Mustangs Track 2022

The Malta Mustangs started the 2022 Track and Field Season on a strong note last Friday, April 1, in Glasgow with a second-place finish at the Glasgow Invitational.

The Havre Blue Ponies won the meet with 107 points. Malta had 81, Glasgow was third with 79, Plentywood was fourth with 46, Lustre Christian was fifth with 41, and Scobey was sixth with 39.

The team was led by some familiar faces from the 2021 season, including seniors Cash Salsbery, David Pitman, Rex Williamson, and sophomores Gavin Slade and Kyle Darrington. All five Mustangs competed in the 2021 State B Track Meet last season. Salsbery was the lone placer at state for Malta last season, after taking third in shot put with a throw of 49-0.25.

The team welcomes one senior, two juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen. In all, there are 18 Mustangs set to compete after practices are reached by all.

"We have more boys this year and that is exciting," Malta Head Coach Kaitlyn Smith said. "We have more mid-distance and distance runners, so I am happy to add them to the team."

In Glasgow, Salsbery and Pitman set new bests in shot put. Salsbery won the event with a throw of 49-10. Pitman took second with a throw of 45-8.50. The throws placed Salsbery and Pitman on top of the stat rankings.

Pitman won discus with a throw of 118-2, and is now ranked fifth in the state.

"It was the first track meet of the season and they still have a lot more to go, so I am excited to see what they can do," Coach Smith said.

Williamson took third place in javelin with a throw of 137-1 and fourth in triple jump with a length of 36-9. Slade was fourth in the event with a throw of 133-8.

Slade was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.15 and third in the 200 with a time of 26.12.

Darrington was third in the 100 and 400 with times of 12.35 and 57.11 respectively.

Camryn Mears was third in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 19.42. He set a new personal best of 46.85 in the 300 hurdles, which earned him a fourth place finish.

The long relay team consisting of Darrington, and juniors Jon Siewing, and Seth Siewing, and Mears, took fourth with a time of 4:04.79.

"They did pretty well," Coach Smith said. "So it will be exciting to see the potential that grows with the long relay team."

The short relay team consisting of Mears, Williamson, S. Siewing, and Darrington took eighth with a time of 50.23.

J. Siewing set new personal bests in the 800 and 1600. He had a time of 2:24.70 in the 800 and a time of 5:42.51 in the 1600.

Sophomore Clayton Hallenberg set a new best in the 100 with a time of 14.75.

Sophomore Bow Saint-Louis had a personal best of 55-10 in javelin and 22-2 in shot put.

Freshman Malin Beck had a personal best of 3:08.77 in the 800 and a best of 10-10 in long jump.