Bigfork track athletes place at Class B state meet
The Bigfork track and field team used
its final meet of the season — the Class B state meet — to do big
things.
“It was so exciting. The girls were
really close to getting a trophy, but what they did there felt just
as good as winning a trophy,” said Sue Loeffler, Bigfork’s head
track coach. “They did so well and it was just so exciting. I was
so proud of all of them.”
The Valkyries finished in fourth place
with 36 points at the state meet, which was held from Thursday
through Saturday at Charlie Merrifield Track in Butte. Glasgow won
the team championship among the girls with 60 points. Cut Bank was
second with 57 points and Colstrip had 38 points to earn third.
“For the girls to compete the way they
did with all the obstacles (injuries) we have had to overcome was
really incredible,” Loeffler said. “They were just incredible. You
couldn’t ask for anything more from them. Their bodies were
breaking down, but they just came through like troopers. It was
really cool.”
Bigfork’s successful weekend started
off with the Vikings earning a spot in the finals in the 400-meter
relay, in which they ultimately placed second. Kenji Sagami, Ryan
Hayes, Ian Lorang and Travis Knoll made up the Bigfork boys team,
which finished with a time of 44.34. Their time was .1 second
slower than the winning team from Broadwater.
“The boys relay was just incredible,”
Loeffler said. “They ran so well for two days considering where our
times were at and what they did. They couldn’t have ran any better.
Their hand-offs were just solid. We didn’t have any boys place in
the 100, and for them to do that in the relay was amazing. They
were disappointed because they were state champions last year, but
I told them they had nothing to be disappointed about. What they
accomplished there was unbelievable.”
Bigfork’s biggest winner at the state
meet was senior Mallery Knoll. She placed first in the 300-meter
hurdles with a time of 45.70 to earn the first state title of her
high school career.
“That was really neat,” Loeffler said.
“All of her competition was behind her. She was leading coming off
the corner. At divisionals, Hope (Reid of Thompson Falls) came from
behind and beat her, but Mallery ran a really good end of the race
at state.”
Knoll also earned fifth place in the
100-meter hurdles with her time of 16.43.
“When her leg started to bug her
(earlier this season) we focused a lot more on the 300 hurdles and
not so much on the 100 hurdles,” Loeffler said. “She still ran
really well in that one though.”
Knoll was also a part of both of the
Valkyries relay team and both of them placed at state. Along with
Knoll, Jen Egdorf, Quinci Paine and Emily Moxley are now state
champions as well. They took first in the 1600-meter relay race
with a time of 4:08.43.
“What really made it exciting was that
Glasgow was running really hard because they had to beat Cut Bank
to get the state championship over them,” Loeffler said. “So they
were trying to run against them while we were trying to win it, but
they couldn’t keep up with us. We won it handily. They had great
hand-offs. It was a really neat final finale to the whole
thing.”
In addition to their success in the
long relay, the Bigfork girls also picked up a third place finish
in the 400-meter relay. Paine, Egdorf, Caitlin Charlebois and Knoll
finished that race in 51.25. Cut Bank took first place in
50.25.
Charlebois also earned herself a top
spot in the pole vault. She initially tied Boulder’s Emily Schroeck
for first place when both girls cleared the bar at 9-06, but
neither could clear it at the next increase. So the event went into
a tiebreaker scenario, which Schroeck, who eventually cleared the
bar at 10-0, won.
“The other girl was struggling, but
once they had the jump off she did really well,” Loeffler said.
“(Caitlin) was OK with it considering she didn’t even place last
year.”
The boys
The Bigfork boys accumulated 22.33
points ranking them 13th at the state meet, but they still had
their share of successes.
Hayes placed second in the 200-meter
race in 23.09 behind Darby’s Aaron Johnston, who finished in
22.88.
“He was in lane 10, so going into the
finals he had the slowest or the second to slowest time in the
trials,” Loeffler said. “He had no one out in front of him because
he was in lane 10.”
Loeffler credits Hayes’ ability to come
from behind to his altering of his technique.
