RSI girls set new standards in Libby
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
LIBBY — The RSI girls had a record-breaking day in Libby Saturday.
The 400-meter relay team of Mackenzie Trudeau, Christina Williams, LaGlen Mitchell and Adessa Durglo broke a 21-year- old school record to place fifth in the race and Durglo and Jenny Larsson tied a St. Ignatius record to finish one-two in the high jump and help the RSI girls finish in sixth place with 42 points.
The short-relay team finished in 45.82 seconds to shatter the St. Ignatius record of 54.86 seconds set by Bridgett Castor, Dawn Morigeau, Cori McClure and Debi McNamer in 1989.
With Durglo and Trudeau getting personal bests in sprints almost every week – they both set personal best in the 200-meter dash Saturday – and how young all four team members are, setting a record could become a weekly event for the four of them. They will try to break the record this Saturday at the A.R.M. Invitational in Whitefish.
Durglo finished in third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.14 and Trudeau finished in fifth with a time of 29.86 seconds. Trudeau, who continues to improve after missing a lot practice early in the season, made the finals in the 100-meter dash with a time of 14 seconds, but didn’t place.
Durglo and Larsson cleared 5 feet in the high jump to tie a school record. Durglo won the event with fewer misses than Larsson, who finished in second. RSI girls’ coach Crystal Pitts said that Larsson, only a sophomore, has high expectations for herself and with her great work ethic, she’ll reach them.
Durglo won the long jump with a jump of 14 feet, 10 inches. It was Durglo’s fourth first-place finish of the season. Pitts said the junior is an incredible athlete and a great leader and role model for the young team.
Last year, Durglo competed at state in all three jumps and earned a medal in the triple jump. Pitts said this season Durglo could add some events at the final tournament.
“She is learning to sprint and will continue to improve in them, so we will have to see what events will take her the farthest as the season closes, Pitts said. “She is going to trying some throwing events this weekend,” she added.
Durglo, Mitchell, Williams and Rachel Hardy finished in fourth in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:41.25.
Two of the four RSI boys competing in the varsity events placed. Jordan Franklin won the high jump with a 6-foot jump and placed in both hurdle races and the 100-meter dash.
Franklin finished in second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.45 seconds and fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.68. RSI boys’ coach Noelle Decker said that Franklin started running the hurdles last season, but has really come on this year.
“As his technique improves, so will his time. He needs to become more efficient at running them and that comes through practice of course,” Decker said, adding he has a legitimate shot at going to state in both races.
Running into a stiff headwind, Franklin finished the 100-meter dash in 13.12 seconds to finish third.
Marcus Hungerford finished in third in both the 400 (56.15) and the 800 (2:11). Running on sore shins, Hungerford’s time in the 800 was about three seconds slower than what he has been running, but Decker isn’t worried.
“Marcus was disappointed in his 800-meter time after running 2:08 the past two weekends. I have been running him fairly hard each week at practice and I know his time will drop, he just needs to be patient,” Decker said.
Most of the RSI boys were competing in the junior varsity events, where they finished third in the nine-team field.
“They continue to improve each week and I am happy to see that. We just have so many kids that either haven’t been in track before or they are very young,” Decker said. “We are down to the last three weeks of the regular season and then we travel back to Libby for divisionals. My hope is that we can sneak a few of these boys into state by then.”
The RSI girls competing in the junior varsity events also saw some improvement in their times and marks.
Sierra Mahseelan placed first in the 100 hurdles with a personal best time of 19.05 seconds. Hardy finished third with a PR of 19.30. Pitts said that Mahseelan has been working all winter on the hurdles and ran her best race in Libby.
Taylor Cullen placed third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 57.18. Victoria Crenshaw shaved 18 seconds off her time in the 800 to finish in second. Williams won the race with a time of 5:58, which would have placed sixth in the varsity race.
