Libby lands slew of personal bests

The Libby track team upped its anty at the Annual A.C.M. Invitational hosted by Whitefish High School last Saturday, posting 22 personal bests for the girls and 38 for the boys.

“They did well,” said Libby track coach Ed Tabis. “They had a slew of personal bests, which is how it should be. The point is, we’re going to have to show improvement real quick, and we’re doing it,” he added.

Tabis said it’s not good to be hitting May with only three meets under their belt.

“We’re three weeks behind, maybe more. We should have been seeing these marks three weeks ago,” he said. “But the fact that we’re finally getting a chance to compete helps us.”

A dual in the high jump came down to challenger Colt Idol (Whitefish), who was the first to clear the 6-4 bar that had been Libby junior Seth Wright’s personal best of the season.

“It was a good day to jump,” said Wright, adding that Idol, who took second with 6-4, pushed him higher. “It was Colt Idol’s first year jumping, and I knew he would be good competition,” he said.

Seth Wright jumped a personal best for first place, 6-foot-6, but fell short of the A.C.M. meet and Libby High School record of 6-7.5, when the bar slipped off its perch after a pregnant pause.

“It was my very first attempt,” said Wright. “I had made it and it was wobbling, and then it finally fell off as I was getting off the mat.”

Wright pulled out another personal best in the long jump to take fifth place, 19-6, with senior Riley Hoyer right behind him in sixth place, 19-0.

Aaron Tkachyk of Whitefish won the event with his 20-0.75 jump.

Hoyer followed in Wright’s footsteps again - this time for a personal best in the triple jump - to nab second and first place for Libby.

Wright jumped 41-08 for the win, while Hoyer placed second with 40-11.75, also grabbing a personal best in the 200.

Jordan Gragert nabbed a blue ribbon in the shot put with a throw of 46-4, also a personal best.

In the 400, Loren Nelson took fourth for Libby with 53.40, along with a personal best in the discus, 100-11.

And the 1,600 relay - minus an absent Zack Rowan - took fourth with a time of 3:39.91, while Hamilton (A) took first with 3:33.96.

Personal bests were also attained by sophomore Levi Neubauer in the javelin, shot put and discus, and senior Brandon Puckett in the 1,600, who was spurred on by Drew Coco’s (Whitefish) record finish in the 1600, 4:25.44 (old meet record, 4:32.7).

On the girls side, junior Stephanie Kluver posted a whopping four personal bests in the triple jump, javelin, shot put and discus, while freshman Alex Kulbeck had three in the javelin, shot put and discus.

Rachel Sweedman placed fourth overall in the pole vault with 7-6, while the 400 relay team nabbed 5th place with 53.92.

Devon Hoyer and Rachel Cernick tied for sixth in the high jump with 4-8.

Hoyer also had a personal best in the 100 hurdles, while Cernick had a personal best in the triple jump.

Another notable was Whitefish’s Lauren Kuennen, who, ten minutes after breaking the 3,200 meet record with 11:46.29 (old record 11:48.64), helped her team win the 1,600 relay.

Libby’s results for the Tuesday, April 29 County Meet will be posted in the Friday, May 2 paper.

Libby will host the Noxon Track Invite at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Thursday, May 1.

Girls Team scores: Glacier 107.14; Malta 77, Whitefish 72, Hamilton 68, Columbia Falls 66, Superior 34, Eureka 31.14, Havre 26, Shelby 14, Noxon 14, Ronan-St. Ignatius 7.28, Libby 6.28, Two Eagle River 2.

Boys Team scores: Havre 100, Hamilton 87.33, Whitefish 70.5, Eureka 58.5, Glacier 56, Libby 49, Malta 43, Columbia Falls 18, Superior 18, Plains 11, Ronan-St. Ignatius 10, Shelby 6.