Western Montana high school track and field meets don’t get any better than this. Sparkling big blue sky, fresh spring air, busloads of eager athletes from places as far away as Lincoln and Philipsburg, and, of course, the sound of starting pistols and the following cheers going off all day long.

The Blue Hawk boys won second place and the girls third in team scoring in the Thompson Falls Invitational at sunny Previs Field April 21. It was a picture-perfect track and field meet day in Thompson Falls, made more so by the incredible community support the event has attracted and been driven by over the years (please see Sidelines for more).

With freshman Alex Newman winning second in the 100 and 200 meters, and anchoring both relays to second place finishes, the Hawks boys scored 74 team points, finishing behind Arlee (95), but ahead of third-place Plains (61.5) and the other 11 teams entered in this year’s annual TFalls track and field meet.

The Lady Hawks, behind the State B-qualifying, height-defying, javelin-flying Addy Deal, and the speedy duo of Aubrey Baxter and Lexi Franck, scored 59 team points to finish third behind Granite (80) and Charlo (61) but ahead of fourth-place Plains (54) and the nine other teams in the Falls Invite.

Deal, who had already pre-qualified for the State B meet by meeting preset standards in the javelin and the pole vault earlier this season, won both events at Previs Field, flinging the spear 117-3 and clearing 8-0 in the pole vault, besides winning the discus with a best effort of 100-5.

Deal has been invited to the prestigious Russ Pilcher Top 10 meet based on her excellent marks in the javelin and pole vault. That meet, featuring athletes from all classes of Montana high school competition, was to be held in Missoula April 28 and Addy was the only Thompson Falls athlete to qualify this year.

Back at the TFalls meet, Baxter continued to shine in the 400 meters, winning that race in 1:07, and 200, winning second in 29.13, and Franck impressively ran down placing points in all three of the sprints, claiming third in the 100 (14.28), sixth in the 200 (30.08) and fifth in the 400 (1:10).

Weston Block won the 3200 meters (in 11:30) on the boys side, in addition to taking third in the 1600 (5:07) to add to Newman’s efforts. Newman clocked 11.96 second for his second place in the 100 and 23.99 for his runner-up spot in the 200.

Newman joined Brogan Anderson, Teagan Dorscher and Carson Kenney to clock 48.96 seconds and win second in 400 meter relay and teamed up with Chase Helvey, Block and Easton Deal to time out in 4:00 and also place second in the 1600 meter relay.

Anderson also won fifth place in the 100 meters (in 12.54 seconds), Helvey won fourth in the 400 (58.71), Thomas Pate placed fourth in the shot put (with a best mark of 36-7) and Hank Stone placed forth in the pole vault at 10-0.

In the JV meets at the TFalls Invite, the Hawk boys won the team title with 163 points and placed seventh in the girls meet with 22 points.

The Blue Hawks also attended the very Class A-heavy Columbia Falls Iceberg Invitational meet Saturday.

With Deal and Baxter scoring all 19 points for the Hawk girls, Addy won the javelin with a best throw of 120-4 and placed fourth in the discus with a personal-best effort of 102-5, in addition to just missing placing in the pole vault, matching her personal best of 8-0.

Aubrey won fourth place in the 400 (in 1:04.82) and sixth in the 200 (29.09).

Newman was the only Hawk boy to score in the Columbia Falls varsity meet, taking fifth place and scoring two team points in the 400 in 55.66 seconds.

The Blue Hawk boys JV scored 29 team points for seventh place and the Hawk girls JV placed eleventh in team scoring with 11 points in Columbia Falls.

Coach Trenna Ferris has a sense of urgency with the post season rapidly approaching. The Hawks will compete in another Class A-heavy meet in the Bigfork Invitational along the shores of often-times windy Flathead Lake Saturday.

“We’re looking for kids to start dialing in on their events as Districts are coming up soon,” she said. The District 7B meet is in Eureka May 15 and the Western B is in Missoula May 22-23.

    TREETOP FLYER – Thompson Falls junior Addy Deal won the pole vault competition at the Thompson Falls Invitational and had earned a spot in the Russ Pilcher Top 10 meet in Missoula April 28 with her efforts previously this season. Deal also qualified for the Top 10 in the javelin, where she is the defending State B champion. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)
  

    ON HIS WAY to second place in the javelin with a throw of 152 feet, 5 inches, Thompson Falls junior Brylon Van-Elswyk cranks up on an attempt in Thompson Falls April 21. (John Hamilton/vp-mi)