Libby has 'Wright' stuff in Bigfork

Seth Wright led Libby to second in the Bigfork Invitational track meet last Saturday with his triple wins in high jump (6-4), long jump (19-3 1/2) and triple jump (42-7).

“We continue to improve, which is good,” said track coach, Ed Tabis. “The kids are working hard and competing hard, and we’re seeing some good things as a result.”

With a team score of 98, the Libby boys settled for second when Thompson Falls pushed past them at 105. Ronan took third with 64.

The Libby girls placed fourth overall with 60.3, edged out by Cut Bank, who had 65. The Bigfork girls claimed first with 84.3, while Florence snagged second with 73.

The JV girls tied for first with Shelby at 94 points.

Other Loggers had strong showings in the tournaments as well, including the Logger boys’ relay team, who took first in the 1600 relay (3:40.53) and second in the 400 relay (46.74).

Riley Hoyer, Loren Nelson, Brandon Puckett, and Zack Rowan comprised the 1600 relay team, while Alex Viscardi and Dean Willey joined Nelson and Rowan to make up the 400 relay team.

“A pleasant surprise is Riley Hoyer,” said Tabis. “He continues to amaze me. He’s putting up some good marks and if he continues to improve, who knows what the season will hold for him.”

Hoyer placed third in the 400 with 54.34, while Jeremy Chumley took fifth in the 200 with 24.8.

Zack Rowan placed third in both the 100 (11.47) and 800 (2:12.81), while Jordan Gragert took third in shot put with 44-2 1/2.

Tabis said the freshmen often get limited competing time in big meets such as last weekend’s, due to the limited amount of entries.

Nevertheless, he had praise for many of the freshmen.

“Kody Berget is competing hard and Dean Willey is doing good,” added Tabis. “James Nash is starting to be competitive along with Morgan Peek.

“We had four girls who ran the 100 in the 13 range,” he said of the girls’ team. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had that many run under 14 in the 100. It’s nice to see - three of them were up and coming freshmen.”

Freshman Alex Kulbeck placed sixth in the high jump with 4-8.

The Logger girls swept the triple jump category, with Rachel Sweedman taking first with 32-3 1/4, McLinden taking second with 30-1 and Forster taking 29-7. Wilson placed sixth with 28-5 1/2.

“Rachel Sweedman had a fine jump in the triple jump. That’s a good mark,” he said.

Sweedman also took second in the pole vault with 7-6.

Forster placed fifth in the 300 hurdles (52:49) and sixth in the long jump (14-03/4).

McLinden placed fifth in both the long jump (14-1) and 400 (1:06.3).

Senior Kirsten Taylor placed fourth in discus with 88-10 and fifth in shot put with 30-03.

The 1600 relay team, including Morrow, Wilson, Sweedman and Forster placed fifth with 4:33.65.

Tabis said the team is preparing for their first home track meet this Saturday, which could bring as many as 12 teams, depending on the weather.