Bulldogs, Pirates defending Class A champs
When it came to track and field last spring, teams from Northwestern Montana more than held up their end of the bargain on the state scene.
The boys from Whitefish and Polson girls defended their titles at the Class A meet in Butte while the Columbia Falls girls finished a strong second.
The Bigfork girls came oh so close by placing fourth, just missing out on a much-coveted trophy by a single point.
And the Columbia Falls boys also came through with very respectable showing, placing fifth.
Over in AA competition in Missoula, Flathead's girls were the runners-up for a second straight year.
The prospects for 2005, however, might not be as promising as many of the above mentioned squads were senior dominated a year ago.
Here is a school-by-school look of what lies ahead.
Class AA
Flathead
The Bravettes welcome back seven girls who earned points at last year's state meet. Leading that group is senior standout Zoe Nelson.
Nelson has won state AA titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 the last two years and is the odds-on-favorite to make it three in a row in both events.
She also ran on the FHS winning 1,600 relay a year ago.
Nelson finished second at state her freshman season in both individual events.
Other returning state placers are: Cricket Johnston, senior, third in the 100; Sarah Griffith, sophomore, third in the triple jump; Tabitha Spencer, junior, sixth in the javelin; and Megan Lavin, senior, sixth in the pole vault.
The Bravettes return three-fourths of both relay teams. Johnston and Griffith both ran on the 400 along with junior Liz Myers.
Nelson, Johnston and sophomore Shannon Ross are back with the 1,600.
Alena Ori, senior, 800; Lesley Dyer, senior, 100 hurdles; and Myers, triple jump, qualified for state but failed to place in those events.
Myers was a divisional champ in the triple jump.
"We have 25 returning letter winners out of 103 (athletes on the roster)," said Bravette coach Jerry Boschee.
"Seventy freshmen and sophomores, so we are very young."
Nelson and Johnston were freshmen when the Bravettes last claimed a state title.
"They (Nelson and Johnston) scored a ton of points (that year)," said Boschee. "They know what it feels like."
The Braves have four state placers back, led by senior Brandon Hoffenbacker. He finished third in the shot put.
John Fairweather, a junior, finished fifth in the 1,600 and was sixth in the 800. Ryan Ross, senior, came in fifth in the 300 hurdles and John Farrier tied for sixth in the high jump.
The 400 relay team of Scott Cassell and Beau Watkins, both juniors, placed fourth.
Ross also qualified in the 100 hurdles, but failed to place.
Also qualifying for state, but not placing was Brock Jahner, sophomore, javelin, triple jump and long jump. He was sick for that meet.
Flathead had its poorest showing in years at state, placing 12th with 17 1/2 points. Prior to that, the Braves dominated by winning state six out of nine years, including four straight.
"You can't glorify about the past too long," said FHS boys coach Dan Hodge.
"You gotta worry about the year (at hand). We're in a building year this year."
Three seniors who are expected to contribute this year are Cody Carter, pole vault; Eric Connolly, shot put and discus; Duane Cooper, sprints and relays; Riley Gravelle, pole vault and hurdles; and Dylan McGregor, discus.
Juniors Sean Clark and Elliot Welder will give the team some strength in the distance events. Welder finished second at state cross country meet last fall.
Class A
Bigfork
Returning state placers for the girls are: Callie Gunderson, senior, fifth in the 800, and Brooke Andrus, junior, fourth in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Hannah Hilley, senior, high jump; and Kayla Fox, junior, discus, both qualified, but did not place.
The boys have no state placers back, but Eric Wehrman, junior, 300 hurdles, Adam Rudolph, senior, throwing events, Erik Torgeson, junior, 200 and 400, should have a promising season this spring.
"We have some young freshmen that have some talent," said Bigfork coach Sue Loeffler.
"Boys and girls. You don't know where or what (at this stage of the season). It will take awhile."
Loeffler says she has "a good crop of juniors that I feel will be strong leaders.
I'm looking forward to the season," she added.
"I think it will be a challenging one and a lot of fun. It's neat when you don't know what you have for talent and you're able to bring those younger kids along."
Columbia Falls
Wildcats boys coach Mark Beckwith hopes for one thing this season: "Finish stronger than we're starting."
The campaign begins at home Saturday with an invitational, but missing will be several key competitors.
Senior Kyle Rosenbaum, first in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump, is out with a pulled hamstring.
Senior Devin Schmit, second in the 800 and fourth in the 400, is sidelined with a bruised thigh.
If that isn't enough, junior Dylan West, 400, is out with a broken collarbone.
Ready to go, however are Jack Sherman, junior, fourth in the 300 hurdles, Jace Ladenburg, senior, shot put, discus and javelin, Greg Macijunas, junior, shot put and discus, Daniel Byrd, junior, hurdles, Nick Beckwith, junior, hurdles, Kevin Boyer, junior, jumps, and Bobby Opp, junior, sprints and jumps.
"Just getting through the meet," said coach Beckwith of the first outing.
"We haven't had the opportunity (because of the weather) to do a lot of technique work with anybody. You can only do so much inside. We've only been out for four practices."
For the Wildkats, Bekah Stoltz is looking for a strong finish to her career. The senior last year finished first at state in the discus, second in the shot put. She qualified in the javelin, but did not place.
Cassie Stoneman, senior, was fifth in the triple jump, Lyndee Thueson, junior and Sarah Sturz, sophomore, both ran on the 1,600 relay which finished fifth.
Shanelle Swift, junior, was fifth in the high jump.
Qualifying for state, not placing, but returning is Kim Pearce, senior, high jump.
