Vikes and Vals earn fourth at state track meet

The Vikes and Vals closed out their current stint in Class B with a pair of fourth-place finishes over the weekend as the Bigfork track teams were in action at the State AA/B Track Meet in Butte.

Jack Jensen led the Vikings’s effort at the meet with a pair of gold medals in the half-mile and mile races as Bigfork fell just half of a point short of third place and the team medal stand.

Jensen set a new personal record of 4:28.26 to win the 1,600 meter race by four seconds over Glasgow’s Kyler Holinde Friday before using a season-best run of 1:58.10 to edge out Baker’s Hunter Bailey by just over a second in the 800 Saturday.

Isak Epperly and Levi Peterson each earned second-place finished for the Vikes at the meet as Epperly set a new PR of 15.39 seconds in the 110 hurdles to edge out teammate Wyatt Johnson by .04 seconds (15.43) while Peterson used a leap of 42 feet, 11.25 inches to take second in the triple jump.

Peterson also took third in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 7 inches while the 4X400 relay of Jensen, Johnson, Joseph Farrier and Maddox Mater was third with a time of 3:33.77.

Other results for the Vikings at the meet included Wyatt Barnes taking sixth in the triple jump, Farrier taking seventh in the 100, ninth in javelin and 15th in discus and the 4X100 relay team of Johnson, Peterson, Farrier and Tayden West earning eighth.

Johnson was ninth in the 300 hurdles with Austin Savik taking 15th while Tamret Savik was ninth in the triple jump.

Tristen Herd was 10th in the pole vault, Mater was 11th in the 400, West took 14th in pole vault, Sean Cotman was 16th in the 800 and Noah Hamilton-Dixon was 20th in the two mile.

The Vikings finished with 54.5 points, just behind Loyola’s 55 while Jefferson took first with 72 and Florence-Carlton was second at 57 points.

Thrower Scout Nadeau had the top two finishes for the Valkyries on their way to a fourth place team finish as she took second in the shot put and discus.

Nadeau used a new PR toss of 117 feet, 1 inch to finish second behind Alexis Deming of Plains (123-01) and was just one quarter of in inch behind Colestrip’s Talen Rogers in the shot put, coming in second with a put of 39 feet, 9.5 inches.

Maddie Chappuis earned a bronze medal in the javelin with a new PR toss of 119 feet, 10 inches, while Zoey Albert took fifth and Zoe Guffin was 15th.

Chappuis was also fourth in the shot put with a PR of 36 feet, 2 inches and took 19th in the triple jump.

Inga Turner took fourth in the 100 hurdles with a season record time of 16.10 seconds and was 10th in the high jump and 12th in the long jump while Emma Pouwer took fourth in the event with a PR leap of 16 feet, 6.75 inches and Braeden Gunlock was 19th.

Pouwer also took eighth in the 200, ninth in the 100 and 15th in the high jump.

Claire Jensen was 13th in the mile while Erika Dowling was 20th in the event and 19th in the two mile.

Gunlock took 15th in the 300 hurdles with Chloe Norred at 18th and Callie Gembala was 15th in the discus.

Afton Lambrecht was 18th in the 800 and Danika Bucklin took 19th in the 400.

The 4X100 relay team of Bucklin, Pouwer, Lambrecht and Ione Plummer was seventh and the 4X400 relay team of Bucklin, Braeden Gunlock, Paeten Gunlock and Lambrecht finished 13th.

The Valkyries finished with 36 points, two points behind third-place Sweet Grass County. Loyola won the title with 68 points while Huntley Project was second with 66.