Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Sports at a Glance

All stories by Jean Schurman

Cold weather doesn’t slow track teams

New coach has big ties to Florence

Florence splits

Rocky Mountain Gymnastics competes at State

Although there was snow on the ground Saturday morning, that didn’t hinder the performances at the TNT Track Meet in Frenchtown. The wind was a bit brisk and the ground muddy but the local teams put on a good showing. Corvallis won the boys team scoring, easily outdistancing second place Frenchtown. The Blue Devils won seven events. Stevensville won the girls scoring in a close race over Frenchtown and Florence.

Dalton Sybrant who set the bar for his competitors in the discus and shot put paced Corvallis. Sybrant threw the shot 55 feet 10 inches, breaking his own record in that event. He then tossed the discus 168 feet 10 inches for another personal best. Slater Powell was also a double winner for the Blue Devils. He won both the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. Rounding out the wins were Tyler Bonngard in the 200-meter race, Drew Zeiler in the 800, Austin Byron in the pole vault, the 1,600-relay team (names unavailable) and the Corvallis team of Bonngard, Powell, Mahlone Jessop and Kyle Powers in the 400 relay.

Darby finished in third place with strong finishes in the distance races. Seth Garbett won the 3,200 and finished second in the 1,600. Matt Stout took first in the 1,600 and was second in the 3,200. Sean Abrahamsen finished fifth in the 1,600 and was fourth in the 3,200.

Brekka Johnson, a junior from Stevensville, led her team to the top with wins in the triple jump with a leap of 35 feet one inch. She also won the 400 and was second in the long jump.

Katie Niemeir of Florence took off right where she left last spring, winning the hurdles. The defending state champion in both the 100 and 300 hurdles won both of those events as well as the 100 and the 200. In addition, she ran a leg of the first place 400-relay team.

Heather Demorest of Darby won both the 1,600 and 3,200.

The next track meet will be tomorrow (Thursday) at the new track in Corvallis. Florence and Darby will host it.

Boys

Team scores: Corvallis 130, Frenchtown 55.5, Darby 48, Troy 33, Loyola 32, Butte Central 32, Thompson Falls 28, Dillon 25.5, Superior 25, Charlo 25, Alberton 18, Plains 17, Florence 16, Stevensville 12, Deer Lodge 8, Hamilton 8, Drummond 6, Seeley 4, Victor 4.

100 – 1. Johnny Dilworth, Ftn, 11.18; 2. Mahlone Jessop, Cor, 11.70; 4. Isaac Hunter Ste, 11.78; 6. Devin Leonardi, Ham, 11.88.

200 – 1. Tyler Bonngard, Cor, 23.28.

400 – 1. Bryce Carver, Dil, 52.09; 2. Drew Zeiler, Cor, 52.83; 3. M. Jessop, Cor, 53.13; 6. Wyatt Lawrence, Ham, 54.16.

800 – 1. Zeiler, Cor, 2:03.85; 4. Lawrence, Ham, 2:06.57; 5. Aaron Johnston, Dar, 2:14.57.

1,600 – 1. Matt Stout, Dar, 4:44.20; 2. Seth Garbett, Dar, 4:44.81; 4. Chris Jessop Cor, 4:53.49; 5. Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 4:54.61.

3,200 – 1. Garbett, Dar, 10:27.62; 2. Stout, Dar, 10:31.82; 3. C. Jessop, Cor, 10:37.90; 4. Abrahamsen, Dar, 11:00.63.

110 hurdles – 1. Slater Powell, Cor, 15.34; 2. Alex Mitchell, Flo, 17.50; 5. Cody Burdett, Vic, 18.70.

300 hurdles – 1. Powell, Cor, 41.50; 5. Burdett, Vic, 45.79.

400 relay – 1. Corvallis 44.97; 5. Hamilton, 47.

1,600 – 1. Corvallis, 3:31.58.

Javelin – 1. Aaron Palmer, Ftn, 179-6; 2. Austin Landis, Cor, 171-7.

