Hooper, Davidson place third to lead Bulldogs at state track

BOISE — A pair of third place individual finishes, a fourth place relay finish and a host of personal bests were turned in by the Sandpoint track team last weekend at the 4A state track meet in Boise.

Senior Cole Hooper once again saved his best work for the biggest stage, reaching a PR for the second consecutive year in the state meet, clearing 13-6 to finish third in the pole vault after earning fourth last year.

“Really clean, really smooth, he cleared them all on the first try,” described Bulldogs head coach Matt Brass. “He had a good game face, looked relaxed, and executed pretty well.”

Junior Hannah Davidson broke her own school record by .1 seconds, clocking a 2:18.10 to finish third in the 800 after essentially the same time won her second place last year.

Both runners who finished ahead of Davidson, including the winner with an unbelievably fast time of 2:11, will graduate, leaving Davidson as one of the early favorites for a run at a state title next year.

“She jumped into third on the first turn, and there was a good pack chasing her,” said Brass, who knew Davidson possessed a strong kick. “She left them with about 300 (meters), closed and held everyone off.”

Spencer Bassett, Erik Suhr, Julian Barajas and Ammon Ollerton clocked a 1:32.73 to set a PR by 2.5 seconds, running their best race of the season to finish fourth. Bassett, Suhr, Ollerton and Tyren Witthaus shaved .75 seconds off their PR in the 4x100 to finish sixth.

Freshman Maddie Morgan had a strong state debut, soaring a personal best 15-8 to finish sixth in the long jump, and went 32-3 to finish 12th in the triple jump.

The girls 4x100 team of Jazmin Stockton, Valerie Wickboldt, Baillee Klopman and Jaelyn Martin finished sixth, also setting a PR with a time of 51.79, while the 4x200 team of Stockton, Wickboldt, Martin and Dana Beaty finished 7th to score points.

“Coach Keener has done a really good job with the sprinters. The handoffs are really clean and tight,” claimed Brass of his sprint coach. “They’ve continually progressed all season, it’s been pretty fun to watch.”

Junior Katherine Kaul set a PR of 5:18.12 to finish 8th in the 1,600, following a 7th place finish the night before in the 3,200, where she passed a large group of runners in the final lap to finish in 11:48.19. Stockton was the final Bulldog girls to score points with an 8th place finish in the 100 (13.34), to go with a 12th place finish in the 200 (26.87).

Spencer Bassett marked a personal best 41-11 to finish 8th in the triple jump, and had he not fouled in districts, his personal best leap of 21-4 this season would have been good enough for 4th at state this year. Zack Alamillo threw the discus a personal best 136-6 to finish 8th, the final Bulldog boy to score points.

Other Bulldogs in action included Ollerton 11th in high jump (5-8), Fin Lund-Andersen 12th in 1,600 (4:34) and 13th in 3,200 (10:22), Sam Diercks 12th in pole vault (PR of 12-6), Emily Huang 12th in high jump (4-8), YeoWon Yarnell 13th in the 800 (2:29.21), Suhr 16th in the 200 (23.56), and Kyle Almeida 16th in the 54:22. Davidson posted a no height in the pole vault, and T.J. Davis was DQ’d in the 110 high hurdles to round out the action.

While both the Bulldog boys and girls finished 16th in the team standings, a lot of the athletes are coming back for another chance.

“It was good to get young kids there, let them see what it’s like. It’s not just about running in North Idaho,” said Brass of the state experience. “It takes year around training, and we have kids who want to be on that track.”