Coach Wes Knutson is looking for letter winners Desiree Marjerisson, senior, 1,600 and 3,200, Courtney Walsh, senior, shot put and javelin, and Jessica Boyer, 800, 1,600 and 1,600 relay, to shine.
Knutson said field events will again be the team strength.
"Last year we didn't score a lot on the track and this year we have our work cut out for us again," he said.
"We (do) have some real promising young girls that we're hoping will help us on the track."
The Wildkats, third at the divisional, tallied 51 1/2 points at state and return 27 1/2 of them.
"I think we surprised a lot of people at state," said Knutson.
"Our girls competed extremely well. It was fun watching them. The girls got it done."
Libby
The Baker boys will again lead the Loggers on the field.
Blaine Baker, senior, is the defending state champion in the javelin. He also finished third in the shot put.
Kyle Baker, sophomore, finished second in the javelin and was sixth in the high jump.
"Our strength will be the throws and jumps, again," said Libby boys coach Rod Tempel.
Some other names to watch for are: Jake Teske, senior, high jump and relays, Andrew Orr, junior, jumps and relays, and Jeremy Brothers, sophomore, sprints and relays. Those there were divisional placers.
"We have the potential to almost be better at state than divisional," said Tempel.
"We have some outstanding individuals, but we still lack in the sprint area."
Tempel said a turnover of 45 athletes, up 10 from last year, is a positive sign.
The Lady Loggers return no state placers, but Sarah Becker did qualify in the 100 hurdles. Libby also sent two relays to state.
Other returning letter winners are: Crystal Decker, senior, high jump and pole vault, Sara Hodel, senior, jumps, Cassie Hughes, senior, shot put, Kelsey Kenck, senior, shot put, Hollis May, senior, weight events and javelin, Brielle Cuskelly, senior, jumps, Tina McLinden, senior, relays and middle distance, Karen Byrns, sophomore, jumps and relays, Jaesika Nelson, sophomore, relays and sprints, and Cassie Roberts, hurdles and jumps.
"I suspect our strengths will be in the field events, again," said coach Ed Tabis.
Polson
Kara Walker, third in the shot put, is the only returning state placer on the current roster for the girls.
One state placer moved to Michigan and another elected not to compete this spring.
"I thought we had a chance for a trophy if everyone came back," said girls coach Bruce Thomas.
"We're in a rebuilding year."
Danielle Rowe, sophomore, qualified for state in the high jump, but did not place. Tanna Bull, sophomore, also qualified in the 400 and Kari Mowbray, senior, in the 300 hurdles.
Mowbray, who will concentrate on the pole vault, is out to begin the season with an injury.
"We have a fairly young team," said Thomas.
"We'll get a couple of points here and there, but we won't be in contention for anything, I don't think."
Returning state placers for the boys are: Kevin Owen, senior, fourth in the pole vault, Mac Gordon, senior, fifth in the shot put, Derrick Pluff, senior, second in the long jump, Andy Nelson, junior, sixth in the 110 hurdles, and Chris Ogle, sophomore, ran on the sixth place 1,600 relay.
"Eleven lettermen return from a team that placed second in the Western A last year and 10th at the state A track meet," said boys coach Bob Gunderson.
"All of the returning lettermen have excellent chances at placing at the divisional and state meets this year. Barring injuries, we should be able to add to our streak of 10 divisional trophies in a row."
Whitefish
It's been an incredible run for the WHS boys.
Back-to-back third place finishes in 2001 and 2002 set the ground work for two straight state titles the last two years.
Gone, however, are two super talented athletes - Cody Henning and Matt Helgath - who combined for 57 of the Bulldogs 85 state points last year.
Henning won the 100, 200 and 400 and Helgath the 800. Both also ran on WHS' winning relays.
The lone state placer back for the boys is Chris Hicks, a junior. He was third in the high jump, second in the triple jump and a member of the state championship 1,600 relay.
Three individuals who qualified, but did not place, return in Philip Bertelsen, senior, javelin, Tim Ahler, senior pole vault, and Bjorn Peterson, junior, 110 hurdles.
"We have some big shoes to fill," said WHS coach Derek Schulz.
At the same time, Schulz said "we have some kids back I have a lot of confidence in."
The lone returning state placer for the girls is Marni Hale, sophomore, who ran on the runner-up 400 relay.
Erin Greiner, junior, triple jump and 300 hurdles, Emily English, senior, 300 hurdles, and Libbie Anderson, sophomore, 400, all qualified, but failed to place.
Courtney Ferda, a standout in the 100, 200 and 400, missed the final half of the season with a foot injury. The sophomore is hoping for a healthier season this spring.
"She's back, looks good, is running well," said Schulz. "We're trying to be real careful with her, limit some of her events early on."
Class B
Eureka
Year-in and year-out, the Lions have a knack of producing outstanding hurdlers.
And this year is no exception.
Matt DeLong returns along with Justen Owen, Stephanie Sanders and Laura Cameron. All four are seniors.
DeLong and Cameron both finished third in the 300 hurdles at state while Owen was fifth in the 110s.
Sanders, who has battled injury problems the last two years, did place at state her freshman season.
Owen, who sat out most of last season with a hip flexor injury, turned in a gutty effort at state.
Sanders and Cameron both own school hurdle records.
"We recruit them hard in junior high," said Eureka coach Joe Lewicki.
"Get them going and point them in the right direction."
Eureka's other returning state placer is junior Emmy Bentley, third in the 800.
Theron Truman, a junior all-state performer in cross country, will give the Lions a top runner in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Sophomores Jobi Armstrong, pole vault, and Mandi Truman, are two names to watch for.