Four Trojans head to state track competition

In the Western B track divisionals last Saturday in the Missoula County Stadium, Trojans Scott Harper, Allie Maestas, Aaron Palmer and Dalton Powell qualifed for the Class B State tournament in Bozeman, placing in the top five of their events.

Sophomore Allie Maestas just missed state in the long jump with a sixth place finish in the long jump (12-11.5), but will compete at state in the 400 for the second time with a fourth place finish at 63.27.

Maestas nabbed all five of the Troy girls’ points at divisionals last weekend.

“I’m pretty stoked,” she said, adding it will be competitive, but fun.

Junior Dalton Powell will get his first trip to Bozeman to compete in the 400, qualifying with a third place finish (53.99).

“I’ve never made state before,” Powell said. “I was pretty stoked. It should be pretty fun. It’s going to be tough to place, but I think I can do it.”

Aaron Palmer outthrew Tanner Newell of Eureka to place first in the javelin with 188-0, also placing second in the high jump with 6-4 and second in triple jump with 42-4.

Palmer noted he’ll be facing off against Newell again at state, and predicts first, second and third place will be shared by Eureka and Troy.

“I’d love to repeat my personal best (193-2) in the jav, but I’ll definitely be trying to hit 200 - that’s the magic number,” he said, noting 213 is the all-time longest throw in Montana.

The long jump will be a tougher competition for Palmer to top.

“It’s going to come back to how many misses there are. Class B is the toughest in the state right now, with five kids jumping over 6-4,” he said.

Palmer, who is third in the state in triple jump with 42-4, will be looking for a 43 foot jump at state.

He will have to face last year’s triple jump state champion again this year, Seeley Swan’s Canyon Parcell, who beat him in divisionals last year.

Scott Harper followed Palmer’s lead with a third place jump in triple jump (39-2), along with a personal best of 19-2 in the long jump, which landed him in third place.

“I felt pretty good in the triple jump, but triple jump kind of wore me out for the long jump,” he said. “It was fun though.”

Assistant track coach Sandra Jansma said the Trojans had a lot of fun at divisionals overall.

“The kids did really well,” said Jansma. “They were competitive with the other districts. It was very hot, and for the heat the kids did a good job of staying in the shade.”

BOYS Team scores - Eureka 125, Thompson Falls 124, Seeley-Swan 62, Loyola Sacred Heart 55, Darby 52, Troy 45, Plains 29, Deer Lodge 27, Florence 6, Valley Christian 2.

GIRLS Team scores - Florence 140, Darby 117, Eureka 66, Seeley-Swan 57, Thompson Falls 54, Loyola Sacred Heart 45, Deer Lodge 23, Plains 15, Valley Christian 5, Troy 5