8 Spartans gear up for state

SPIRIT LAKE — Eight Spartans punched their tickets to state last Thursday and Friday at the 3A District 1 track and field championships.

Erik Deem, Shane Gamber, Levi Hanna, Jimmie Isenberger, Matyus McLain, Allyson Barton, Elisheva Davis and Annika Rantala all qualified for state.

"At the beginning of the season, I didn't know what to expect with only one senior and four athletes that had ever competed in a high school track meet before," head coach Jared Hughes wrote in an email. "I knew we were going to be young, so we focused on teaching fundamentals of the sport and each event to make sure they all did their personal bests at districts, hoping to get as many as we could to state. By districts, we were down to just 17 athletes competing so getting eight to state was great. We also had six others that were just one or two places away [from qualifying]."

The top four individuals in each event secured berths to state.

McLain qualified for state in the shot put, discus and high jump. He was second in the high jump, third in the shot and fourth in the discus.

Rantala placed second in the 3200 and third in the 1600 and Barton took third in the discus and triple jump. Gamber and Isenberger both posted personal records in the 300 hurdles to capture second and fourth respectively.

Deem won the boys pole vault with a PR of 12 feet, 2 inches. Davis PR'd in the long jump to grab fourth and Hanna recorded a PR of 42 feet, 5 inches in the shot put to earn second.

Priest River will compete in the 3A state championships on Friday and Saturday at Middleton High School.

Hughes said the state meet will be a learning experience for his young squad.

3A District 1 championships

(Top four individuals, top two relays advance to state)

Priest River results (state qualifiers in bold)

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bonners Ferry 165. 2, Timberlake 150. 3, Coeur d’Alene Charter 79. 4, Priest River 66. 5, Kellogg 8.

100 — 9, Joey Hayes, 12.29 (prelims). 25, Caleb McDermeit, 14.49 (prelims). 200 — 19, Caleb McDermeit, 29.82 (prelims). 400 — 13, Caleb McDermeit, 1:06.18. 800 — 6, Bradley Gleason, 2:14.49. 1,600 — 5, Dylan Lord, 4:57.41. 3,200 — 5, Dylan Lord, 11:06.61. 300 hurdles — 2, Shane Gamber, 43.30. 4, Jimmie Isenberger, 45.29. 4x100 relay — 3, Priest River (Erik Deem, Matyus McLain, Joey Hayes, Shane Gamber), 47.31. 4x400 relay — 3, Priest River (Erik Deem, Shane Gamber, Bradley Gleason, Jimmie Isenberger), 3:51.53. Sprint medley — 4, Priest River (Bradley Gleason, Jimmie Isenberger, Joey Hayes, Erik Deem), 4:03.45. Shot put — 2, Levi Hanna, 42-5. 3, Matyus McLain, 40-9. Discus — 4, Matyus McLain, 116-0. 5, Levi Hanna, 102-0. High jump — 2, Matyus McLain, 5-6. 7, Ethan Korff, 5-2. Pole vault — 1, Erik Deem, 12-2. 6, Aiden Troumbley, 9-0. Triple jump — 6, Ethan Korff, 33-9.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bonners Ferry 179. 2, Timberlake 140. 3, Coeur d’Alene Charter 63. 4 (tie), Kellogg, Priest River 40.

100 — 5, Allyson Dickinson, 14.03. 12, Elisheva Davis, 14.59 (prelims). 18, Alexis Hunter, 15.78 (prelims). 200 — 5, Allyson Dickinson, 28.65. 12, Elisheva Davis, 30.64 (prelims). 1,600 — 3, Annika Rantala, 5:51.44. 3,200 — 2, Annika Rantala, 13:00.81. 100 hurdles — 10, Alyssa Clement, 21.09 (prelims). 4x100 relay — 3, Priest River (Allyson Barton, Elisheva Davis, Allyson Dickinson, Annika Rantala), 55.79. Discus — 3, Allyson Barton, 101-3. Long jump — 4, Elisheva Davis, 14-6 ½. 9, Alyssa Clement, 12-2. Triple jump — 3, Allyson Barton, 29-7.