Track season starts in Libby
The Daily Inter Lake
Not everyone is on Spring Break this week.
Eureka, Libby and Whitefish schools are all in session, and as a result, they will open the track season today at the Libby Invitational.
Action is set to begin at 10 a.m. with Browning, Cut Bank, Noxon, Ronan, Thompson Falls and Troy also competing.
Normally, those schools would have opened the season at the Columbia Falls Invitational this weekend, but Spring Break forced that school to move its featured event to later this month.
"So we flipped dates with Columbia Falls (this year)," said Libby boys track coach Rod Tempel.
That means Libby will be on its break the week Columbia Falls hosts its big event.
"We'll still take a small contingent to that meet," said Tempel.
The Columbia Falls Invitational is set for April 22.
Whitefish will again be led by senior standout Chris Hicks, first at state in the long jump (21-2), triple jump (45-1/2) and high jump (6-6) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (40.66).
The Whitefish boys finished third at last year's state meet with Libby fifth.
Kyle Baker, second in the high jump (6-3) and third in the javelin (183-5), and Andrew Orr, third in the long jump (20-5), are Libby's returning state placers.
"I'm looking forward to this year," said Tempel.
"We have a real good nucleus of kids. We have some younger kids that will help us down the road, but it may take them awhile to get into competitive shape."
The Whitefish girls placed ninth at state last year with Libby tying for 17th.
Whitefish returns eight girls who placed at state while Libby has no state placers back.
Ashley Ferda, Courtney Ferda, Marni Hale and Lauren Kuennen all ran on Whitefish's second-place 400 relay team last year at state (50.87) and return for another spring season.
Tina McLinden, a senior middle distance runner, pole vaulter and relays, will lead a young Libby Logger squad.
"She's the glue that holds this thing together," said Libby girls coach Ed Tabis.
"She leads by example."
Tabis has 32 girls on the roster, but 24 of them are either freshmen or sophomores.
"They're a little nervous, apprehensive," he said for the first meet.
Still, Tabis feels this will be a good starting point for many of his young athletes.
"Get some times and marks so we can start looking at goals from this point on," he said.
Eureka has two state performers back for another season in Melanie Finch, so., 400 and 1,600 relays; and Theron Truman, sr., 800.
Other area schools on Spring Break this week are Bigfork, Flathead and Polson.