Bell, DiGiallonardo and Sampson place 2nd at Top 10 meet
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MISSOULA —“Way to run Paden, way to run,” praised Ronan-St. Ignatius head coach Crystal Pitts as long distance runner Paden Alexander came to a halt after competing in the 1,600-meter race at the 14th Annual Russ Pilcher Western Montana Top 10 meet in Missoula April 24.
The meet featured the top 10 athletes in each event from across the region with only the top five placers winning medals.
Long distance runner Alexander and jumper Jalen Bell were the only athletes from St. Ignatius-Ronan who qualified to compete in the select meet.
Alexander was invited to race in the 1,600-meter but said he failed to qualify for the 3,200-meter by only a second.
“I liked running with all the fast people,” Alexander said after the race.
He finished sixth with a personal best of 4:40.83, missing the school record by 00.83 seconds.
“I did pretty good,” Alexander admitted.
Jalen Bell also performed well in the long and triple jump and finished second in both with a personal best long jump of 21-03.5 and a personal best triple jump of 44-04.25.
Polson also had a handful of athletes qualify for the meet and top finishers for the Pirates included Anna DiGiallonardo and Riley Sampson.
DiGiallonardo was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.66 and third in the 200-meter with a time of 26.18.
“Anna DiGiallonardo is one of the top competitors prime for winning state. We are really happy with her progress,” said Polson running coach Rob Alfiero. “You can really feel and see the difference in the competitiveness of the athletes. They are focused. Everyone is here to get the best times.”
Sampson took second in the shot put with a toss of 50-11.75.
“To take second in a meet like this is good,” said Polson’s head coach Mike Ellis. “I’m really please with our progress. So far we are competing really well, everyone is working hard.”
Also placing in the top five was Charlo’s Dawn Blevins who took fifth in the javelin with a throw of 119 feet and Tra Ludeman earning fifth in the long jump with a leap of 19-2.5. The Charlo girls’ 1,600-meter relay team also finished fifth with a time of 4:20.54.
Arlee’s Becca Nelson qualified for the javelin event as did Aspen Meidinger in the shot put, who set a new school record with her performance.
