Appearing to be riding in tandem out ahead of the pack so far this year, the Plains Horsemen and Trotters galloped out to impressive starts to their track and field seasons at the Dave Tripp meet in Polson Friday, with each squad claiming Tripp team titles.

Led by a strong running crew but getting points from all over the Polson track and field facility, the Horsemen scored 92.5 team points to easily out-distance second place Arlee (66.5), third place Superior (50) and 15 other teams, while the Trotters totaled up 64.5 points, to get past Superior (50.5), Valley Christian (50) and 13 other girls teams.

Although it looks like he could have a couple of powerhouse teams on his hands, Plains coach Jesse Jermyn is not anointing his teams as any kind of championship squads, other than that of being the 2026 Tripp champs, just yet.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” he said. “We are really happy with how we performed at our season opener, but there is a lot of work to do yet before we can start talking about stuff like team hardware later on.”

In the meantime, the Horsemen and Trotters displayed a lot of talent and depth in the Tripp Friday.

For the Plains boys, sprinter Matthew Thurston enjoyed a great day, winning first place in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and taking third place in the 400.

Cord Greer and John Owen Jermyn effectively tag-teamed the 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs in dominant fashion, with Greer winning the former in 4:35.98 and Jermyn claiming the latter in 10:01.96.

Simeon Costner won third place in the 800 to give the Plains boys points in every running event in the Tripp.

Elsewhere around the Polson track and field facility, Cooper Meredith won the 110 meter high hurdles in 16.80, Greg Tatum muscled his way to second place in the shot put with a best mark of 38-0, and the 4 x 100 meter relay squad of Eddie Siebert, Meredith, Tatum and Thurston won second place in that race.

What’s more, the elite Plains distance running crew broke into two different relay squads and placed third and fourth in the 4 x 400 meter relay. Riley Geenen won sixth place for another Plains point in the javelin.

With the Trotters, sophomore Hadyn Rice showed some of her immense track and field potential by shining in a variety of events, winning the javelin with an excellent early season, State B-qualifying throw of 118-6.5, placing second in the 300 meter hurdles in 49.99 seconds and winning third in the 200 meters in 28.35 seconds.

Rice also joined Katelyn Subatch, Reese Meredith and Kalli Tuma to win the 4 x 400 meter relay.

Tuma won third place in the 300 hurdles, Subatch claimed third in the high jump and fourth in the 300 hurdles, and Jayden Cook fifth in the triple jump for the Trotters’ other team points in the Tripp.

Plains is set to compete in the Libby Invitational Saturday for the Horsemen’s and Trotters’ next big team strength tests.