Clean sweep
Pirates and Lady Pirates claim titles at the Lake County Invitational
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The Polson track team’s dominance over the rest of the competition in the county continued Thursday.
The Pirates and Lady Pirates swept the Lake County Invitational at the Polson Sports Complex. With this year’s title, the Pirates have won all Lake County meets and the Lady Pirates all but one. The only blemish on the Lady Pirates’ record was in 2005, when the Lady Vikings snuck past them.
There was no sneaking past the Lady Pirates this year. Led by Breanne Kelley and Nicole Davey, who each won three individual events, the Lady Pirates won 12 of the 17 events and finished 1-2 in six events to run away with the title, finishing with 172 points. The Lady Vikings finished in second with 79 points.
“They’re pretty good,” understated Polson coach Bob Gunderson. “They like to compete. They compete every meet, it doesn’t matter the size ... I’m really enjoying this year.”
The Pirates had to fight to keep their perfect run at the county meet, finishing 34 points ahead of the Vikings. The Pirates won eight events compared to the Vikings’ seven – Arlee’s Kyle Felsman won the other two, taking first in the high jump and triple jump.
Kelley won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the 100 hurdles. Davey won the 400, 300 hurdles and pole vault. Kelley and Davey teamed up with Katie Finley and Anna DiGiallonardo to win the 400-meter relay with a time of 51.22, which was nearly three seconds in front of their closest competitors. Davey, Finley, DiGiallonardo and Christa Red Crow finished almost nine seconds in front of the rest of the field in the 1,600-meter relay.
Loni Havlovick and Mesa Starkey won a pair of events for the Lady Pirates. Havlovick won the shot put (38-7) and discus (124-2) – Havlovick finished right in front of teammate Natasha Lafferty in both events. Starkey tracked down Charlo’s Brittany Shaver down the backstretch and pulled in front of her right at the finish line to win the 800-meter run. Starkey finished in 2:36:34 compared to Shaver’s 2:36.68. The two also finished 1-2 in the 1,600, with Starkey winning with a time of 5:40.85.
Adessa Durglo swept the jumping events to help RSI finish in third place with 55 points.
“We came here with the idea for her (Durglo) to win all three,” RSI girls’ coach Crystal Pitts said.
Durglo’s 5-foot, 1-inch jump in the high jump broke the St. Ignatius record – a record she shared with Kelsey Cable and Jenny Larsson. The Mission junior now holds the school record in the triple jump and high jump.
“It’s (the high jump record) something she’s been eyeing. She wanted it alone. It was a shared thing...now it’s solely hers,” Pitts said.
In her first meet back since injuring her ACL at divisionals in basketball, Charlo’s Jaris Kelley won the javelin with a throw of 108 feet, 9 inches.
Alex Havlovick and Colter Bull won two events for the Pirates. Bull won the 800 (2:07.61) and the 1,600 (4:49.29). In the 1,600, Bull finished right in front of teammate Miles Bieber, who won the 3,200 with a time of 10:46.60. Gunderson said without his distance runners Polson couldn’t have won the meet.
Like his sister, Havlovick won the discus and shot put. Havlovick’s personal-best throw of 46 feet, 2.5 inches in the shot put, not only gave him the bragging rights for the county, but also for around the dinner table. Havlovick’s throw beat the personal best throws of both his father and grandpa, who were both at the meet to watch him.
Earlier in the season, Alex’s dad and coach Brian showed him his personal record and told him he wanted him to beat it.
Joe Andrews won the 200 (23.66), Jordan Cross won the 400 (53.99) and Brock Picard won the javelin (157-2) for the Pirates.
The Vikings finished 1-2 in both the hurdle races, with Cody Nitschke finishing in front of Stephen Delaney in both races – Viking freshman Tra Ludeman finished fifth in both races.
The Lake County meet was only Nitschke’s second meet after missing last year with an ACL injury.
“I feel like I’m getting stronger. Way stronger than two years ago,” Nitschke said after setting a school record of 41.22 seconds in the 300 hurdles.
Though smaller than most meets, Nitschke said winning the county meet is special.
“I think it’s bragging rights between the county to see who’s the best, so I wanted to come out with a bang today,” the senior said.
Nitschke also ran the final leg in Charlo’s winning relay teams. Nitschke, Chance Firestone, Chico Stipe and Austin Bauer, who set the Charlo 400-meter relay record at the Russ Pilcher Top Ten, finished in first with a time of 44.88 seconds.
Stipe, Firestone and Bauer also won individual events. Bauer won the long jump with a personal-best jump of 19 feet, 8.5 inches. Stipe finished right in front of RSI’s Jordan Franklin with a time of 11.98 seconds in the 100-meter dash.
It was Stipe’s first Lake County title.
“It’s pretty neat to take the title of being the fastest guy in the county,” Stipe said.
After clearing 13 feet to win the pole vault, Firestone decided not to try a higher height and go run the 1,600 meter relay; it was a good choice.
In the final boys’ race of the day, Firestone, Stipe, Nitschke and Chance Rosenbaum, who finished in third in the 1,600, won the relay with a time of 3:34.59 – the fastest Class C time of the season. The Vikings now have the fastest Class C time in both relays.
After their own meet got cancelled last week and the county meet was postponed for two days, Charlo coach Bret Thompson said his team was ready for the meet and it showed.
“We’ve been waiting two weeks to get on the track, so they’ve been listening to me at practice, so maybe this is a way for them to get me off their backs,” Thompson said.
After missing last season with an ankle injury, in his first meet of the season Arlee senior won the high jump (5-10) and the triple jump (39-3). Felsman also finished in third in the long jump with a personal-best jump of 19 feet, 5.5 inches.
The Warriors finished in fourth place with 36 points. RSI finished in third with 47.33 points. RSI had no champions in the meet, but finished second in four events. Marcus Hungerford finished tied for second in the high jump (5-8) and 800 (2:10.58).
Franklin fishished second in the 100 (11.99) and Toby Cheff finished second in the javelin (145-9).
