Timberlake boys persevere

The Timberlake High boys track team suffered a minor hiccup on its way to a fourth straight 3A District I championship Saturday afternoon.

It’s nothing that should get in the way of the Tigers’ pursuit of a state title next week, though.

So says coach Brian Kluss, whose Tigers essentially lapped the field in a sun-filled day at Van Tuinstra Memorial Field at Spirit Lake. Timberlake piled up 140 points, outdistancing runner-up Bonners Ferry by 32 points.

Bonners Ferry’s girls, meanwhile, did nearly the same as the Badgers tallied 127.5 points. Timberlake was second (81.5).

The only bump in the road for the Timberlake boys came in the 400-meter relay when the Tigers, who were on their way to winning, botched the final baton exchange. St. Maries, behind anchor Ian Boyle, won in 46.8 seconds.

“I think this team went through a little adversity today, but we bounced back,” Kluss said. “That’s really important in the big picture when you’re looking at state. It’s great to have kids come through and fight and scratch and claw when things go bad for you.”

Timberlake captured eight events Saturday to go with two from Friday.

Sophomore Nick Puckett, who was involved in the mishap in the 400 relay, won the 200 (23.1) and 400 (51.1) and anchored the winning 1,600 relay (3:31.7).

Another sophomore, Levi Powers, took the 300 hurdles (41.8) and the triple jump (42-3). Powers, who improved his personal best in the triple jump by more than a foot, was well over 40 feet on all five of his attempts, and four were over 41.

Another Tiger double winner Saturday was junior John Macklin, who took the 110 hurdles (15.9) and pole vault (12-6).

And Tigers junior Frank Lagrimanta, who breezed to victory in the 3,200 on Friday, did the same in the 1,600 on Saturday (4:29.0).

“We’re taking a lot of points to state and we have a lot of kids who’ll have a chance to place, and we have some potential winners,” Kluss said. “We got people through where we needed. We just had one slip up.”

The Tigers, who captured a state title two years and were third last year, see themselves contending for another state crown next week in Boise. The state meet is Thursday through Saturday.

“Our team doesn’t want second,” Kluss said. “How many teams go down and place third and walk away disappointed? That’s the way we were last year. They want to go down there and win. They just have to perform.”

Bonners Ferry’s girls will be in the mix for a trophy as well. Especially behind throws standout Kaitie Poston.

Poston, who continued her consistency in the discus by heaving it 150 feet on Friday, followed up by increasing her career best in the shot Saturday. Poston pushed the shot 45-5 ½, topping her previous best of 44-3 ½.

St. Maries senior Jenna Robinson was a three-event winner, capturing the 100 (16.5) and 300 (48.8) hurdles and the high jump (5-0).

Priest River senior Angela Storro was a double winner, taking the 100 (13.5) and long jump (15-9).

Timberlake junior Chelsea Cazier also was a double winner, breaking the tape in the 200 (28.3) and 400 (1:01.8).

The lone district record broken Saturday was by junior Andrew Scott of Priest River in the 800. Scott led three runners under 2 minutes, winning in 1:57.5 and topping the mark set just a year ago by Tyler Powers of Kellogg (1:58.4).

1A Region I: Darcy Collins swept the hurdles to total three event wins for the meet and lead Kootenai to a third-place girls finish in Kamiah.

Collins ran the 100-meter hurdles in 15.64 seconds and the 300 in 47 flat, and Nikita Amy threw the discus 111 feet, 4 inches for the Warriors, who finished with 90 points.

Genesee won with 97 points, followed by Prairie with 92.

On the boys’ side, Seth Gray earned a pair of sprint victories to earn 20 of Mullan’s 27 points, winning the 100 in 11.66 and 200 in 23.89.

Nezperce won the team title with 116 points, followed by Kootenai with 861/2 and Genesee with 81. Clark Fork was fourth with 58.