It was a good week for Lake County track and field fans as schools across the valley were ready to go for some early season track action.

Polson and Ronan took their talents south for the Hamilton Bronc Invitational. Arlee, Mission, Two Eagle River and Charlo all faced off close to home in Polson for the Dave Tripp Memorial meet. Also, two Pirates took on the prestigious Arcadia Invitational.

Polson and Ronan place in Hamilton Meet

Schools from around western Montana showed up on April 11 at Hamilton High School for a packed meet, with Polson seeing a few top-six finishers. 

Starting with the girls, Amelia Stene took a podium finish in the 100 meters with third place. Quinn Delaney also took third place but accomplished that mark in the 1600-meter run.

Kellyn Nelson showed out as well securing fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles to wrap the top track finishers. 

In the field events, Piper Adams earned sixth place in the shot put. Olivia Cottet got her moment with a personal 119’1” in the discus for first. She finished just under seven meters farther than second place.

For the boys, Jackson Bontadelli took fourth place in the 800 meters. He was the only Polson boy with a top-six finish in a track event at this meet.

John Sherry earned third place in the shot put for Polson. In the javelin, Dion Lichtenberg just finished in the top six by one inch to wrap up the Polson boys best finishes of the weekend.

Sarah Templer earned a top six finish in the triple jump, making her the lone varsity top-six finisher of the day for Ronan girls.

Ronan's Masyn Wayman notched a season-best mark and placed fifth in the shot put. Siouxpixm Qualtier earned second in the pole vault with a season-best height as well.

Lake County shines at Dave Tripp Memorial

On April 10, the Polson Sports Complex hosted a multitude of schools, including Class B's Mission and Arlee squads and Class C participants Charlo and Two Eagle River.

Mission had multiple top-six finishers, starting with Mary Lamere, who notched fifth place in the 800 meters. Raleigh McDonald and Quincey Jensen were fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 100-meter hurdles.

Two relay teams placed top six for Mission as well. First, McDonald, Sheadon Kain, Valentina O’Brien and Leila Hogenson took fourth in the 4x100 meter relay. Lamere, Kain, O’Brien and Brooklyn Leishman took second in the 4x400 meter relay.

In the field events, Cora Matt earned fifth place in shot put and sixth place in javelin. She was the only Mission girl with a top-six finish.

The Mission boys also showed out, starting with Dakota Zeiler, who earned third place in the 200 meters. Cage Salmelin earned fifth place in the 110-meter hurdles, with teammate Kaiven Patten earning sixth place in the 300-meter hurdles.

Isaiah Gariepy nabbed a sixth-place finish in the 1600 meters to round out the track finishers.

Lex LaFrombois earned a first-place finish in the long jump and tied for second with a season best in the high jump.

Boyd Kain rounds out all finishers with a fourth-place finish in the triple jump.

Arlee saw some success as well. Ava Van Maanen topped the 800 meters with a first-place finish and earned a sixth-place finish in the 400 meters. Izabella Knoll earned fifth place in the 100-meter hurdles. 

No Arlee girls finished in the top six in any field event.

For the boys side, another Van Maanen finished first in the 800 meters; this time it was Trevor Van Maanen. Trevor also got second in the 1600 meters. His teammate Marshall Hinther finished fifth in the 800 meters.

Arlee had a relay team finish second as well, with Van Maanen, Hinther, Orrin Johnson and Eli O’Neill leading the way. O’Neill also finished first in the shot put and discus.

Chance Tibbetts earned sixth place with a personal best in the javelin. Johnson earned second place in the high jump, tying with LaFrombois and Drummond’s Skyler Dahl. Cash Wills finished fifth in the high jump.

Dean Moran was the last Arlee top-six finisher with a first-place finish in the triple jump.

Onto Charlo, Brook Cahoon earned fifth in the 300-meter hurdles. Cahoon also helped a team with Avery Coleman, Madison Harris and Abbigail Wagner to a second-place finish in the 4x100 meter relay.

Olivia Carnell scored first with a personal best in the shot put, second in discus and fourth in the pole vault. Cahoon continued her strong day in the high jump with a second-place finish. 

Jaylynn Buxbaum earned second in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump to round out the girls.

The Charlo boys had no top-six finishers in any track event, but did see some success in the field events. 

Karson Cox was the lone Charlo boy to finish in the top six with a first-place finish in the javelin to lead it off. He also had fourth in the pole vault and discus. He wrapped up his stellar day with a fifth-place finish in shot put.

Rounding the day out, Two Eagle River had a couple of strong performances. Christine Tenas was the lone top-six girls finisher with a third-place finish in the 100 meters.

She was also the only one to do so in the field events, logging a fourth-place finish in the triple jump and a fifth-place finish in the long jump.

For the boys, Jason Trahan earned sixth place in the 800 meters. He also helped earn fifth place in the 4x400 with teammates Gregory Plummer, Jesus Barrett X and Anthony Sheridan.

There were no Two Eagle River boys who placed top-six in the field events.

Pirates take on Arcadia Invitational

Polson had two athletes take on the Arcadia Invitational against some of the West's best track athletes.

Morgan Delaney shone with a fifth-place finish in the 3200 meters, logging a school record and state leading time of 10:29.80.

Fellow Pirate David DiGiallonardo finished in 26th place with a school record 4:18.36 in the open mile.

    Lake County athletes take on the Hamilton Invitational on April 10. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Lake County athletes take on the Hamilton Invitational on April 10. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Lake County athletes take on the Dave Tripp Memorial Meet in Polson on April 10. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Lake County athletes take on the Dave Tripp Memorial Meet in Polson on April 10. (Max Dupras/Leader)
  

    Lake County athletes take on the Dave Tripp Memorial Meet in Polson on April 10. (Max Dupras/Leader)