Track divisional shows Libby's champ hopes
Libby sophomore Cyrus Sweedman competes at the Northwestern Class A Divisional track meet in Polson on Friday.
The Libby High School track and field team took fourth place for girls and seventh place for boys at the Western Class A Divisional on Friday.
Among the individual athletes, Libby won several events.
Freshman Jay Beagle won the 400m dash in 50.61 seconds, a personal record, and a time that Head Coach Jim May called one of the fastest in the school’s history.
Senior Gavin Strom took first place in the long jump with 21 feet, 7.5 inches, which is just 4 inches short of the personal record he set May 12 at the Nelson-Thomas ABC Meet. Strom also qualified in the high jump and 200m dash.
“Gavin was very pleased, but he has bigger goals, so he’s still very hungry,” May said by email.
Seniors Shannon Reny and Emily Mossburg had the highest place finishes among the Libby girls.
Mossburg won the 400m dash in 1:00.07, a personal record, and took second in the high jump at 5 feet even.
Reny held second place in the shot put with 37 feet, 8.75 inches.
Both Beagle — who is also running the 200m dash and competing in the javelin throw at state — and Mosburg want faster times, May said.
Among Libby’s other qualifiers were senior Brian Peck in the 110m hurdles, juniors Emma Gruber and Isabella Hollingsworth in both the 100m and 300m hurdles, senior Brooklyn Rainer in the discus, and junior Eli Smith in the long jump.
Both teams are reaping the benefits of season-long conditioning, May said.
In addition to the individual accomplishments, all four of the team’s relay teams have been running some of the fastest times in the history of Libby High School, May said.
Both the 4x100m and 4x400m teams for both the boys and girls teams will continue on to compete at state. Their members are:
Boys 4x100m - Strom, Beagle, Peck and senior Logan Christensen; boys 4x400m - Beagle, Peck, junior Ryker Ford and sophomore Jeff Offenbecher; girls 4x100m - Gruber, Mossburg, freshman Olivia Gilliam-Smith and senior Sidney Stevenson; girls 4x400m - Mossburg, Stevenson, Gilliam-Smith and junior Lauren Thorstenson.
Full results left out due to space constraints. Look for them at thewesternnews.com, or in your Friday, May 25 Western News.