CASCADE — Following Monday's Cascade Top 8 meet, the Cascade boys track and field team currently has three individual state qualifiers and will be sending its 400-meter relay group to Missoula for the Class C meet.
Junior Brant Ligameri has already qualified in five events — the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the 400 relay, long jump and high jump.
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"Working on my blocks, my starts, that's like my weakness right now," Ligameri said during a practice on Wednesday. "If I get my starts down, I think I'll be first.
"It's going to come down to the little things — form, technique, and just being consistent with it."
At the Top 8 meet, the Badgers' 400 relay won the event with a 45.12 finish, beating out a team ranked higher than them time-wise in Chester-Joplin-Inverness.
Ligameri and senior teammate Edward Formell said winning the heat was a good feeling.
"We were ranked third in the state at the time, and with the first in our heat there (we) had something to prove," Ligameri said.
"Knowing that we have the capabilities to beat certain teams and knowing that we have the capabilities to run these fast times, it's pretty exciting," Formell said.
Junior Peyton Hauk is also on that relay as well as the 1,600 relay squad, which currently holds Class C's top time of 3:37.87.
Although that time is currently No. 1, it is not a state qualified mark. Hauk and senior Tyler Lane said that motivates them to try and get there.
"Try to keep getting better, you know," Hauk said. "Knowing that (other schools) are right behind us, we just keep trying to push ourselves and try not to let them catch us."
"We just need to keep pushing in practice," Lane said. "And we all are taking off time pretty fast."
Lane is already qualified for state in the 400 with a best time of 51.93, and he said he enjoys being the anchor of the relay.
"I really like chasing down people," Lane said. "I almost like it when I'm behind somebody a little bit so I can really just take off. And it's more fun to catch somebody than try and maintain it."
Cascade doesn't just have good sprinters though.
"I was kind of racing the clock in the last 100" of the mile, sophomore distance runner Trent Lane said. "I was looking up at the clock in front and that I knew I had to get at that 4:40 mark. So I was giving it my all, and when I came across at 4:40 I was like it's going to be close, and it was, but I made it."
That time of 4:40.36 in the mile at Monday's meet just barely gave Lane a state qualifying time, and not only does he now has the top 1,600 mark in Class C, he's also the only one to meet the qualifying standard for the state meet in the event.
Lane has also hit the mark in the two-mile run.
"I run cross country, we're a state-championship cross country team," Lane said. "Carrying that over through basketball season but just still run through that and just put in the miles and it really shows."
Cascade is next in action Saturday at the KLH Memorial track meet in Missoula.
