LHS track athletes prep for state
If one thing’s for certain with the state track meet on the horizon, Libby High School’s Stephany Kluver has a good arm.
Kluver has quietly made her mark in high school track this spring and she took another step forward on Friday and Saturday at the Northwestern A divisional meet.
Kluver won two events – the javelin and discus – and broke a nine-year-old school record while qualifying for state. Kluver had a throw of 127 feet, 1 inch to shatter the former javelin record of 119-4 – set in 2002 by Virginia Thom.
“In that first round, (Alyssa) Ladenberg (of Columbia Falls), she threw a 119-9 and on the next throw, Stephany had 120-something. She answered her right back,” LHS coach Ed Tabis said about Kluver. “Five or six of her throws were better than the previous school record.”
Kluver won the discus with a throw of 107-3.
Joel Fuller and Seth Wright also won divisional titles. Both seniors, Fuller had a personal-best throw of 174-11 to take first in the javelin while Wright went 42-10.5 in the triple jump to best the competition.
Wright placed in all five of his events. Besides the triple jump medal, Wright also took second in both the discus (147-11) and high jump (6-4), third in the long jump (20-6.5) and fourth in the javelin (155.6).
Fuller also performed well in the shot put with a personal-best heave of 44-0.5.
Freshman Dylan Berget qualified for state in two events. Berget came in at 4:53.49 in the 1600 and 11:02.47 in the 3200 – each good for fifth place.
The 400-meter relay of Fuller, Dean Willey, Kody Berget and Dietrich Coleman placed fifth with a season-best time of 45.41.
Whitefish took the boys’ title with 162.5 points. Columbia Falls finished second at 136.5, followed by Polson in third and Libby in fourth.
Besides Kluver, other girls who medaled include Erin Baker, Rachael Sweedman, Kaila Forster and Corey Willis. Baker finished third in the discus (100-3) and shot put (30-11); Sweedman took third in the triple jump (34-4.5), fourth in the javelin (104-6) and fifth in the long jump (15-4); Forster placed fourth in the long jump (15-5.5); and Willis tied for fifth in the high jump (4-8).
The girls’ 400-meter relay of Sweedman, Devon Hoyer, Kluver and Forster qualified with a fourth-place finish in 52.93 – a season-best time.
Polson won the girls’ team title with 139 points. Whitefish ended up second at 124. Libby’s girls finished sixth.
“They performed, they came to compete and that’s all we can ask for,” Tabis said. “Unfortunately, you have several like Kaila who get a personal best by a foot and she didn’t make it.”
Tabis was referring to Forster who recorded a personal-best 33-1 in the triple jump but did not place.
The top five individuals and relays earned berths in this weekend’ state track meet. The Class A extravaganza is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium in Butte.
Northwestern A Divisionals
Friday-Saturday at Polson
BOYS
Team Scoring
1, Whitefish 162.5; 2, Columbia Falls 136.5; 3, Polson 87; 4, Libby 64; 5, Bigfork 48; 6, Ronan-Mission 29.
Libby Placewinners
(Top 5 Qualify for State)
1600 – 5, D. Berget, 4:53.49#.
3200 – 5, D. Berget, 11:02.47#.
400 relay – 5, Libby (Fuller, Willey, K. Berget, Coleman), 45.41#.
Javelin – 1, Fuller, 174-11#; 4, Wright, 155-6.
Discus – 2, Wright, 147-11.
Shot Put – 2, Fuller, 44-0.5#.
Long Jump – 3, Wright, 20-6.5.
Triple Jump – 1, Wright, 42-10.5.
High Jump – 2, Wright, 6-4.
Other Libby Results
100 – Coleman, 12.17; Willey, 12.64; Chapman, 12.98.
200 – Troy, 25.17; Willey, 25.22; Chapman, 26.34.
400 – May, 56.33; Troy, 56.78.
800 – Craig, 2:21.60#; Thomas, 2:26.00#.
1600 – Lott, 5:20.49; Carlson, 5:20.51#; Thomas, 5:31.59.
3200 – Carlson, 11:47.23; Lott, 11:53.93.
1600 Relay – Libby (Harlow, K. Berget, K. May, Troy), 3:41.28.
Long Jump – Fuller, 18-8; Harlow, 18-1; Willey, 17-11; Chapman, 16-9.
Triple Jump – Troy, 37-9.75#; Lundin, 36-1.
Javelin – K. May, 146-7; Willey, 120-0.
Discus – Neubauer, 110-7.
# Indicates an athlete’s personal-best time or mark.
GIRLS
Team Scoring
1, Polson 139; 2, Whitefish 124; 3, Ronan-Mission 76; 4, Bigfork 70; 5, Columbia Falls 62.5; 6, Libby 54.5.
Libby Placewinners
(Top 5 Qualify for State)
100 H – 6, Hoyer, 17.66.
400 Relay – 4, Libby (Sweedman, Hoyer, Kluver, Forster), 52.93#.
Javelin – 1, Kluver, 127-1#; 4, Sweedman, 104-6#.
Discus – 1, Kluver, 107-3; 3, Baker, 100-3.
Shot put – 1, Baker, 30-11.
Long Jump – 4, Forster, 15-5.5; 5, Sweedman, 15-4.
Triple Jump – 3, Sweedman, 34-4.5#.
High Jump – 5 (tie), Willis, 4-8.
Other Libby Results
200 – Hoyer, 28.93.
800 – Johnson, 2:52.95.
100 H – Forster, 18.06.
300 H – Forster, 49.58.
Long Jump – Kluver, 13-8; Johnson, 12-10.
Triple Jump – Forster, 33-1#; Willis, 30-3.5.
High Jump – Hoyer, 4-8; Auge, 4-6.
Javelin – Baker, 99-8; Auge, 82.7#.
Shot Put – Emery, 28-2.
Discus – Emery, 89-5.
# Indicates an athlete’s personal-best time or mark.