So, pardon the pun, one guy vaulted the Superior Bobcats track and field team to an eleventh-place finish in last year’s Montana Class B state championship via a vault.

As in pole vault, as in school record, rarified air vault. 

That was the feat accomplished last year at the state finals in Laurel by Superior senior Lucas Kovalsky who cleared 13-6 to win the pole vault title and the team points that goes with a first-place finish. 

Is there another Kovalsky in the making for the Bobcats now that Kovalsky has graduated and entered the working world? 

Could be, and he’s only a sophomore, one of a group of very talented sophomores who have sports fans in Mineral County grinning or frowning depending on where you reside. 

Gannon Quinlan, already an all-star nominee in football and basketball this year along with his running mate, 6-5 sophomore Landon Richards, is very capable of bettering Kovlasky’s mark before he graduates. 

For now, Quinlan and company will likely grow and get better, much to the delight of Superior coaches and fans. 

The sophomore class is just part of the developing story for head track coach Logan Labbe and his assistants.  Also on this year’s boys' team is a top-notch sprinter, senior Tristan Avila, a standout speedster who excels (again, pardon the pun) in the 100- and 200-meter sprints and is a vital cog on the Bobcat’s relay teams. 

The Lady Bobcats, meanwhile, will be looking to senior Braelynn Mangold to accumulate points and medals in the middle-distance events. Mangold also finished 16th in the triple jump. 

Meanwhile, Lady Bobcats teammate Ava White placed sixth in both the 400-meter and 110-meter hurdles last year. In addition, Superior got an eighth-place finish in the javelin from Maryisa Swope. 

And last year’s boys team got a fifth place in the high jump from Richards, who emerged as an outstanding post player this past basketball season. 

All of those players are back for another go for this year’s track and field team. 

Superior was scheduled to open their season this past Saturday at the Blue Devil Invitational in Corvallis, pending unsettled weather conditions.  Their next meet is set for this coming Saturday (Mar 29) at the Frenchtown Invitational.