Erickson sisters lead Saco to top ten at State C

The Erickson sisters meant business. Freshman Teagan Erickson and her older sister Jaycee Erickson accounted for five medals at the 2021 State C Track and Field Meet in Missoula last weekend.

The Whitewater Penguins were also represented at the podium as Kendra Cummings and Kia Wasson both placed at state.

The Saco girls placed highest amongst Phillips County teams, scoring 29 points and tying Fairview for ninth place at the meet. Whitewater tied with North Toole County (Sunburst) for fourteenth with 10 points.

The girls' meet was won by Seeley-Swan who scored 72 points. Hinsdale was second, led by Kaitlyn McColly, who accounted for all 42 of the team's points, Plentywood and Fort Benton tied for third place with 37 points, Manhattan Christian was fifth with 36.5, Belt and Savage tied for sixth with 33 points each and Charlo was eighth with 32.

The boys' meet was won by Fort Benton who had 74 points, Belt was second with 45 points, Richey-Lambert was third with 41 points, Seeley-Swan was fourth with 38, Twin Bridges was fifth with 36, and Manhattan Christian was sixth with 33.

The Saco Lady Panthers were led by freshman Teagan Erickson, who won the high jump event by clearing 5-4. Second place went to Culbertson senior Abbey Granbois, who cleared 5-3.

"Teagan is a tremendous athlete," Saco Coach Barry Malone said. "She had some inconsistencies at times throughout the season, but put together a solid two days at state. Winning the high jump at state was a tremendous accomplishment for her."

T. Erickson also placed in the triple jump and long jump events. She took third in triple jump with a personal best of 34-11, and fourth in long jump with a leap of 16-10.25. She qualified for state in the 800 but did not start.

Junior Jaycee Erickson placed third in pole vault, tying her best in the event of 9-6. She was fourth in javelin with a throw of 111-7. Jaycee set a new best of 32-0 in triple jump and was eleventh in the event and qualified for state in the 800 but did not start.

"Jaycee is one of the most dedicated athletes I have ever seen," Coach Malone said. She was solid through all of her vaults, all the way up through 9-6."

Coach Malone said that Jaycee had a couple of solid attempts at 10-0, but she had been using a different pole over the last couple of weeks, which ultimately affected her performance in her last attempts.

Freshman Josie Brown ran the 200 in 28.80 seconds and took eighteenth. She ran a time of 13.86 in the 100 and was twenty-second overall. Brown was also a state qualifier in the 100 hurdles and pole vault, but no time or distance was recorded.

"Josie had a tremendous year for us," Coach Malone said. "She worked hard all year through painful shin splints. Unfortunately, prior to state she came down with the stomach flu, but she still competed the best that she could. That shows what kind of competitor she is."

The Lady Penguins were led by senior Kelsee Cummings who took third place in shot put with a throw of 36-05.25.

"Kelsee had a great end to her high school track career with 3rd place," Coach Wasson said. "It wasn't where she wanted to end, but by the end of the season, she was consistently throwing 2-3 feet farther than the last official track season we had."

Senior Kia Wasson set a personal best in the last 3200 of her high school track career, taking fourth in the race with a time of 12:19.99. The mark is also a new school record for Wasson.

"She ended her Penguin track career on a high note," Coach Wasson said. "Both days were solid performances from her.

Wasson also posted a time of 5:45.03 in the 1600, taking ninth in the event.

Paige Wasson set a personal best of 1:06.36 in the 400, earning a nineteenth place finish.

Hannah Hanley was twenty-second in the 200, with a time of 29.58.

The Long Relay team consisting of Kora LaBrie, Kendall Scheffelmear, K. Wasson, and P. Wasson were fourteenth with a time of 4:28.98.

Whitewater senior Beau Simonson was Phillips County's lone boy competitor. He took twelfth in the discus event with a throw of 130-02 and thirteenth in shot put with a throw of 40-1.50.

"Beau competed with his unwavering grit and determination he didn't end it where he wanted but with it being his second state track meet I can truly say he came an extremely long way in track," Coach Wasson said.