Vikes and Vals dominate District 7B Meet

The Vikes and Vals made short work of their competition at the 7B District Track Meet in Eureka Saturday as both teams earned district titles.

The Vikings finished with 187.5 points, well ahead of second-place Mission’s 112 while the Vals 239 points more than doubled that of their next closest competitor, Thompson Falls at 110.

Bigfork got strong performances from numerous athletes as 24 members of the Vikings and 27 Valkyries set personal records at the meet, including Joeseph Farrier, who won three individual titles for the Vikes and Inga Turner, who won three for the Vals.

Wyatt Johnson was a winner in the 110 and 300 hurdles , setting PRs in both events, and was also a member of the district champion 4X100 and 4X400 meter relay teams.

Johnson’s time of 15.52 seconds in the 110 hurdles pushed him up one spot to the second-fastest time in Class B this season while his 300 hurdles time of 41.82 seconds puts him in third in that event.

Farrier earned titles in both the javelin (152 feet, 3 inches) and discus (119 feet, 9 inches) in the field events, the 100-meter dash and was a member of both winning relay teams.

Turner used a personal-best leap of five feet to earn the high jump title and move into a six-way tie for second in Class B, just 2 inches below the state leaders.

Turner was also a winner in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 3 inches and the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.35 seconds.

Emma Pouwer was a winner in two events for the Valkyries, winning the 200-meter dash with a new PR of 27.58 seconds and the 100 with a time of 13.37 seconds.

Maddie Chappuis also won two field events for the Vals, taking first in the javelin with a PR toss of 118 feet, 7 inches and the triple jump with a leap of 31 feet, 10.75 inches.

Other first-place finishers for Bigfork included Tayden West in the 200 with a PR of 23.89 seconds, Jack Jensen in the 1,600 with a time of 4:33.38 and Afton Lambrecht in the 400 with a time of 1:03.75.

The Vikes 4X100 relay team of Johnson, West, Farrier and Levi Peterson won their race with a new season-best time of 45.29 seconds while the 4X400 team of Johnson, Jensen, Farrier and Eli Thorness also set a news season-best time of 3:38.51 to win their race.

The Vals were also winners in both of their relay races as Danika Bucklin, Pouwer, Plummer and Lambrect set a new season-best time of 52.08 seconds to win the 4X100 while Bucklin, Lambrecht, Braeden Gunlock and Paeten Gunlock teamed up to win the 4X100 with a time of 4:26.50.

Second-place performers for Bigfork at the meet included Maddox Mater in the 400, Tristen Herd in the long jump, Peterson in the triple jump, Ione Plummer in the 100 and 200, Lambrecht in the 800, Claire Jensen in the 1,600, Braeden Gunlock in the 300 hurdles, Nadeau in the discus, Zoey Albert in the javelin and Pouwer in the long jump.

Rounding out top-three performances was Noah Hamilton-Dixon in the 1,600, Austin Savik in the 110 hurdles, Abe Ochs in the shot put, Peterson in the high jump, West in the pole vault, Wyatt barnes in the triple jump, Bucklin in the 400, Chappuis in the shot put, Pouwer in the high jump and Shannon Woll in the pole vault.

The Vikes and Vals will be in action this weekend as they compete at the Western B Divisional meet in Kalispell Friday and Saturday.