Troy track takes skeleton crew to Bonners
With several Troy athletes ineligible to compete because of too few practices, the Trojans took a skeleton crew to the Bonners Ferry Invite on Saturday.
Rain postponed the meet a couple of times, but by the end of the day blue sky and sun prevailed.
The team managed to take fifth place in the seven-team meet with Sean Opland leading the way while garnering the track athlete of the meet.
“I was really pleased with everyone’s performance on Saturday. It gave us a good base to start from and we’ll just plan on going up from there,” Troy coach Neil Newton said.
Athletes must have 10 practices in order to compete in meets, which is the total number of practices Troy has held so far. So anyone who has missed a practice wasn’t able to participate in the meet, leaving only 6 members qualified to travel.
Opland took first in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and the high jump. He also took second in the long jump and triple jump. “It’s kind of becoming a typical day for Sean,” Newton said. Opland usually runs the 400-meter dash also, but decided to compete in the triple jump instead for the first meet of the season.
Pate Scott earned second place for the Trojans in the high jump. Scott had trouble finding the mark on his long jump attempts, scratching all of them. “We had them measure his jumps anyway and they actually looked pretty good. Many of our jumpers had trouble hitting their marks, which is expected this early in the season,” Newton said.
Newton said he was very happy with the performances of Olivia Roach and Allie Coldwell.
Newton said Coldwell showed a lot of promise in her first meet. “I’m looking forward to working with her on her jumps. She was behind the board on her triple jump, so her distance will definitely improve,” Newton said.
The cold weather on Saturday led to a couple injuries for the Trojans, but apparently nothing serious. “It’s a constant battle in track to keep the athletes warm enough before their events, especially early in the season,” Newton said. “You really hate to see it.”
On Saturday, March 28, the Trojans will take a trip north to Eureka and continue to make strides toward improving their times and distances. The meet is slated for 1 p.m.
Final Results
Timberlake 225, Bonners Ferry 108, Priest River Lamanna 100, St. Maries 84, Troy 54, Kellogg 48, Clark Fork 32
Troy boys top finishers:
100m 1st Sean Opland 11.86
200m 1st Sean Opland 23.45
High Jump 1st Sean Opland 6-2, 2nd Pate Scott 5-10
Long Jump 2nd Sean Opland 19-6
Triple Jump 2nd Sean Opland 39-00
Troy girls top finishers:
High Jump 4th Allie Coldwell 4-6
Long Jump 6th Allie Coldwell 13-10
Triple Jump 3rd Allie Coldwell 29-3.5
Discus 4th Olivia Roach 76-2
Shot put 4th Olivia Roach 26-10