After an intense season of meets, the MHS track team competed in the qualifying state qualifying 3A District 4/5 Track Meet held in Kimberling, Idaho on May 9-10.  Competing at their very best, the Malad track athletes stacked up an impressive count of medaling places, state qualifying finishes, and season or personal bests.  

With a number of surprising placings, the Lady Dragons track team won first place with 141 points, Aberdeen following closely with 135 points.  Track and Field Head Coach Caleb Williams, commented about the win, saying, “Our girls won the team title for the first time since 2002 which is super cool.”

To help secure the win, the Malad women’s team tallied more than 20 top six places, collectively accumulating 141 points.  Halie Palmer placed first in the 200m dash as well as in multiple relay races.  Brielle Bastian won first place in the 400m run and second place in the triple jump, in addition to competing as member of two relay teams.  

Competing in both the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles, Kaycee Venable finished second place in both races.  Venable also took third place in the pole vault and competed in the 4X400m relay.  Joni Beck competed in the 800m race, placing third, the 400m race, placing fifth, and as a part of two relay races.  Aezlyn Summers placed third in the 3200m race with a fifth place finish in the 1600m race.

Kenadee Howe earned a fifth place finish in the 200m run and a sixth place finish in the long jump.  Samantha Shrenk placed fifth in the 300m hurdles and sixth in the 100m hurdles.  Throwing the javelin in her first meet, Tavanie Steed finished in fifth place as well.  Competing in the 400m run, Jenna Talbot placed sixth in addition to racing on multiple relay teams.  Ellie Angell placed sixth in the 3200m race, as well as Abbie Cox in the pole vault.

The MHS women’s medley relay team, consisting of Annika Wright, Joni Beck, Kenadee Howe, and Halie Palmer, and the 4X400m team, including Brielle Bastian, Kaycee Venable, Joni Beck, and Halie Palmer, each won first place.  The 4X200m, run by Brielle Bastian, Kenadee Howe, Kendrey Bywater, and Halie Palmer, took second place. 

The MHS Men’s team had a successful meet as well, finishing in third place behind West Side and Aberdeen.  Bostyn Burbidge won two first place finishes in the 1600m and 3200m races, while also competing on multiple relay teams.  In its first official year of competition, Gabe Hooste claimed the first place finish in the men’s javelin.  Braun Nalder earned the top place in the triple jump, third place in the pole vault and fourth place in the 300m hurdles, while also racing on a relay team.

Competing in the 800m race, Brycen Talbot took second place, as well as taking 6th place in the 3200m race in addition to racing on two men’s relay teams.  Justin Toone earned a third place finish in both the javelin and high, running on multiple relay teams as well.  Matt Briscoe took third place as well in the triple jump, placed fifth in the high jump and raced on multiple relay teams.  Levi Angell tallied two fifth place finishes in the 800m and 3200m races, in addition to racing on two relay teams.  

The men’s team also had three second place relay team finishes, the 4x200 relay made up of Matt Briscoe, Cameron Allen, Parker Price, and Justin Toone, the 4x400 relay Braun Nalder, Brycen Talbot, Levi Angell, and Boston Burbidge, and the medley team consisting of Matt Briscoe, Justin Toone, Levi Angell, and Boston Burbidge.  

An impressive 21 of Malad’s best athletes qualified for the state track meet.  Of those, 9 will be competing in four different events over the two-day meet held in Boise May 16 and 17.  If there is anything Malad Track and Field fans can be sure of it is that this track team is capable of pushing the limits at even the highest level of competition.