By Piper Banning
Badger Reporter
Timberlake may have taken the Intermountain League titles in boys and girls track May 9-10, but the Badgers, finishing second in both, will be well represented Friday and Saturday in Middleton at the 2024 Idaho State 3A Track and Field Championship, with 11 boys and 12 girls heading south to compete.
The Timberlake boys ended the district boys meet with 77 points, the Badgers had 073 and CdA Charter 35. The lineup was the same for the girls; Timberlake 71, Bonners Ferry, 69, CdA Charter, 46.
Boys
In the boy’s district finals, Badger senior Eli Newell took gold in 11.69 in the 100 meters, senior Aiden Jacobson, 12.10, sophomore Gio Faroni. 12:17 and freshman Ben Middleton, 12.19 finished fifth, sixth and seventh,. Newell also won the 200 meters with a time of 23.48, Faroni, 24.43, came in fourth, sophomore Spiro Petras was fifth at 234.93 and Middleton eighth at 254.31.
In the 400 meters, junior Milan VonBuskist finished second at 53.59, junior Sam Genys came in fifth at 55.17, followed by senior Aiden Jacobson, 55.72, and senior Chandler Swanson, 56.16.
Badger sophomore Micah Thomson came in fifth in the 800 meters at 2:15.09, sophomores Ethan Cowell finished sixth in the 1,600 meters at 5:16.92 and and Cole Phillips eighth at 5:22.63, and Cowell came in third in the 3,200 meters to lead a four-man contingent of distance runners to state; Phillips took fith at 11:53.57, sophomore Matthew McCabe sixth at 13:07.78 and Justin Swanson seventh at 13:12.82.
A batch of Badger boys qualified for hurdles; sophomore Devin Sceppe finishing second in 18.00, senior Andrew Gardner third at 18.11, juniors Matthias Gardner fifth at 18.97 and Robson Bates sixth at 22.54 in the 110 meters and the same four in the 300; Andrew Gardener third in 45.58, Mathias Gardner fourth at 48.45, Sceppe fifth at 49.13 and Bates sixth at 56.94.
In the 300 meter hurdles, Badgers Andrew Gardner, Matthias Gardner, Devin Sceppe and Robson Bates all qualified at 45.58, 48.45 and 49.13.
The foursome of Badgers; Gio Faroni, Spiro Petras, Ben Middleton and Albin Pierrot took second in the 4×100 Relay with 46.68. The 4×200 Relay brought the Badger boys first place in the finals with Ben Middleton, Spiro Petras, Gio Faroni and Riley Beggerly narrowly out racing the Tigers by less than half a second at 1:35.66.
In the 4×400 Relay Alvin Pierrot, Milan Von Buskist, Aiden Jacobson and Sam Genys took third with 3:47.25 qualifying for the state match.
In the Sprint Medley Relay 1600m, Conrad Hiatt, Micah Thompson, Chandler Swanson and Zion Jacobson took 3rd to qualify at 4:10.28.
The shotput brought two qualifiers; Sophomore James Morgen with 39’5 and Alex Taylor at 36’4. The Discus didn’t disappoint either; James Morgen with an outstanding first place final of 131’2 followed by 2nd place Badger Alex Taylor at 115’6. Badgers Austin McLaughlin and Chandler Swanson also qualified.
In the high jump, Asher Williams placed first in the finals with a jump of 6’0. In the Intermountain League, only Badgers made the finals in the high jump; Asher Williams, Eli Newell, Logan Archibald, Zion Jacobson, Riley Beggerly, Aiden Beggerly and Joel Aguilar.
The pole vault for the boys yeilded two Badgers; Aiden Jacobson at 11’0 and Zion Jacobson at 10’0. In the long jump finals, six Badger boys qualified, led by 2nd place Eli Newell followed by Aiden beggerly, Sam Genys, Riley Beggerly, Asher Williams and Joel Aguilar.
Sam Genys and Logan Archibald were the only qualifiers in the triple jump for Bonners Ferry with a stunning 41’9.5 PR and Logan Archibald with 37’5.5.
Girls
Taren Batemen scored top of the 100 meters with a PR and first place at 13.09 to secure her slot at the state tournament. Brenly Hymus placed 4th in the 200 with 29.29 and a PR. Makenna Baisden won top spot for the 400 meter at 1:00.18 and Natalia Tuma and Zabrielle Tuma followed up with 7th and 8th place with 1:27.05 and 1:33.48 respectively.
Brooke Petesch, Matisyn Stiern and Denalious Hiatt made top 7 in the 800 meter and Sydney Beckle, Gia Roemer and Emile Bourassa within the top 9 for the 1600 and 3200 meter finals.
A solid group of girls; Ireland Grady, Lindsey Onstott, Paige Sartell and hallory Stanley made the Baders proud taking 4 of the 6 spots in the finals for the 100 meter hurdles.
Hallory Stanley and Paige Sartell also placed 4th and 5th in the 300 meter finals.
Coming in a full two seconds ahead of the 2nd place Timberlake, foursome Asha Abubakari, Makenna Biasden, Ireland Grady and Taren Batemen came in at 51.00a for first place and qualified for state in the 4×100 Relay. In the 4×200 Relay, in second place, foursome Aulana Russell, Kendall Thorne, Malia Murdock and Hallory Stanley came in just 11 seconds behind Timberlake to place 2nd.
Asha Abubakari come in 1st place in the finals for the shot put coming in at 41’10 with Helene Rae and Hallie Hartman a close 2nd and 3rd behind her with 41′ and 38’7.
The Badgers girls did not disappoint in the Discus. Asha Abubakari with a stellar 132’7 took the lead by a landslide with Hallie Hartman with 116’7 and a PR for 2nd place and Helen Rae, Hana Hartman and Aspen Graham qualifing.
Eva Willis and Markynn Pluid qualified for High Jump and Brenly Hymus and Natalia Tuma for the Pole Vault.
The Badgers qualified Eva Willis, Lindsey Onstott and Hallory Stanley in the long jump and Rylie Kimball in the triple jump.
The Badgers are coached by head coach Travis Hinthorn with Paul Bonnell, Shasta Baisden, Lacey Henslee and Mary Archibald.
The 2024 State Qualifiers in attendance are:
Girls: Makenna Baisden, Asha Abubakarai, Sydney Beckle, Rylie Kimball, Brooke Petesch, Ireland Grady, Brenly Hymas, Hallie Hartman, Markynn Pluid, Eva Willis and Helene Rae.
Boys: Riley Beggerly, Ben middleton, Spiro Petras, Gio Faraoni, Eli Newell, Logan Archibald, James Morgan, Aiden Jacobson, Alex Taylor, Devin Sceppe, Sam Genys and Milan Von Busekist.