Fast track at Bigfork Invitational
Track teams competing in today's Bigfork Invitational have something nice to look forward to.
"Our track is pretty fast," Bigfork head coach Sue Loeffler said. "I've noticed that the times on this track can be pretty good."
That was definitely the case at last year's meet, and not just on the track. In both the boys and girls events, a total of 16 Bigfork Invitational records were broken on a perfect day for anything outdoors.
"That was probably one of the warmest meets we had all season," Loeffler said of last year's invitational.
Today's forecast?
Warm, and fast.
Many of the same, recording-breaking athletes are back and with more experience.
Fourteen teams were invited to today's 10 a.m. meet, including Ronan, Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Libby and Eureka. Several of those teams will be portioned out to the Missoula County Invitational, running today in Missoula, while some squads will at full strength.
Like Bigfork.
The Vals and Vikings are staying home for this one with the Vals looking to repeat as winners. Last year, Mallery Knoll won the 100-meter dash in a record time of 12.78 seconds, while Kayla Carlson took the 1,600 and 3,200 races. The Vals scored 84.3 points to finish ahead of Florence (73) and Cut Bank (65).
Knoll and Carlson return this season as part of the core of Bigfork's girls team. Like several other schools, Bigfork is fresh on the track and still forming its identity.
In the first meet of the season, the Class A Invitational at Legends Stadium on Tuesday, Knoll, now a sophomore, won the 200 and took third in the 100. Carlson, a junior, won the 800 with one of the fastest times in the state, 2:29.
Another record-setter back in Bigfork is Libby's Seth Wright, who broke two records and tied a third in the jumping events this time last year. In the long jump, he landed a 19-3 1/2 and followed with a 42-7 in the triple. In the high jump, Wright cleared 6-4 to tie Ronan's Cameron Barber, who hit 6-4 in 2007.
But by the end of today, those marks could very well be history. Wright, a senior inked with the University of Montana track team for next year, has already outdone two of his Bigfork records. In the long jump at Legends Stadium on April 14, Wright landed a 20-6, which was second only to defending state champ Aaron Tkachyk of Whitefish.
In the high jump, Wright looked even more improved and came within a track spike of clearing 6-8. He finished with a winning jump of 6-6.
However, Wright recently bruised his heel and will be limited today, Libby track coach Ed Tabis said.
Eureka's Luke Truman has been dominant in the discus and shot put and will meet Bigfork's Donny Tudahl, which should make for a nice competition.
On the girls side, Bailey Malecha, Cate Olson and Jonna Yost have shined for the Lady Lions thus far.