FRENCHTOWN — After a canceled meet the week before, the boys of Ronan/Mission track and field finally hit the track - a real track - for the first time this season.

“We had a great day weather-wise for a track meet in Frenchtown last Tuesday,” Chief head coach Noelle Decker said. “We have not been able to run on our track for practice yet this spring due to weather, so it was great to finally have some nice weather … although it was a non-scoring meet, our athletes were able to get some marks and times. I am happy with the overall effort by our boys’ team,” Decker said.

As soon as the Chiefs touched foot on the running surface, they were off.

While the Maidens’ Sadie McMillan was putting on a clinic on the girls’ end, Chief seniors Jamie Engeldrum and Danny Beavers set an example for the Frenchtown, Stevensville, Hamilton and Superior boys in attendance.

Engeldrum snagged first placed honors at both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, proving his leap is as deadly as his speed. He also took sixth in the triple jump.

Beavers made his mark in events of the purely running variety, capturing gold in the 3200-meter run, second in the 800 and third in the 3200. Now he can decorate his trophy room with three different shades of bling.

Decker has high hopes for Beavers in the longer runs.

“He is a talented distance runner and will just get better and better as the season progresses,” she said.

Beavers and Engeldrum were both on a sixth-place 1600-meter relay team, which also included sophomore Jordan Franklin and Eric Malmquist.

That group fell short to Ronan’s other 1600-meter relay squad, which took fifth. Ethan Maughan, Austin Durglo, Christian Rogers and Evan Waldron were the ones who stole the glory, finishing a half-second faster than their teammates.

Franklin, who has been battling a broken ankle from the spring before, took sixth in the 200-meter relay and third at the high jump. Rogers finished sixth in the 800-meter contest.

Two of Ronan’s better known football running backs placed in the short sprints, with junior Cory Hardy taking fourth in the 400-meter and senior Tyson Noyes capturing fifth (just a hundredth of a second off his buddy’s time) and third in the 200-meter sprint.

Freshman Marcus Hungerford took a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter run and placed sixth in the high jump.

Hungerford had a nice start to the season, “But is capable of much more and I look for him to be chipping in some needed points in upcoming meets,” Decker said.

When it comes to throwing, don’t mess with Ronan senior Adam Skogen who took first in both the javelin throw (155-feet-10 inches) and the discus (126-feet-3-inches) and don’t mess with the Chiefs in general when it comes to the javelin throw - Waldron took second and Toby Cheff took fourth.

It was a good start for the Chiefs so far, according to Decker. 

“I feel we are off to a good start as a team. Our focus will be keeping everyone healthy and working hard to improve each week so we can finish the season strong as individuals and also as a team,” she said. 

Ronan competes next on April 18 at the Missoula County Meet.