Andrus a double winner for Bigfork

BIGFORK - The competition for Bigfork's Brooke Andrus didn't come from Columbia Falls, Libby, Polson, Whitefish or any of the other four schools in attendance Saturday.

It was just Andrus and the clock at the Bigfork Invitational track meet.

Andrus, the state Class A cross country champion, ran unchallenged in easily clipping off top times in both the 1,600 and 3,200.

"I'm gonna have to get used to it again," she said of not being pushed in those distance events.

"When running alone, it's much more difficult to know where I am in terms of speed. When I'm running with someone, it's much easier to gauge how fast you're going."

Andrus came into her first outing of the spring looking to post times of 5:28 in the 1,600 and 12:20 in the 3,200. For the two events, she was clocked in 5:30 and 11:59.

"Not great times, but good for the beginning of the season," she said.

Andrus won the 1,600 by 22 seconds and the 3,200 by just over a minute.

On the team fronts, Columbia Falls was the lone school to break the century mark in the girls competition, finishing with 119 points to take top honors. Whitefish, 96, edged Bigfork, 95, for second.

Thompson Falls, 120 points, led the boys title chase with Browning, 67, Libby, 66, Polson, 65, and Whitefish, 63, battling it out for the Nos. 2-5 spots.

Bigfork did not compete last week because of spring break, which gave Andrus an opportunity to travel to Europe to visit her father. Bart Andrus is the head coach of the NFL Europe Amsterdam Admirals.

"Running there it was at sea level," she said of her overseas workouts.

"I felt like I was flying. But when I got back here, it was tough. My lungs were screaming."

In previous years, Andrus has been surrounded by a very talented distance crew at Bigfork that included Kaci Calaway and the two Dalton sisters, Leslie and Lauren. All three have graduated and are now running collegiately.

Calaway, however, was at the meet Saturday.

"Kaci came here to watch me run," said Andrus.

"It was nice to have her here for her support. She knows what it's like."

Andrus last year finished fourth at state in the 1,600 (5:29.64) and the 3,200 (12:22.56). Calaway won the 3,200 and finished third in the 1,600.

Tim Ahler of Whitefish, who no-heighted last week in the pole vault, made sure he had the top height this time.

The senior won the pole vault by clearing 13-0.

"It's right where I want to be (at this point of the season)," said Ahler of his winning effort.

"I got on a bigger pole this year and I think my plant has improved the most."

Ahler last week at the Columbia Falls Invitational passed until 12 feet. He then missed three times.

This week he was much more conservative in his approach, starting out at 10 feet instead.

"Kind of a suggestion," said WHS pole vault coach Rob Carter.

"We got over that mental block we have had and moved on."

Ahler's best height last year was 12-0.

"I went to a Helena pole vault camp (last summer)," said Ahler.

"Technical stuff you wouldn't normally think about."

Ahler said he's shooting for 14-0 and would love to finish the season by winning the pole vault at state.

"I think everyone wants that," he said.

Whitefish's R.C. Carter also went 13-0, but finished second on misses.

Libby's Blaine Baker won the javelin with an impressive throw of 203-8. He also won the shot put (50-9 1/2).

Whitefish's Chris Hicks was a double winner - long jump (21-7 3/4) and high jump (6-2) - and he placed second in the 110 hurdles (15.9) and 400 (52.2).

Eureka's Justen Owen won both hurdle races - 110 (15.5) and 300 (41.8).

Bekah Stoltz of Columbia Falls was a triple winner on the day, dominating in the field events. She won the shot put (37-5), javelin (134-3) and discus (137-8).

Double winners for the girls: Eureka's Stephanie Sanders, 100 (16.0) and 300 (48.65) hurdles; Whitefish's Courtney Ferda, 100 (12.9) and 200 (27.3); and Polson's Kari Mowbray, 400 (1:04.88) and pole vault (9-0).

Bigfork Invitational

Girls

Team Totals

Columbia Falls 119, Whitefish 96, Bigfork 95, Polson 59, Thompson Falls 47, Ronan 32, Eureka 22, Libby 17, Browning 0

Individual Events

100 - 1. Courtney Ferda, W, 12.9. 2. Lauren Kuennen, W, 13.0. 3. Danielle Rowe, P, 13.2. 4. Leanna Bromquist, R, 13.3. 5. Breanna Brendsel, BF, 13.5. 6. Stephanie Salomon, R, 13.6.