Shot put – 1. Dalton Sybrant, Cor, 55-10 (Record, Old mark 53-11 Sybrant, Cor, 2008); 4. Andy Walters, Dar, 45-4 ?.

Discus – 1. Sybrant, Cor, 168-10 (record, old mark 160-4, Sybrant, Cor, 2008).

High Jump – 1. Palmer, Ftn, 5-10; 2. Mitchell, Flo, 5-8.

Long jump – 1. James Wemple, Alb, 20-7 ?; 3. Hunter, Ste, 20-4 ?.

Triple jump – 1. Tyler Stenberg, Sup, 42-6 ?; 5. Hunter, Ste, 41-0.

Pole vault – 1. Austin Byron, Cor, 12-6.

Girls

Team scores: Stevensville 61.5; Frenchtown 59.5, Florence 58, Loyola 56, Hamilton 53.5, Darby 52, Thompson Falls 36, Charlo 34, Corvallis w23, Dillon 21, Plains 19, Superior 14, Butte Central 14, Drummond 8, Seeley 7.5, Alberton 5, Troy 5.

100 – 1. Katie Niemeir, Flo, 13.30; 2. Brekka Johnson, Ste, 13.38; 3. Anna Niemeir, Flo, 13.46.

200 – 1. K. Niemeir, Flo, 27.20; 2. Johnson, Ste, 27.56; 3. Paige Squire, Cor, 28.02; 4. Michelle Jones, Ham, 28.03; 5. A. Niemeir, Flo, 28.28.

400 – 1. Johnson, Ste, 1:02.07; 2. Moriah Hughes, Ham, 1:06.0; 5. Lindsey Thorstad, Ste, 1:08.57; 6. Krystal Haake, Ste, 1:09.24.

800 – 1. Brianna Dudley, But, 2:33.79; 2. Ashley Albert, Ham, 2:39.21.

1,600 – 1. Heather Demorest, Dar, 5:30.97; 3. Keri Ledford, Dar, 5:47.90; 5. Maureen Palmersheim, Ham, 6:03.02.

1. Heather Demorest, Dar, 12;05.63; 3. Keri Ledford, Dar, 12:49.50; 5. Danica Loucks, Ham, 13:24.67; 6. Maureen Palmersheim, Ham, 13:29.56.

100 hurdles – 1. K. Niemeir, Flo, 15.97; 2. Squire, Cor, 15.98; 5. (tie) Megan Baker, Ham, and Angela Scheffer, Ftn, 17.67.

300 hurdles – 1. K. Niemeir, Flo, 47.49 (record, old mark 48.6, Dallas Ott, Hot Springs, 1990); 2. Squire, Cor, 48.82; 4. Brittney Chilcott, Ste, 52.70.

400 relay – 1. Florence (K. Niemeir, Shelby Fisk, A. Niemeir, Amanda Mays) 4:48; 2. Hamilton, 55.20.

1,600 relay – 1. Hamilton (Megan Baker, Michelle Jones, Carrie Westfall, Kelsey Isherwood) 4: 27.23.

Javelin – 1. Rheanna Padden, TF, 119-7; 2. Mariah Cress, Dar, 119-2.

Shot put – 1. Christina Maderios, Loy, 34-1; 3. Cress, Dar, 3107.

Discus - 1. Maderios, Loy, 108-3; 3. Cress, Dar, 103-3, 5. Averyl LaSalle, Ham, 95-1 ?.

Long jump – 1. Jordan Pfau, Loy, 15-8 ?; 2. Johnson, Ste, 1508; 4. Jessi Brunett, Ste, 17-7; 5. Chilcott, Ste, 13-9 ?.

Triple jump – 1. Johnson, Ste, 35-1, 4. Brunett, Ste, 31-11; 6. Baker, Ham, 30-7.

Pole vault – 1. Padden, TF, 8-0; 3. Baker, Ham, 7-6; 6. Whitney Cranmore, Cor, 7-0.

