Mustangs take title at home

Th Malta Mustangs were winners at the 2019 Malta Athletic Club Track and Field Invitational last Tuesday, April 23, at Mustang Field.

The Mustangs won their meet with a total of 160 points, winning ten events. Malta has been amongst the top three teams in a few meets this season, and things are looking up for the team who posted 21 personal bests at the Malta Invitational.

"We have more kids out this year and we have closed the gap to Glasgow," Malta sophomore Cormac Benn said.

Havre took second place in the meet after scoring 88 points. Turner was third with a total of 41, Hinsdale was fourth with 33.5, Chinook was fifth with 31.5, Poplar and North Star tied for sixth with 26.

Senior Andres Lopez swept the throwing events winning shot put, discus, and javelin, while setting new bests in each event. Lopez had a throw of 156-09 in javelin, 138-11 in discus and 46-09 in shot put. Lopez was only able to make two throws in the shot put preliminaries, but he threw a throw of over 45.

He shared if he liked having a final heat.

"It's hard for the best throwers because they usually throw in the last heat, so they have to throw back to back and that's kind of hard, but I kind of like it," Lopez said.

Junior Tanner Smith won high jump by clearing 6-0, a personal best he set in Havre earlier in April. Smith also won triple jump leaving a mark at 40-10.5. Smith was second in long jump with a leap of 19-8.

Sophomore Cormac Benn ran the 200 for the first time in his high school career and won the event with a time of 25.04. Benn also won the long jump with a personal best of 20-5.

Benn took third in high jump by clearing 5-10 and fourth in triple jump with a mark at 38-9.25. Just missing 6-0 in high jump, Benn shared how the Mustangs have been able to improve in the event.

"During practice we will pull the bungee out, and Coach will put the bar at higher heights than we normally jump, like 6-4 ad 6-6, and we will try to get over it not knowing what the height is," Benn said. "We use a little spring board and work on our form."

Michael Pugh won two sprinting events including the 100 with a time of 12 seconds and the 400 with a time of 54.78. Pugh has been improving nearly every meet, winning several events this season.

"Coach has us do sparks, which help us with explosiveness and quickness," Pugh said.

He also mentioned that he has been getting out of his blocks quicker this year.

"I feel like I've been doing great and I have been setting new PR's at every meet," Pugh said.

Pugh, Benn, Lopez and Smith made up the the Mustang short relay team, winning the event with a time of 46.64. The team was ranked fourth in the state during the Malta meet.

"Our relay team is really good," Lopez said. "That's the only running event I really like. I feel like we can break the school record with ease."

The long relay team consisting of Keigo Kawai, Kooper Oxarart, Parker Mortenson and Pugh took second with a time of 4:01.94.

Oxarart took second in javelin with a throw of 147-0, a new personal best.

Freshman Cash Salsbery placed in shot put and discus, posting personal bests of 39-10.25 and 121-1.5 respectively.

Sophomore Cordel Salsbery took sixth in discus with a throw of 112-9.

Junior Keigo Kawai placed in all three sprinting events placing fourth in the 200 with a time of 27.54, fourth in the 400 with a time of 58.74, and fifth in the 100 with a time of 13.64.

Kawai, a foreign exchange student from Tokyo, Japan, has enjoyed his school year in Malta.

"The people in Malta are so nice," Kawai said as a Malta Middle School student walked up to hug him. "They are warm and kind. There are so many nice people, so I have made a lot of friends and at school everyone has become my friend."

Like the other members of the relay races, Kawai has been enjoying the event, even naming the long relay as his favorite.

"The event has teamwork," Kawai said. "In the 100, 200, and 400 you are running alone but in the relay, teamwork is necessary."

Kawai's favorite sport is baseball. His favorite American team is the Florida Marlins, but he is a fan of the Giants in Japanese baseball.

The day of the Malta meet was Kawai's 17th birthday. He was hoping to have chocolate cake later that day.

Junior Marcus Woods took sixth place in the 3200 with a time of 14:02.59.