“I’ve been getting after him about
running the corner hard,” Loeffler said. “He runs a beautiful
straight away, but he struggles with the corner. He ran it so well
though, and he was so excited afterwards. “
Kyle Hauns had a come-
from-behind-victory of his own. Going into the long jump finals, he
was sitting in 10th place. However, he finished fourth with a leap
of 20-04.5.
Though it was his first year on the
track and field team, senior Christian Ker earned fourth place in
the high jump. He cleared the bar at 5-10.
Anyone that placed in the top six in an
event received All-state honors. All of the athletes that qualified
for the state meet earned All-conference honors for their
performances at the divisional meet.
Both Hayes and Knoll were thought to
have a chance at placing in the 100-meter race, but the competition
was tough.
“It was a real tight race,” Loeffler
said. “Travis ended up seventh. He ran really well. That’s the only
one he made it to the finals in. He ran a great leg in the 4x4
though too.”
Although neither the boys nor the girls
went home with a team trophy, one thing Loeffler did take with her
was some unforgettable memories.
“I got really emotional. It seems like
every time I turned around something else was going on that was
awesome,” she said. “The feeling that I came away with from the
state meet was like you won a state championship. It was that neat
to see what those kids did. To watch them overcome all the
obstacles that we had to this year and see them come out ahead was
great. To see the perseverance and the heart that they had was
really cool to watch. They believed in themselves. It was just a
really neat atmosphere.”
The seniors
The state meet not only marks the end
of the season, but the end of high school track for several Bigfork
athletes who will graduate Saturday as well.
“They’re going to be greatly missed,”
Loeffler said. “They are a great group of athletes, a great group
of students and great people. I just wish them the best in
everything they do in the future.”
At Charlie Merrifield Track
Saturday
Girls
Team scores — Glasgow 60, Cut Bank 57,
Colstrip 38, Bigfork 36, Thompson Falls 34, Huntley Project 30,
Loyola Sacred Heart 28, Baker 22, Sweet Grass 20, Florence-Carlton
18, Superior 18, Plentywood 17, Powder River 15.33, Darby 14,
Choteau 12.33, Red Lodge 12, Roundup 12, Forsyth 12, Manhattan 12,
Three Forks 11, Broadwater 10, Jefferson 10, Fairfield 8, Malta
5.33, Cascade 4, Plains 3, Lincoln County 2.
100 —1, Deni Fitzpatrick, Cut Bank,
12.71. 2, Ashley Olson, Plentywood, 13.14. 3, Kaitlyn Wurnig,
Huntley Proj, 13.16. 4, Sami Mohl, Red Lodge, 13.36. 5, Tess Porch,
Florence-Car, 13.38. 6, Erika Karcher, Cut Bank, 13.41.
200 — 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, Cut Bank,
25.68. 2, Kaitlyn Wurnig, Huntley Proj, 26.02. 3, Sienna Dailey,
Glasgow, 26.60. 4, Ashley Olson, Plentywood, 26.91. 5, Alyssa
Sanders, Glasgow, J26.91. 6, Sierra Bayles, Powder River,
27.44.
1,600 — 1, Paitton Herbst, Baker,
5:23.34. 2, Ashley Crippen, Colstrip, 5:25.41. 3, Selene Johnson,
Sweet Grass, 5:28.23. 4, Jami Johnson, Glasgow, 5:33.82. 5, Breanne
Watson, Broadwater, 5:33.86. 6, Emma Fewer, Glasgow, 5:34.70.
100 hurdles — 1, Hope Reid, Thompson
Fal, 14.98. 2, Deni Fitzpatrick, Cut Bank, 15.06. 3, Debra Griebel,
Glasgow, 16.09. 4, Nicole Stroot, Superior, 16.32. 5, Mallery
Knoll, Bigfork, 16.43. 6, Kaytlin Halle, Manhattan Ch, 16.69.
300 hurdles — 1, Mallery Knoll,
Bigfork, 45.70. 2, Hope Reid, Thompson Fal, 45.87. 3, Deni
Fitzpatrick, Cut Bank, 46.82. 4, Alyssa Sanders, Glasgow, 47.64. 5,
Katie Ducharme, Baker, 48.63. 6, Nicole Stroot, Superior,
48.92.
