75 participants flock to track and field

Seventy-five athletes have come out for track and field. Bonners Ferry head coach Travis Hinthorn said he doesn’t expect all 75 participants to stay for the whole season, but many participants show promise and are qualified athletes.

This season, a hefty amount of kids are coming out to pole vault. Whether this is due to the success of the event with Morgan Burt winning state two years ago, or the new coach, Hinthorn can’t say. 

Bonners Ferry High School alumni and All-American pole vaulter Nik Bertling is the new pole vaulting coach. Bertling was a three-time national qualifier in the pole vault (two outdoor, one indoor), a two-time All-Cascade Conference athlete, and was named NAIA outdoor track and field All-American for a sixth-place finish at nationals for Lewis-Clark State College. 

Shasta Baisden, who coached Bertling, is also coaching Bonners Ferry pole vaulters. 

“The sprint coach and pole vault coach will be fighting for kids,” Hinthorn said, as many sprinters frequent pole vault practice. 

At meets, Badger track and field is limited to only two or three athletes per event. So, only top competitors in events will compete. 

“We have good kids that want to work. A lot of positive attitudes,” he said. 

Along with track and field veterans, several freshmen, upperclassmen who have skipped a season, and exchange students have come out.

Bonners Ferry Timberlake and Coeur d’Alene Charter make up the 3A Intermountain League for Track and Field. Last season Timberlake teams won the district championship meet, giving the Tiger boys their 19th 3A District 1 title since 2003 and the Tiger girls claimed their 13th district title since 2008.

Both Badger track and field teams were district champions in 2021.

The Badgers will face IML opponents at the IML Double Dual on April 3 and at IML Districts on May 9-10. Timberlake will host both meets. 

Hinthorn said the Badger girls have speed and an extra year under their belts. He expects they will again lead in throwing events. This year, javelin has been added as a non-scoring event, next year the event will be scored. 

Hinthorn said the Tiger boys are older and the Badger program.

The Badgers return two of their district champions and a four-time state champion. 

Senior Asha Abubakar, a four-time state champion, and three-time district champion thrower is returning for her senior year. The Fresno State University D1 commit repeated history taking first in both the discus and the shot put at the 3A Track and Field State Championship in 2023. 

She earned a mark of 132-03 in discus, with a season record of 137-07 at the District 1 Meet of Champions on May 4. In the shot put, she threw a 42-01.5. Her season record was 44-00 which she earned at the 3A District I Championship on May 12. She also took second in the long jump at 15-11.00 and 12th in triple jump at 31-07.

Then freshman sprinter Makenna Baisden won the district championship for the 400m and took second for the 200m. At state, Baisden finished in sixth in the 400m at 1:02.00, a new personal record from the prelim state race.

Riley Petsch was named district champion for boys triple jump with a mark of 40-4.2. Petesch will not be returning to Bonners Ferry track and field, as he has transferred to a school in California to play volleyball. 

Ryland Meador took first at districts in shot put with a throw of 46-7. He returns as a junior. 

Last season the girls throwing team had the top fourth athletes in 3A IML in Asha Abubakari, Helene Rae, Hallie and Hanna Hartman.

Badgers girl throwers continued their season success at state with then sophomore Helene Rae taking second in the shot put at 39-09.00, a new personal record. Fellow Badgers twin sisters Hallie and Hanna Hartman took fourth and 11th in the event as freshmen. 

Rae also took fourth in discus with a PR 108-09. Hallie Hartman finished in 10th.

Brooke Petesch, then a sophomore, took ninth at the 3A State Track and Field meet in the 800m at 2:30.25.

The Badger girls 4X400m relay took sixth at 4:22.36, and Timberlake took fifth at 4:22.00. The Bonners team included Mia Blackmore, Brooke Petesch, Brenly Hymes and Makenna Baisden. Only Blackmore has graduated with the rest of the relay team returning. 

For the Badger boys, Riley Petesch finished in ninth in the 110m hurdles prelims at 16:53. He did not compete in the state championship race. Throughout the season, Petesch took third behind Timberlake’s Caius Tebbe and Wyatt MacArthur, who took second and fifth place in the state.

Badger Track state medalists included; Brooke Petesch, Hallie Hartman, Asha Abubakari, Riley Petesch, Mia Blackmore, Brenly Hymus and Makenna Baisden.

Badger boys finished in 18th and the girls finished sixth, only six points behind third place McCall-Donnelly at the 3A State Championships. 

Track and field opens the season by hosting the Bonners Ferry invite starting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 16, at Mendenhall Stadium.

    (left) Nik Bertling, BFHS pole vaulting coach and All-American, teaches a Badger pole vaulter proper technique to hold the pole.
  

    BFHS Track long-distance runners work on running form.