points each, Circle was seventh with 48 points, Westby-Grenora was eighth with 40, Whitewater was ninth with 37, and Culbertson was tenth with 27.

The Men's meet was won by Richey-Lambert, who scored 107.5, Hinsdale was second with 89 points, Scobey was third with 75, Plentywood was fourth with 64.5, Circle was fifth with 59, and Fairview was sixth with 46. Whitewater was tenth with 10 points.

Several local athletes will be heading to Missoula for the 2021 State C Track and Field Meet set to start on Friday, May 28.

SACO

"When we went into the meet that day, the kids were aware that they could trophy as a team," Saco Head Coach Barry Malone said. "I was possibly looking at a chance at third, but when I saw that they were able to pull off second place, it was an awesome feeling. We just missed out on 1st place by 5 points."

The Saco Lady Panthers were led by junior Jaycee Erickson who took first place in javelin with a personal best of 119-6.

Jaycee has been a solid performer for us all year," Coach Malone said. "I didn't get to see the throw, but with her determination, I knew she had it in her."

She placed fourth in pole vault after clearing 9-0, fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:36.91, and fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:36.92, milliseconds from her personal best of 2:36.86, which she set this year in the first meet of the season. Erickson also qualified in triple jump after placing fifth with a mark left at 31-7.

J. Erickson is Saco's lone returner to the state meet, having made it to Laurel in 2019 in the pole vault event. That year, she cleared 8-0 and took eleventh.

Freshman Teagan Erickson qualified for state in four events. She took second in high jump by clearing 5-0. She was third in triple jump with a personal best of 34-0, third in the 800 with a time of 2:35.68, and fifth in long jump with a leap of 15-6. T. Erickson just missed out on qualifying for state in javelin, taking seventh place with a throw of 94-8.

"I have a lot of young kids out there, and they seemed a little nervous," Coach Malone said. "But when they got their first event under their belt, they settled in and were ready to put their best effort out there. It was just an incredible feeling to see them settle in and put together those performances."

Freshman Josie Brown qualified for state in four of five events that she entered. She was second in the 200 with a time of 29.03. She was third in the 100 with a time of 13.73, fifth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 18.96, and fifth in pole vault after clearing 7-0.

Saco's lone male competitor, freshman Marshall Caves, took ninth in pole vault by clearing 9-0

DODSON

Lady Coyote Imagin Fox had a time of 1:02.26 in the 300 hurdles and took twelfth overall.

Coyote Sebastian Best participated in three events. He was twelfth in the triple jump with a personal best of 34-9.25, thirteenth in the 400 with a time of 1:08.26, and fourteenth in the 200 with a time of 29.74.

WHITEWATER

The Penguins Track team will have a handful of athletes returning to the State C Track meet, including seniors Beau Simonson, Kia Wasson, Kelsee Cummings, and junior Hannah Hanley. Each athlete participated at state in 2019. K. Wasson and Cummings also participated in the 2018 State C meet.

The Lady Penguins were led by senior Kia Wasson who took second place in the 3200 with a time of 12:58.56. She was also third in the 1600 with a time of 5:48.89.

Junior Hannah Hanley took fourth place in the 100 hurdles with a time of 18.52. Hannah was also fifth in the 200 with a time of 29.68

The long relay consisting of Kora LaBrie, Kendall Scheffelmear, K. Wasson, and Paige Wasson took fifth with a time of 4:34.71. The short relay team consisting of LaBrie, P. Wasson, Cummings, and Scheffelmear was sixth with a time of 57.11.

P. Wasson, a freshman, took fifth place in the 400 with a personal best of 1:07.78.