400 relay — 1, Cut Bank 50.25. 2,
Glasgow 51.18. 3, Bigfork 51.25. 4, Cascade 51.88. 5, Huntley
Project 51.98. 6, Three Forks 52.36.
1,600 relay — 1, Bigfork 4:08.43. 2,
Glasgow 4:10.18. 3, Loyola Sacred Heart
4:14.66. 4, Three Forks 4:16.26. 5,
Superior 4:16.68. 6, Lincoln County 4:16.87.
High jump — 1, Hope Reid, Thompson Fal,
5-03. 2, Hunter Borner, Roundup, 5-02. 3, Sami Mohl, Red Lodge,
5-00. 4, Alisha Breen, Choteau, 4-10. 4, Brenna Hansen, Powder
River, 4-10. 4, Jacki French, Malta, 4-10.
Triple jump — 1, Sarah Jakober, Darby,
36-04. 2, Sydne Steinbach, Fairfield, 36-02. 3, Allie Cole,
Forsyth, 34-02. 4, Hunter Borner, Roundup, 33-10.50. 5, Kaile
Sauro, Loyola Sacre, 33-08. 6, Caitlin Stadstad, Plentywood,
J33-08.
Shot put — 1, Ashley Medeiros, Loyola
Sacre, 37-11. 2, Megan Leathers, Florence-Car, 37-04. 3, Ashley
Thoeny, Powder River, 34-07. 4, Jordyn Vaile, Cut Bank, 34-06. 5,
Codi Francis, Manhattan, 34-05. 6, Erin Sutton, Columbus,
33-04.
Discus — 1, Carlee Smith, Manhattan,
129-06. 2, Megan Leathers, Florence-Car, 119-04. 3, Jordyn Vaile,
Cut Bank, 115-03. 4, Heaven Zuehlsdorff, Colstrip, 114-11. 5,
Franky Winnebrenner, Plains, 113-07. 6, Shanni Moran, Poplar,
109-02.
Javelin — 1, Kiernan Haggerty, Loyola
Sacre, 130-06. 2, Heaven Zuehlsdorff, Colstrip, 129-09. 3, Ashley
Thoeny, Powder River, 119-02. 4, Alisha Breen, Choteau, 116-08. 5,
Courtney Henry, Malta, 116-07. 6, Jacki French, Malta, 114-06.
Boys
Team scores — Darby 76, Manhattan 53,
Deer Lodge 35, Florence Carlton 35, Powell County 35, Broadwater
33.5, Columbus 32, Thompson Falls 30, Malta 28, Fairfield 26,
Loyola Sacred Heart 26, Plains 25, Bigfork 22.33, Baker 21.33,
Plentywood 20, Shelby 12.5, Three Forks 12, Superior 10, Colstrip
6, Troy 6, Choteau 5.5, Cascade 2.5, Powder River 2.33, Red Lodge
2, Lincoln County 2, Glasgow 1, Cut Bank 1, Sweet Grass 1.
100 — 1, Kodee Varner, Baker, 11.20. 2,
Matthew Brookie, Malta, 11.38. 3, Colin Hoeffner, Broadwater,
11.39. 4, Josh Janssen, Loyola Sacre, 11.40. 5, Aaron Johnston,
Darby, 11.41. 6, John Wiench, Cascade, 11.49.
200 — 1, Aaron Johnston, Darby, 22.88.
2, Ryan Hayes, Bigfork, 23.09. 3, Josh Janssen, Loyola Sacre,
23.10. 4, Matthew Brookie, Malta, 23.17. 5, Pres Harris,
Plentywood, 23.21. 6, Chase Ballantyne, Shelby, 23.23. 6, Colin
Hoeffner, Broadwater, 23.23.
800 — 1, Doug Raymer, Darby, 1:55.27
(new Class B record; old record of 1:55.50, Shawn McCracken, 1985).
2, Pres Harris, Plentywood, 1:59.50. 3, Marcus Swan, Manhattan,
2:00.38. 4, Jeremy Campbell, Darby, 2:01.84. 5, Cale Howells,
Manhattan, 2:01.96. 6, Madison Bolton, Florence-Car, 2:03.15.
