Ronan, Charlo youths excel at regional Punt, Pass & Kick
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RONAN — She’s done it again, only better this time.
Chloe Davis, 9, last year’s regional National Football League Pepsi Punt Pass & Kick runner up, came home from Seattle with a first place trophy for her age group.
Chloe, a K. William Harvey Elementary student, combined her passing, punting and kicking totals for 153 feet, 10 inches — more than 30 feet further than her nearest competitor. Her strongest area is passing; she threw the football 61 feet.
To get to regionals in Seattle, Chloe had to win the local PPK competition and the western Montana sectional event held in Missoula in October. But she also had to be in the top four of the 13 sectional winners in the Seahawk’s region, which includes all of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
The regional competition took place Dec. 12 in the Seahawk’s practice stadium. Chloe said she wasn’t able to meet any of the NFL players.
“But next year we’re going to ask the coach if they could at least shake our hands and say ‘good job,’” Chloe said.
The following day, the first-place winners attended the televised Sunday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers, and had their images projected on the jumbo-tron while holding their prize PPK footballs.
Chloe first picked up the pigskin at age 5, and credits her success to family time. In a baseball field behind their home, two older brothers and an older sister — plus mom, dad and grandma — all work on “tackling games sometimes, doing catches, stuff like that,” she said.
While she’s competitive, she doesn’t flaunt her success, according to grandmother Cheryl Christie.
“To her its not a big deal, it’s just what she does,” Christie said.
Chloe also takes advice from her grandmother.
“Grandma says: One, think it; Two, say it to yourself; and three, do it,” Chloe explained. “I just try to get better and better.”
The young athlete loves all sports — with the exception of softball and volleyball. Last summer she was the only girl on the undefeated Ronan Cardinals baseball team, coached by Ron Couture. She even hit an in field grand slam in her last game.
“I’m pretty fast,” she said. “That’s how I got around the bases. I’m pretty good at basketball, too.”
Chloe isn’t the only Lake County student who excelled at the PPK competition.
Wrangler Gaustad, 13, of Charlo, earned his spot in Seattle and came home in second place. He plays middle school football and entered the PPK contest for the first time this year.
Wrangler scoped out the NFL quarterbacks at the game.
“I got close to Kapernick. He’s huge,” Wrangler said. “And I’m taller than Russell Wilson.”
Other western Montana youths became NFL team champions in Seattle, including 14-year-old Calla Haldorson of Hamilton and 7-year-old Easton Reimers of Missoula.
Easton continued to set records in his age group, breaking two of his own plus the only other age-group record he didn’t hold. Reimers is a shoe-in for the National PPK contest to be held at an NFL playoff game in January 2015.
Only the top four finishers in each age group from the 32 NFL team champions advance to the national Punt, Pass & Kick championship.
Montana has produced 10 national PPK finalists throughout the last 20 years, with two national champions and two runner-ups at that level.
