KouGars, Eagles favored at district meet

Today marks the official beginning of the Montana High School track and field post season as the District 9C track meet got under way at the Havre Middle school track this morning at 9:30.

The meet which will last until early evening, features boys and girls teams from KG, Blue Sky, Box Elder, Rocky Boy, Turner, Big Sandy and Hays-Lodge Pole. The top five finishers in each event will qualify for the Northern C Divisional meet to be held in Great Falls on May 15.

As for today's meet, KG head coach Butch Marshall said that things will be very competitive on the boys side, while the girls meet may be a race for second place.

"We (KG) have had a really good season and have been performing well at every meet," Marshall said. "But I think the final team score is going to be closer than people think because Blue Sky is a lot deeper than we are and they are very talented."

Marshall also said that the point distribution will be somewhat hard to predict because of the numbers of the other teams.

KG and Blue Sky have fairly good numbers and Hays-Lodge Pole is expected to bring a large contingent on both sides, while Box Elder, Turner and Rocky Boy are a few of the teams that will not have many athletes in the field.

Some of the boys to watch today will include the KouGars' Casey Crites and Thomas Marshall in the sprints and jumping events, as well as Mitch McKinley and Jon Lipp of Blue Sky. Big Sandy junior Mason Ophus will also be on display in the discus. According to Marshall, Ophus has typically thrown 20 feet farther than any other competitor in the district this season.

While the boys meet is expected to be a two-team race, Marshall thinks that the girls meet may not be that close.

"I fully expect Blue Sky to totally dominate this meet," Marshall said. "They have a ton of athletes and they are very talented as well."

"I predict that we will be in a race for second place and Blue Sky could score 300 points," Marshall added.

While the Eagles are talented in all phases of the meet led by Lindsay Anderson, Jessica Patrick, Kile Patrick, Kaila Warren and Maia Aaageson, fans will also be treated to defending Class C javelin champion Kim Berg of KG, as well as distance runner Ashley Goodian of Big Sandy. Goodian is expected to be the favorite in both the 1600 and 3200 meters.

The District 9C junior high track meet will be held simultaneously during the meet.