3,200 — 1, Doug Raymer, Darby,
10:03.49. 2, Lyle Pocha, Loyola Sacre, 10:03.99. 3, Sean
Abrahamsen, Darby, 10:07.09. 4, Carter Montgomery, Plains,
10:07.40. 5, Tim Royce, Manhattan, 10:11.30. 6, Colten Wheeler,
Sweet Grass, 10:19.46.
110 hurdles — 1, Ethan Shevela,
Columbus, 15.89. 2, Slade Allen, Fairfield, 15.98. 3, Boone Helm,
Broadwater, 16.30. 4, Alex Roberts, Broadwater, 16.36. 5, Hunter
Price, Lincoln Coun, 16.38. 6, Nathan Vanderby, Manhattan,
16.44.
300 hurdles — 1, Slade Allen,
Fairfield, 40.04. 2, Kodee Varner, Baker, 40.09. 3, Dylan Reynolds,
Florence-Car, 40.44. 4, Boone Helm, Broadwater, 40.89. 5, Izaack
Zier, Manhattan, 41.33. 6, Preston Schubert, Thompson Fal,
41.72.
400 relay — 1, Broadwater 44.24. 2,
Bigfork 44.34. 3, Manhattan 44.74. 4, Thompson Falls 45.06. 5,
Choteau 45.15. 6, Cut Bank 45.44.
1,600 relay — 1, Manhattan 3:27.15. 2,
Darby 3:28.61. 3, Florence-Carlton 3:30.45. 4, Shelby 3:32.30. 5,
Broadwater 3:33.21. 6, Loyola Sacred Heart 3:34.08.
High jump — 1, Chalis Wilson, Thompson
Fal, 6-04. 2, Walter Johnson, Columbus, 6-02. 3, Nathan Olds, Troy,
6-00. 4, Christian Kerr, Bigfork, 5-10. 4, Jordan Gray, Baker,
5-10. 4, Ryan Gergan, Powder River, 5-10.
Triple jump — 1, Taylor Firestone,
Plains, 46-04.50. 2, Walter Johnson, Columbus, 45-03.50. 3, Ross
Mangun, Florence-Car, 43-01. 4, Reed Jenkins, Florence-Car, 42-08.
5, Sam Peterson, Malta, 41-05.50. 6, Kyle Gollahon, Choteau,
40-03.25.
Shot put — 1, Brandon Forson, Powell
Count, 56-00.50. 2, Cody Hanson, Three Forks, 48-01.75. 3, Tucker
Yates, Colstrip, 48-00.75. 4, John Weidenaar, Manhattan, 46-08.50.
5, BO Harris, Fairfield, 46-07. 6, Johnny Medeiros, Loyola Sacre,
46-01.
Friday at Charlie Merrifield Track
Girls
Team scores (after six events) —
Colstrip 22, Glasgow 21, Huntley Project 14, Big Timber 14,
Superior 11, Manhattan 10, Boulder 10, Baker 10, Bigfork 8,
Townsend 8, Cut Bank 8, Florence-Carlton 8, Thompson Falls 6,
Forsyth 6, Choteau 6, Three Forks 6, Plentywood 4, Darby 4, Plains
3, Wolf Point 2, Red Lodge 2, Lincoln County 1.
400 — 1, Kaitlyn Wurnig, Huntley Proj,
59.97. 2, Alyssa Sanders, Glasgow, 1:00.90. 3, Shayla Mack, Three
Forks, 1:01.32. 4, Ashley Olson, Plentywood, 1:01.42. 5, Kalyse
Engebretson, Red Lodge, 1:02.08. 6, Kadeshia Clark, Deer Lodge,
1:02.87.
800 — 1, Selene Johnson, Big Timber,
2:22.51. 2, Ashley Crippen, Colstrip, 2:24.86. 3, Mariah Renteria,
Choteau, 2:28.52. 4, Paitton Herbst, Baker, 2:28.57. 5, Tiar’E
Little Head, Wolf Point, 2:29.09. 6, Bailey Malecha, Lincoln Coun,
2:30.21.
