Idaho 3A track

Bonners Ferry Badgers

Coaches: Travis Hinthorn (boys), George Hays (girls)

Top returners: Boys – Travis Johnson, senior, distances; Kyle Behrens, junior, sprints. Girls – Katie Poston, sophomore, throws; Shantel Schirado, jr., pole vault/hurdles; Lucy Kim-Brown, soph., jumps/relays; Miranda Neu, jr., middle distances/relays; Casey Hampton, soph., distances; Jennifer Youngwirth, jr., relays.

Top newcomers: Boys – Sam Botkin, jr., sprints; Ray Sayers, soph., middle distances; Adam Hall, jr., distances; Matt Simpson, soph., distances; John Heigel, soph., sprints; Matt Carey, jr., throws. Girls – Melody Braden, freshman, distances; Becky Lowther, soph., jumps/relays; Camille Robertson, fr., pv/hurdles.

Outlook: Bonners Ferry’s girls, state champs last year, hope to contend for a state trophy among the top four teams. For the Badgers to repeat as league dual and district champs, they will have to fight off challenges from Timberlake, Kellogg and Priest River. The boys will have to focus on individual honors. They don’t have the proven quality to run with Timberlake or Kellogg.

Kellogg Wildcats

Coach: Todd Howard

Top returners: Boys – Seth Patton, sr., sprints/relays; Tyler Powers, sr., middle distances/relays; Levi Duncan, jr., throws. Girls – Jamie Brower, sr., sprints/relays; Lynsey Seltenreich, jr., middle distances/relays; Cami Wendt, sr., sprints/relays; Alyssa Weingart, jr., jumps/sprints/relays; Lauren Peterson, jr., jumps/throws; Brianna Baumberger, soph., hurdles/relays.

Top newcomers: Boys – Ty Ketchum, fr., sprints/relays/jumps; Brad Lannen, fr., sprints/relays; Adam Furlin, fr., throws. Girls – Katie Dumont, fr., jumps/sprints; Brittney Harris, soph., distances/throws; Ashley McCarver, fr., distances.

Outlook: The Wildcats girls are the best bet to challenge Bonners Ferry. Kellogg, which took fourth at state last year, figures to be in the trophy hunt again behind state champs Brower (400) and Seltenreich (800). Powers and Patton give the Kellogg boys a terrific 1-2 punch in the middle sprints/distances. Powers came out of nowhere last year to win a state title in the 800. But the Wildcats lack the depth to knock off district champ Timberlake.

Priest River Spartans

Coach: Jared Hughes

Top returners: Boys – Randy Cork, sr., throws; Cory Johnson, jr., throws; Justin Hamdan, soph., distances. Girls – Bonnie Millard, sr., throws; AshLee Rey, jr., sprints; Angela Storro, jr., hurdles/jumps; Amanda Corning, jr., hurdles; Stacha Koropatnicki, soph., distances.

Top newcomers: Boys – Daniel Boone, sr., middle distances; Robby Settle, soph., sprints. Girls – Ali Chambers, soph., sprints; Lacy Hopkins, fr., sprints/jumps; Whitney Payment, soph., distances.

Outlook: The Spartans girls hope to prove that good things come in small packages. Or small numbers in their case. Six of Priest River’s 12 girls qualified for state last year, and the Spartans will score big points behind Millard, Rey and Storro. Don’t be surprised if the Spartans challenge BF and Kellogg for the district title. “Young” best describes the Priest River boys.

St. Maries Lumberjacks

Co-coaches: Shannon Cloud and Rusty Riberich

Top returners: Boys – Luke Samford, jr., distances; Rob Bliss, sr., high jump/400; Caleb Cox, jr., hurdles/jumps; Joseph LaPlante, jr., distances/relays; Donovan Eggleston, sr., throws; Ian Boyle, soph., sprints/relays; Aaron Cloud, soph., relays/sprints; Mark Johnson, soph., sprints/relays. Girls – Jenna Robinson, jr., sprints/hurdles/jumps; Emily Mavity, soph., hj; Kristy Luther, soph., 800/hurdles; Amber Fuller, soph., throws.

Top newcomers: Boys – Ben Felix, sr., sprints/relays; Ben Reich, soph., jumps; Zach Cox, soph., jumps/sprints/relays; Pierre Badiuzzman, sr., distances; Girls – Amanda Ratcliff, fr., sprints/relays.

Outlook: Cloud and Riberich, in the second year of their building program, are encouraged by a combined turnout of 26. The Lumberjacks don’t have the depth to win any league duals or pile up points at district, but they have a good share of athletes who will challenge for state medals. Samford took fourth at state in the 1,600 last year and Robinson was sixth in the 100 high hurdles.

Timberlake Tigers

Coach: Brian Kluss

Top returners: Boys – Eric Lambert, sr., jumps/relays; Tyler Zwiers, jr., distances; Jake Archer, jr., pv/relays; Blake Cord, sr., throws; John Macklin, soph., hurdles/pv; Jake Fulwiler, sr., middle distance/relays; Nathan Lewis, sr., jumps. Girls – Chelsea Cazier, soph., sprints/relays; Lynsie Powers, jr., jumps/relays; Erin Macklin, sr., sprints/relays; Kim Marsan, sr., pv.

Top newcomers: Boys – Levi Powers, fr., jumps/hurdles; Nick Puckett, fr., sprints; Frank Lagrimanta, soph., distances; Taylor Fulwiler, jr., distances; Casey Denton, soph., sprints/relays; Josh Malloy, fr., jumps. Girls – Tara Oster, fr., sprints/relays; Kelly Kincella, jr., distances; Alisha Puckett, jr., pv/relays; Tarra Tymesen, soph., jumps; Nicole Malloy, soph., throws.

Outlook: Kluss figures his team’s strength this season will come in its numbers. In other words, depth should carry the Tigers to a district repeat, and they’ll be in the hunt for another trophy at state. Depth will be crucial for the Timberlake girls as they challenge Bonners Ferry, Priest River and Kellogg.