Ciara Hanson has come home again. This Florence graduate was a kingpin on the softball field when she was in high school, playing on a couple of state champion teams and learning the game from one of the best around, Coach Otto - Mike Thill. After graduation, she went on to play at North Idaho Community College and further her education. This spring brought her back to the Bitterroot and back to the Lady Falcons. But this time she is donning the mantle of head coach.

“I never thought I’d be back,” said Hansen. “I’m glad to be back on the field and to be contributing to the success that we’ve had.”

Although with her youthful looks, she is sometimes mistaken as one of the players, make no mistake, she is one tough coach and expects her players to give it their all. But Hansen also wants the game to be fun and is working to have a balance, with the theory that winning is fun.

She has a team that is comprised only of sophomores, juniors and seniors but knows there is much work to be done to get her team ready for the end of the season and perhaps a trip to the state tournament. She says one thing that really helps is the fact that Maurice Craun will be her assistant. He was an unpaid assistant when Hansen played and she feels that they both have the same expectations of the team and the players. Also ready to lend a hand when asked are Coach Otto and former assistant Joe McKay. Both say they will help, when asked.

Hansen is one busy coach. By day she is a student at the University of Montana, majoring in psychology. “That may come in handy out here,” she says with a laugh, and then adds, “it’s great to be back.”

The Lady Falcons took on Thompson Falls in a morning game on Saturday. After shoveling the field, the team may have been a bit winded and lost.

Saturday afternoon, Florence took on Noxon. Chelsey Ralls ripped a two-run homer in the second inning to give her team some momentum. When the inning was finished, Florence had 10 runs on the board. Their tough defense and strong infield play held the Red Devils scoreless. Florence went on to win, 16-0, in a four-inning game that was shortened by the 10-run rule.

Kelsey Hoagland started the game for Florence as pitcher and Ralls finished up. Ralls was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Ginny Blackwell had two RBIs and Kaitlyn Rolshoven also had two. Shelby Stevens had one RBI.

Florence defeated Plains on Thursday, 13-0.

The game between Stevensville and Corvallis was cancelled on Friday night and will be replayed on April 30th. Hamilton defeated Stevensville on Saturday, 22-4. Cierra Smith had the win for the Lady Broncs and Maddie Jones took the loss. Annie Schultz had a triple and three RBIs. Nichole Hood was 2-for-4 and had an RBI. Elizabeth Taylor had two RBIs as well.

The girls from Rocky Mountain Gymnastics competed at the State Gymnastics Competition in Great Falls two weeks ago. Level 8’s Aspen Evans and Chivahna Keating finished at the top of the competition, two of eleven gymnasts who earned a place to compete at the regional competition in April. They were also chosen to be part of the eight-gymnast State Team. Eight gymnasts from Montana will compete against teams from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii. The tournament takes place at the regional competition in Whitefish April 17-19. Aspen Evans was the State Champion on beam, vault and all-around. Chivahna Keating was State Champion on vault and bars. Chivahna placed 2nd on floor and all-around.

Megan Nelson will also be competing at regionals at level 7. Megan placed 5th on vault and 6th on floor. Sierra Keating placed 3rd on floor, 5th on bars and 7th all-around at level 6. Also at level 6, Hayley Hudgins placed 11th all-around.

With only four level 5s competing against 10 teams, Rocky Mountain level 5s took 3rd place as a team. The level 5 girls had a great competition with Nicole Turner placing 2nd all-around and Miranda Herbert placing 3rd all-around. Nicole Turner was State Champion on vault. She also placed 2nd on bars, beam and floor. Miranda Herbert placed 2nd on floor and 3rd on bars. Genesis Keith was State Champion on Beam. Kendal Gordon placed 11th on bars.

This was the level 4s first State Competition. The competition ended with Abigail Gleason placing 4th on bars and 6th on vault. Being one of the youngest gymnasts at the competition, Rylee Weidiger placed 10th on floor. Sammi Buffington placed 11th on beam.

Overall the gymnasts represented Rocky Mountain Gymnastics brought home seven state titles and many medals.