C TRACK: Jolley shocks and awes at the Whitewater Invitational; Lady Penguins finish third at home meet

Much hasn’t been heard of the Saco Panthers or their two track athletes, this year, however the team is hiding a young athlete that is quite the competitor in Class C track and field. Charlotte Jolley.

Jolley, may not have the height of Hinsdale’s Bethany Lacock, but pound for pound and inch for inch, she may be even more athletic.

Jolley posted 29 points at the meet, which was good enough for sixth at the meet.

“It was by far her best day,” said Saco track coach Barry Malone. “I would like to get her in five events but she’s been struggling with shin splints since basketball and it’s been hard on her, so she hasn’t been able to do as much running as I’d like to do.”

Charlotte and Panther Christian Menge had a great day of track at the Whitewater Invitational last Thursday.

Jolley a sophomore stands only 4’11” and 5’0” on a good day, but she cleared 4’6” in her second meet attempting the event. That was good enough for a tie with Hinsdale’s Courtney Capdeville. Lacock took the event, with a meet high of 4’10”.

The 4’6” mark is her personal best, and is an improvement of her previous mark of 4’2”.

Jolley knows that she did well considering it was only her second meet participating in the event, but she is well aware of things she can do better.

“I just need to stop psyching myself out before I go and focus on speed and put everything together,” She said.

She believes that in order to get more confident, she needs more repetitions at the event and to think positively, telling herself she can clear the height.

Jolley, was timid at the meet stopping herself at nearly every level, however some encouragement from the sideline, specifically from Hinsdale’s Lacock and Capdeville pushed her through.

Jolley also won the 100 meter dash, with a time of 13.78. It seemed as though every one on the sidelines could only watch in awe as Charlotte lit up the course, winning the race by a second.

Jolley was excited when she heard the news that she finished well in the event. When asked about how she could improve she said, “I need to condition more,”

“I have shin splints right now, so I need to recover and rest, and I can probably improve my time,” she continued.

She also placed second in the triple jump, with a length of 27’3- 3/4”. She was bested only by Lacock who leapt to a length of 31’7-1/2”. It was Jolley’s first time trying the event.

In the long jump she posted a jump of 13’11”, which was good enough for a fourth place finish.

Coach Malone believes that her jumps could be even better with more practice in the event.

“She’s got some speed, but when we get done there, we just gotta get her to bound on her jumps,” he said.

Her long jump was great, but Malone said that she was about a foot behind the line, taking away for her total.

As far as the freshmen Christian Menge, he is relatively new to track and is improving.

Right now he is throwing around 20’ in shot put, around 55’ in discus and 60’ in the javelin.

“He didn’t hit any personal records and I know he was a little disappointed in his performance, but he’s still working hard at it,” said Coach Malone.

Malone also said, he hopes that on Thursday Menge can go a little bit farther than he has done before.

“He’s got a lot of potential as long as he keeps coming out, working at it and keeps getting stronger,” Malone continued.

WHITEWATER

The Whitewater Penguins hosted their home meet at Penguins field, last Thursday. The ladies posted a total score of 77 at the meet, which was good enough for a third place finish. The lone gentleman, Jeret Warren posted a score of 20, which was good enough for sixth at the meet.

The Whitewater ladies were led by Kourtney Simonson, who has had a stellar year for Whitewater. She won the 800 meter run with a time of 2:39.41. Which was nearly thirty seconds faster than her nearest competitor, Raven Bear of Dodson.

She also won the 200 meter dash in the first attempt she’s had in the event, with a time of 30.26, which was one second faster than Josie Ellger of Hinsdale, who placed second.

Simonson also placed second in the 1600 meter race, with a time of 6:47.88. Turner’s Ella Billmayer won the race with a time of 6:36.52. It was Simonson’s first attempt at the event this year.

Simonson also placed third in the long jump, with a length of 14’2”. The leap is her new personal best.

Kayleigh Cummings also tasted victory at the meet, after placing first in discus. She had a throw of 80’6” which was her new personal best.

She finished fourth in the javelin toss, with a throw of 65’8”, which is also a personal best.

Cummings also finished fourth in the shot put, after a toss of 26’4-1/2”.

Keira Simonson also had a good meet. She placed second in the 100 meter dash, posting a time of 14.62. She nearly tied her personal best, which was 14.61 at the Glasgow Invitational in April.

Teammate Karly Santillan also placed in the event, taking fourth after posting a time of 18.58.

Ka. Simonson also placed fifth in the 200 meter dash, with a time of 32.6. She placed fifth in discus as well, with a throw of 67’4” (a new personal best).

Jeret Warren won both events that he participated in at the meet. He won the 1600 meter run, with a time of 5:13.51.

He won the 800 meter run, with a time of 2:15.21.

The Penguins were also unleashed upon Wolf Point, for the Gene Nelson memorial, the next day.

Kourtney Simonson won the 800, with a time of 2:43.42. She placed fourth in the 400 meter dash.

Kaleigh Cummings won discus for the second time that week, posting a new personal best of 87’3”.

Jeret Warren won the double mile (3200 meter race) at the meet with a time of 11:13.32. He placed fifth in the 800 meter race, with a time of 2:25.31.

DODSON

The race for the school record in high jump continued last week, as seniors Nick Bear, Jesse Stephens and junior Trevor Banyai took the field in Whitewater last Thursday and Wolf Point on Friday.

Jesse Stephens has come the closest to setting the new school record at the Gene Nelson Memorial in Wolf Point Friday after he cleared 6’0”, which was a tie for first place with Culbertson’s Adam Buxbaum and a tie, with the school record.

Nick Bear cleared 5’10”, which gave him a third place finish at the meet.

Stephens also placed fourth in the long jump, after leaping to 18’8”. He placed third in the triple jump after clearing 37’.5.

Raven Bear placed fourth in the 3200 meter run, with a time of 15:17.88.

One day prior, at the Whitewater Invitational, the Coyotes made their presence known placing fourth at the meet with a score of 62.

The team was led by Bear and Stephens, who out jumped everyone in high jump.

This day, Bear led the charge after clearing 5’8”. Stephens followed posting a jump of 5’6”. Banyai cleared 5’0” which gave him fifth at the meet.

Stephens won the long jump, with a leap of 18’4”. Bear placed fifth with a leap of 16’ .5”

Stephens placed second in the javelin toss, with a throw of 125’5”. He placed second in the triple jump with a length of 36’7.5” and third in the shot put, with a toss of 34’11.5”.

Raven Bear scored 30 points all by herself at the Whitewater meet, which was good enough for fifth place in the meet.

She placed second in the 300 meter hurdles, with a time of 1:03.31. She was nervous before the event, but considering she did so well in her first try of the event, is a good sign going into districts.

She also placed second in the 800 meter run, with a time of 3:06, second in the 3200 meter race, with a time of 15:25 and second in the 1600, with a time of 7:08.8.

The next meet for Dodson, Saco and Whitewater track teams is tomorrow in Wolf Point, at the 3-C district meet.