In tune-up, records broken

That's one way to prime up for the divisional tournament: Break a couple of school records.

In a home dual last Thursday against Glacier, Patric Jessat set a new school record in the 400 meters with a time of 50.6 and Nate Thompson set a new school record in the javelin with a throw of 181-8.

The non-scoring meet was a tune-up for the divisional tournament this weekend.

On Saturday the team traveled to the Polson ABC meet, the boys took second behind Corvallis and the girls were last.

Derrick Williams won the 800 with a time of 2:02.22 and Jessat was a fraction behind him at 2:02.50.

In the 1,600 Williams just barely edged Chris Jessop of Corvallis with a time of 4:29.48. Jessop ran a 4:29.53.

The Cats also had solid performances from Shawn Whitman in the 3,200. Whitman took second with a time of 10:31.38, about a second behind Jessop. Jacob Hader was second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.78 and the boys were once again nipped by Whitefish in the 400 relay by three-tenths of a second.

In the sprints, Taylor Martinson took second in the 100 with a time of 11.66 and he was second in the long jump with a leap of 19-61/4. Daniel Jones was second in the shot put with a 44-6.

On the girls' side, Kelsey DeWit tied for first in the high jump at 5-0.

"I think we saw a lot of where we are at," said coach Jamie Heinz, who was pleased with the team's performance. "But obviously things have to go right in the next two weeks."

Heinz said the team will go into the divisional tournament as healthy as one could ask for after a long regular season. Sprinter Dean Phillips should be able to run the 100 — he's been out with a hamstring pull.

The long distance runners should make the tournament a barn burner. Just fractions of a second separate them.

The weather could be a factor. It's expected to be cool with a chance of rain both Friday and Saturday. The meet will go on regardless, Heinz said.