C-Falls boys second at Divisionals

Winning three events and going 1-2 in the 100-meter dash, Columbia Falls earned a solid second place in the boys division of the Northwestern A Divisional Track and Field Meet held Friday and Saturday in Polson.

Defending state 1A champion Whitefish again won the Divisional title, scoring 162.5 points. C-Falls was runner-up with 136.5, followed by Polson with 87, Libby 64, Bigfork 48 and Ronan/St. Ignatius 29.

The Wildkat girls were fifth in their division. Polson earned first place with 139 points. Whitefish had 124, Ronan/St. Ignatius 76, Bigfork 70, C-Falls 62.5 and Libby 54.5.

The top five in each individual and relay event qualified for the Class A State Track and Field Meet Friday and Saturday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium in Butte.

Stephen Baumgartner and Dean Phillips were event winners for the Wildcats, and Shawn Whitman finished in the top four in three events. Baumgartner won the 200 (23.3). Phillips was first in the 100 (11.46), where Baumgartner was second (11.62) and Joel Ballard fourth (11.80).

Ballard, Kaleb Johnson, Baumgartner and Jacob Hader teamed for top honors in the 400 relay (44:05). That was more than a second faster than their time at the previous meet.

Michael Kruse, Baumgartner, Derrick Williams and Johnson ran to second in the 1,600 relay (3:33).

Ballard finished in a three-way tie for second in the pole vault (13-0).

Whitman also had an excellent Divisional meet. The junior was second in the 3,200; his time of 10:26 was just 11 seconds behind Drew Coco of Whitefish. Whitman was also runner-up to Coco in the 1,600 (4:38) and he was fourth in the 800 (2:04).

Williams was also a Wildcat standout. He grabbed second in the 800 (2:00) and third in the 400 (52.06). Johnson was third in the 800 (2:01) and fifth in the 400 (53.07).

Justin Whitman ran to third in the 3,200 (10:47) and fourth in the 1,600 (4:53). Thompson was third in the javelin (156-2) and fourth in the triple jump (41-11). Kyle Howell placed fourth in the high jump (6-2), and Kodiak Gimbel was fifth (5-10). Daniel Jones was fourth in the discus (127-7). Coming in fifth were Mike Macijunas in the shot put (42-1) and Jake Haverkorn in the triple jump (41-3 1/4).

SOPHOMORE KELSEY DeWit was the sole event winner for the C-Falls girls. DeWit was first in the high jump. Kayla DeWit placed fourth (4-10), and Ketti Wilhelm was fifth (4-8).

Wilhelm was second in the pole vault (9-6). Alyssa Ladenburg earned second in the javelin (119-9), finishing just seven feet out of first place.

The Wildkat 400 relay quartet of Sophia Lewis-Peterson, Cedar Jordt, Ladenburg and McKenzie Reeve was third (52.2), improving their previous race by nearly a second. Tianna Burns, Reeve, Jordt and Nikki Elek teamed for third in the 1,600 relay (4:15.5), turning in a four-second improvement.

Lewis-Peterson was fourth in the 100 (13.47) and Kayla DeWit was fourth in the triple jump (34-3 3/4). Placing fifth were Lewis-Peterson in the 200 (27.67), Jordt in the 800 (2:30.6) and Jinise Osborne in the 3,200 (12:50).

The 1A state meet starts with the preliminaries of the 400 at 10:40 a.m. Friday. The meet wraps up with the boys 1,600 relay at 3:50 p.m. Saturday.