Sue Sitter/PCT Panthers track and field coach Bill Jansen gives relay team members tips at a practice in late March at Johnsen Field.

The Rugby Panthers Track and Field team put themselves far ahead of the pack at the CNDC Indoor meet, held in Minot State University’s Dome on April 1.

The Panthers girls’ squad finished in first place, its 110-point total putting them far ahead of second-place Beulah, who scored 58 points in all.

The Panthers boys’ squad finished in third place in its division, with its 61-point total putting them ahead of 16 other teams.

Panthers girls’ Coach Bill Jansen said he had “no doubt” many of both the girls’ and boys’ track and field athletes – if not the entire teams – would take another trip to the state meet in May.

“As far as our state crew goes, I think we lost only one person who scored at state last year. Anna Clements scored in the pole vault last year. So, that’s the only one we lose as far as state competitors,” Jansen said.

“And we’ve got really good numbers,” he added. “I think we’ve got 70 girls on the roster now. We had 24 seventh graders. And we’re pretty young to begin with.”

On this year’s Panthers girls’ squad, Jansen noted, “We have six seniors back, three of which were at the state meet last year, and one of which scored points at state. Mya Geisinger scored in the triple jump last year. So, it’s going to be an exciting year to see what could happen.

“With our cross-country athletes (on the team), we’ll be strong in the distance races. We’ll be strong in the jumps. We’ve got a lot of jumpers who scored at state last year coming back. We didn’t have anyone place in the long jump, but hopefully, we will get that done this year.

“We have someone who has been to state, but we need to improve our heights. And, I think we’ll have a few people who will jump that pole vault this year, so, we’ll see how that turns around. Of course, we’ll be looking for more pole vaulters,” Jansen said.

Jansen saw strengths in the hurdles as well.

“We have one girl who placed in both the 100s and 300s – Ashley Martodam, a girl from Towner,” he said. “She placed fourth in both the 100s and 300s. So, she’s back. And she also placed in the triple jump. So, hurdles should be decent.”

The Panthers might find sprint events a challenge for both boys and girls, Jansen acknowledged.

“We got to state when Taylor Mayer qualified in the 100 by place in the region. We got all our relays there, but we didn’t score any points.

“We lost a couple of girls who qualified last year in the javelin and this year in the shot put. We return Brooke Anderson,” he said. “We haven’t gotten on the podium yet but we hope we score some points at state in the throws.”

Jansen said several track and field athletes also participate in baseball and softball.

“We have eight or nine doublers,” he said.

“This is our third week practicing, but we haven’t been outside very much,” Jansen said of the track and field squad.

The practice area the track team shared with the Panthers softball team at Johnsen Field in late March was surrounded by a ring of melting snow piles.

As runners practiced relay moves on the track, Jansen noted, “The distance runners have been practicing outside. They’ve been running miles.”

Jansen said the sand pit area needed to thaw more before it could be used for jump practice.

“With the weather at 40 degrees, it’s not real great to come out and do anything,” he noted. “And we’re high jumping and pole vaulting inside. We took some pit stuff to practice inside.”

All in all, Jansen said he felt optimistic about the Panthers’ season. He said he looked forward to seeing Panthers at state.

“Track, of course, your kids qualify by event and relays qualify by town, so we’re hoping for large numbers. Hoping we have a good number of kids who qualify and get there,” he said.

After the CNDC indoor event, Jansen said it was “great to be at a meet! Lots of good competition. Looking forward to getting outside.”

Leading Panthers scorers on the girls’ side were Peyton Hauck in the long jump and Riley Bonebrake in the shot put.

In the long jump, Hauck’s 16-foot, 7 ¾-inch jump earned her the top spot for the event. Martodam came in second place for Rugby with a 15’10” jump. Geisinger placed seventh with a jump of 15’5″. Anna Duchscherer logged a jump of 14’0.5″ in the event.

In the shot put, Bonebrake led the pack with a 32’10” throw. Haylee Jundt placed second with a 32’8″ throw, while Anderson landed a 29’10” throw for eighth place.

