Mustangs take fourth in Havre, Fergus

The Malta Mustangs fared well last week, picking up fourth place finishes in the Cal Wearley Memorial (CW) in Havre on Wednesday, April 25 and at the Fergus High School Invitational on Saturday, April 28.

The team had 64 points at the Fergus meet and 39 points at the CW meet. Fairfield won the CW meet with 75 points, North Star took second at their home meet with 74, and Fort Benton was third with 41. Malta’s JV team took sixth place in the JV meet with 43 points.

Fergus won their home meet with a total of 182 points, Belt took second with 92.5, North Star was third with 88.

Cormac Benn took second in both long jump events, posting a mark of 19-5 in Fergus, and 19-2 in long jump. Benn took second in the Fergus triple jump with a new personal record (PR) of 39-2.5.

Benn took third place in high jump in Fergus by clearing 5-6. He took fourth in the event at the CW by clearing 5-10.

Tanner Smith took second place in the CW high jump after clearing a PR of 5-10 and second in the Fergus high jump by clearing 5-8. Smith took fourth in the Fergus 200 with a time of 24.70.

Smith took third in long jump in Fergus by posting a PR of 19-0.5 and fourth in the CW long jump by leaving a mark at 18-6. Smith took fifth in the CW triple jump with a mark of 38-6.75.

Freshman Parker Mortenson took second place in the CW JV 800 with a time of 2:27.50. He set a new best of 2:23.83 at Fergus while taking seventh in the varsity race.

“The first lap seemed a little slow for me and then I kind of picked it up in the second,” Mortenson said.

Mortenson’s 800 was filled with a cool wind, that made the race tougher to run in.

“It’s hard,” he said mentioning the headwind as the main issue.

As for high school track, Mortenson has noticed the difference between this year and his eighth-grade year.

“It seems harder than middle school,” he said. “I think it’s just because I’m racing against older people.”

The short relay team consisting of Benn, Michael Pugh, Kevin Henry and Smith took second in Fergus with a time of 46.79. The short relay team consisting of Travis Epperson, Benn, Kooper Oxarart and Smith took third at the CW meet with a time of 47.45.

The long relay team took second at the CW meet with a time of 3:55.70. That team consisted of Epperson, Benn, Oxarart, and Magnus Franzen. The long relay team consisting of Pugh, Benn, Oxarart, and Pa. Mortenson took fourth at the Fergus meet with a time of 3:58.14.

Pugh took seventh in the CW 100 with a PR of 12.16.

Oxarart took seventh in the CW 100 with a time of 12.84, a new PR.

Shozaburo Mine took tenth in the CW high jump after clearing 5-4, and eleventh in the CW JV 100 with a PR of 13.04.

Kaden Bergos won the CW JV high jump after clearing 5-4.

Bobby Dolphay took sixth place in the CW JV javelin event with a throw of 95-8.

Blake Chambers took eighth in the CW JV 200 with a PR of 27.74.