Mintken, Barnett impress in debuts for Clark Fork track

HARRISON — The eight boys on the Clark Fork track team got quite the introduction to the spring 2021 season on Saturday. And it wasn't a warm one.

Brief blizzards, rain, swirling winds, frigid temperatures and sunshine — typical spring North Idaho weather — made this year's Kootenai Invitational one to remember.

However, all those obstacles didn't slow down the Wampus Cats. The boys placed fifth out of the nine teams that took part in the meet. They finished ahead of Mullan, Kellogg and Kootenai and were one point behind fourth place Lakeside.

"They did awesome," head coach Matt Majors said. "I'm so proud of them."

It was the first career varsity track meet at Clark Fork for all eight boys and Majors was glad they could check that off the list.

"There was definitely some nerves at first, so that was really good to shake the nerves off and get that first track meet under their belt," he said.

Junior Sam Barnett had quite the debut for the Wampus Cats. He won the 800 with a time of 2:14 and the 1600 with a 5:16.

Majors said Sam did a great job of pacing himself in both races.

"He ran amazing races in both of them," he said. "He did a very good job of staying with the leaders, but then he kicked it in and you could see the other kids try to come on at the end and ... he just pulled away. It was a beautiful thing to watch."

Sam also took sixth in the high jump.

Wyatt Mintken also made quite the first impression. The freshman placed sixth in the 400 and seventh in the long jump. The official results posted on Athletic.net also had Mintken capturing first in the 100. Majors said Mintken won his heat in the event and ran a solid time, but based on the time he recorded, Mintken did not win the event.

Junior Joe Bopp was eighth in the long jump, 12th in the 200 and 23rd out of 32 runners in the 100.

Sophomore Nathan Shelton secured seventh in the 800, 10th in the discus and 14th in the shot put.

In the shot and discus, Majors said Shelton is still honing his technique, but is off to a perfect start.

"I just can't wait to see as the season progresses when we start teaching him more advanced techniques," Majors said. "He is looking really strong in those."

Hank Barnett, a sophomore, was eighth in the 400. Hank also ran a leg in the 4x400 relay, along with Sam, Shelton and Ryan Matteson. They placed second.

Matteson, a freshman, earned eighth in the 1600 and 18th in the long jump. Freshman Carson Yetter was 14th in the long jump and 15th in the 100 and 200. Lukas Birdsell placed 25th in the shot put and 26th in the discus.

Majors gave credit to his assistant coaches for how well the team performed in field events.

"I was super proud of our other coaches because they've been working with the kids on technique in jumping and throwing, and I thought our kids just shined," he said. "They looked awesome with their technique, so that was just a testament to how much hard work the coaches have been putting in."

Post Falls won the boys and girls team titles at the invitational.

Majors said his squad learned all the in and outs of how a track meet is run and how to stay warm when they have significant breaks between events.

The Wampus Cats head to the Booster Invite at Kellogg High at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.

KOOTENAI INVITATIONAL

Clark Fork results

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Post Falls 168. 2, St. Maries 88. 3, Wallace 76. 4, Lakeside 41. 5, Clark Fork 40. 6, Mullan 29. 7, Potlatch 26. 8, Kellogg 20. 9, Kootenai 17.

100 — 1, Wyatt Mintken, 12.50. 15, Carson Yetter, 13.64. 23, Joe Bopp, 14.50. 200 — 12, Joe Bopp, 27.53. 15, Carson Yetter, 29.32. 400 — 6, Wyatt Mintken, 1:01.76. 8, Hank Barnett, 1:04.48. 800 — 1, Sam Barnett, 2:14. 7, Nathan Shelton, 2:32. 1,600 — 1, Sam Barnett, 5:16. 8, Ryan Matteson, 6:15.

4x200 relay — Clark Fork, DQ. 4x400 relay — 2, Clark Fork (Nathan Shelton, Ryan Matteson, Sam Barnett, Hank Barnett), 4:31.49.

Shot put — 14, Nathan Shelton, 29-6 1/2. 25, Lukas Birdsell, 14-4. Discus — 10, Nathan Shelton, 82-6 1/2. 26, Lukas Birdsell, 28-7 1/2. High jump — 6, Sam Barnett, 5-0. Long jump — 7, Wyatt Mintken, 16-4. 8, Joe Bopp, 15-11. 14, Carson Yetter, 13-8. 18, Ryan Matteson, 12-2 1/2.