Other finishers in shot put were Ana Mohagen, 29’5.5“; Anna Bogar, 25’4”; Niah Wollenzien, 22’5“; Christine Mahle, 20’9”; Leah Shepard, 19’11”.

Other finishers for the girls were:

200-meter dash: Taylor Mayer, 28.64 seconds, fifth place; Elise Fahnestock, 29.17; Bostyn Bailey, 30.07; Tressa Arnston, 32.74.

800-meter run: Mikaylee Livedalen, 2:51.61, second place; Ashlyn Dibble, 2:56.98, sixth place.

1600-meter run: Hannah Senechal, 16:19.64, fifth place; Jaelyn Lunde, 6:54.78.

3200-meter run: Jaclyn Duchscher, third place, 16:28.59.

55-meter dash: Taylor Mayer, 7.76 seconds; Fahnestock, 7.93; Hauck, 8.02; Bailey, 8.17; Duchscherer, 8.22; Hannah Follman, 8.37; Tressa Arnston, 8:40; Rylah Hager, 8.51; Lacie Deplazes, 8.56; Joran Jundt, 8.57; Haley Mayer, 8.76; Annie Risovi, 8.89; Harlie Volk, 8.93; Janikka Miller, 9.01; Mya McNeff, 9.13; Jesse Wolf, 9.26.

55-meter hurdles: Martodam, 9.49 seconds, fourth place; Hauck, 10.64; Hager, 11.89.

Triple jump: Martodam, 32 feet, 10 inches, third place; Geisinger, 32-8, fourth place; Miller, 27-10.

Pole vault: Haley Mayer, 6 feet, sixth place; Jaclyn Duchscher, 5-6, seventh place.

High jump: Miller, 4-11, second place tie; Lacie Deplazes, 4-9, fourth place.

4×160 meter relay: Taylor Mayer, Fahnestock, Arnston, Martodam – 1: 36.43.

4×400-meter relay: Bailey, Senechal, Fahnestock, Livedalen – 4:40.91; fourth place.

4×800-meter relay: Lunde, Senechal, Dibble, Livedalen – 11:48.67; second place.

Results for the boys were:

55-meter dash: William Lundberg, 6.80 seconds, seventh place; Logan Gronvold, 6.85; Kory Vetsch, 7.11.

200-meter dash: Lundberg, 25.13, fifth place; Cole Fahnestock, 26.23.

400-meter dash: Cy Walker, 1:02.75; John Jundt, 1:04.23; Maddux Kirchofner, 1:09.74.

800-meter run: Connor Klein, 2:28.94, fifth place; Kirchofner, 2:48.23.

1600-meter run: Austin Dibble, 5:14.44, fourth place; Connor Ramsey, 5:53.06.

55-meter hurdles: Walker, 8.83, fifth place; Bryceton Deplazes, 9.31, eighth place; Vetsch, 9.54; Logan Gronvold, 9.81; Ty Schmitt, 10.35.

4×160-meter relay: Rugby ‘B’ – Schmitt, Fahnestock, Gronvold, Lundberg – 1:24.09; Brody Schneibel, Lathan DeMontigny, Vetsch, Will Kuntz – 1:24.30.

4×400-meter relay: Dibble, Fahnestock, Schmitt, Lundberg – 3:58.41, fifth place.

4×800-meter relay: Dibble, Ramsey, Klein, Kristian Fritz – 9:50.51, second place.

High jump: DeMontigny, 5 feet, 2 inches, sixth place tie; Jackson Rose, 5-2, ninth place tie, no points; Kuntz, 5-2, ninth place tie, no points; Deplazes, 5-4.

Pole vault: Gronvold, 10-6, second place; Vetsch, 10-6, third place.

Long jump: DeMontigny, 17-6; Schmitt, 17-5.

Triple jump: Deplazes, 37-9, fourth place; Kuntz, 36-6, sixth place; DeMontigny, 35-8.

Shot put: Schneibel, 35-5; Bud Taylor, 33-0; Dylan Bartsch, 32-10; Cole Anderson, 27-7; Nash Wollenzien, 24-8.