3,200 — 1, Jami Johnson, Glasgow,
11:56.96. 2, Breanne Watson, Townsend, 12:04.20. 3, Paitton Herbst,
Baker, 12:16.02. 4, Selene Johnson, Big Timber, 12:21.43. 5, Ashley
Crippen, Colstrip, 12:27.63. 6, Emma Fewer, Glasgow, 12:44.83.
Pole vault — 1, Emily Schroeck,
Boulder, 10-00. 2, Caitlin Charlebois, Bigfork, 9-06. 3, Hope Reid,
Thompson Fal, J9-06. 4, Bailey Cranford, Huntley Proj, J9-06. 5,
Sienna Dailey, Glasgow, J9-06. 6, Kinzie Cooper, Superior,
9-00.
Long jump — 1, Nicole Stroot, Superior,
16-10. 2, Lacy Wilkins, Colstrip, 16-09. 3, Allie Cole, Forsyth,
16-03. 4, Sarah Jakober, Darby, 16-01. 5, Erika Karcher, Cut Bank,
15-11. 6, Kelsey Beagley, Plains, 15-10.
Discus — 1, Carlee Smith, Manhattan,
129-06. 2, Megan Leathers, Florence-Car, 119-04. 3, Jordyn Vaile,
Cut Bank, 115-03. 4, Heaven Zuehlsdorff, Colstrip, 114-11. 5,
Franky Winnebrenner, Plains, 113-07. 6, Shanni Moran, Poplar,
109-02.
Boys
Team scores (After six events) — Darby
26, Deer Lodge 25, Manhattan 20, Thompson Falls 15, Malta 14,
Florence-Carlton 12, Plains 11, Plentywood 10, Superior 10, Shelby
8, Fairfield 6, Missoula Loyola 6, Columbus 6, Bigfork 4, Three
Forks 4, Choteau 2.5, Red Lodge 2, Cascade 1.5, Townsend 1, Glasgow
1, Baker 1.
400 — 1, Pres Harris, Plentywood,
49.92. 2, Aaron Johnston, Darby, 49.97. 3, Marcus Swan, Manhattan,
50.44. 4, Jacob Senecal, Deer Lodge, 50.71. 5, Nathan Vanderby,
Manhattan, 51.11. 6, Adam Debruycker, Choteau, 51.16.
1,600 — 1, Doug Raymer, Darby, 4:30.77.
2, Sean Abrahamsen, Darby, 4:32.11. 3, Lyle Pocha, Loyola Sacre,
4:35.07. 4, Tim Royce, Manhattan, 4:37.99. 5, Madison Bolton,
Florence-Car, 4:39.29. 6, Carter Montgomery, Plains, 4:40.93.
Pole vault — 1, Christofer Erikksson,
Superior, 13-00. 2, Dominque Holt, Thompson Fal, 12-06. 2, Rodney
Hunter, Deer Lodge, 12-06. 4, Brett Witt, Deer Lodge, J12-06. 5,
Levi Nelson, Cascade, 12-00. 5, David Lightner, Choteau, 12-00.
Long jump — 1, Taylor Firestone,
Plains, 21-03.25. 2, Chase Ballantyne, Shelby, 21-00. 3, Walter
Johnson, Columbus, 20-11.50. 4, Kyle Hauns, Bigfork, 20-04.50. 5,
Ross Mangun, Florence-Car, 20-01.25. 6, Kenny Hoeffner, Townsend,
19-10.50.
Discus — 1, Brandon Forson, Deer Lodge,
178-04 (New Class B record, old record by Forson, 2007, 177-3). 2,
Damon Ward, Florence-Car, 148-09. 3, Bo Harris, Fairfield, 148-00.
4, Cody Hanson, Three Forks, 141-00. 5, John Weidenaar, Manhattan,
139-10. 6, Kyle Ducharme, Baker, 133-06.
Javelin — 1, Dane Stiles, Malta,
174-05. 2, Cody Phillips, Thompson Fal, 174-04. 3, Austin Jacobson,
Manhattan, 170-05. 4, Kaden Bedwell, Malta, 162-05. 5, Conner
Kelly, Red Lodge, 157-10. 6, Chaz Gordon, Glasgow, 155-03.