100 hurdles - (four placers) 1. Sanders, E, 16.0. 2. Ashley Ferda, W, 16.7. 3. Greiner, W, 17.7. 4. Jessie Taylor, B, 20.9.

1,600 - 1. Brooke Andrus, B, 5:30. 2. Boyer, CF, 5:52. 3. Crenshaw, R, 5:58. 4. Marjerison, CF, 5:58. 5. Benson, R, 6:01. 6. Noble, P, 6:04.

200 - 1. Courtney Ferda, W, 27.3. 2. Lauren Kuennen, W, 28.29. 3. Nelson, L, 28.3. 4. Fraker, R, 28.7. 5. Roberson, B, 29.0. 6. Hennessey, R, 29.7.

300 hurdles - (four placers) 1. Sanders, E, 48.65. 2. Ashley Ferda, W, 50.85. 3. Greiner, W, 51.87. 4. Thueson, CF, 51.9.

3,200 - 1. Brooke Andrus, B, 11:59. 2. Noble, P, 13:00.2. 3. Benson, P, 13.22. 4. Simpson, TF, 13.32. 5. Truman, E, 14:00.7. 6. Raymond, CF, 14:02.7.

400 - 1. Mowbray, P, 1:04.88. 2. Anderson, W, 1:05.04. 3. Bull, P, 1:05.88. 4. Roberson, B, 1:06.27. 5. Vukovich, CF, 1:07.13. 6. Coor, P, 1:07.14.

800 - 1. Gunderson, B, 2:34. 2. Boyer, CF, 2:35. 3. McLinden, L, 2:39. 4. Marjerison, CF, 2:40. 5. Crenshaw, R, 2:41. 6. Cook, P, 2:42.

Discus - 1. Bekah Stoltz, CF, 137-8. 2. Fox, B, 100-3. 3. Meagher, B, 88-10. 4. Erekson, W, 83-4. 5. K. Meager, 78-0. 6. Hughes, L, 73-8.

High jump - 1. Kim Pearce, CF, 5-0. 2. Osborne, CF, 4-10. 3. Grazier, TF, 4-8. 4. Padden, TF, 4-6. 5. Emily Stoltz, C, 4-6. 6. Kovarik, TF, 4-4.

Javelin - 1. Bekah Stoltz, CF, 134-3. 2. Kovarik, TF, 118-10. 3. Bache, TF, 108-4. 4. Bertelsen, W, 96-9. 5. Mowbray, P, 94-1. 6. Gardner, P, 90-10.

Long jump - 1. Grazier, TF, 15-7. 2. Osborne, CF, 15-4. 3. Nelson, L, 13-10 1/2. 4. Fields, CF, 13-9 1/2. 5. Hislop, CF, 13-8. 6. Roberts, L, 13-4 1/2.

Pole vault - (five placers) 1. Mowbray, P, 9-0. 2. Trembath, B, 8-6. 3. Johnston, W, 7-6. 4. (tie) Johnson, B, and Patterson, P, 7-0.

Shot put - (five placers) 1. Bekah Stoltz, CF, 37-5. 2. Walker, P, 36-1/2. 3. Fox, B, 30-9 1/2. 4. Meager, B, 28-9 1/2. 5. Hughes, L, 28-8 1/2. 6. McMillen, R, 28-2 1/2.

Triple jump - 1. Greiner, W, 34-7. 2. Grazier, TF, 32-0. 3. Lampman, CF, 31-5 1/4. 4. Sturtz, CF, 30-11. 5. Fields, CF, 30-10. 6. Salomon, R, 29-4 1/2.

400 relay - (four placers) 1. Whitefish, 52.56. 2. Bigfork, 53.8. 3. Columbia Falls, 54.0. 4. Ronan, 54.4.

1,600 relay - 1. Bigfork, 4:27. 2. Whitefish, 4:31.6. 3. Columbia Falls, 4:33.0. 4. Ronan, 4:34.0. 5. Polson, 4:45.6. 6. Libby, 4:46.0.

Boys

Team Totals

Thompson Falls 120, Browning 67, Libby 66, Polson 65, Whitefish 63, Ronan 53, Columbia Falls 45, Eureka 30, Bigfork 18.

Individual Events

100 - 1. Brad Peterson, Br, 11.5. 2. Tony Kazmierczak, TF, 11.5. 3. Ryan Dorrian, TF, 11.6. 4. Roger Mad Plume, Br, 11.7. 5. Erik Schutz, TF, 11.8. 6. Rink, Br, no time listed.

110 hurdles - 1. Justen Owen, E, 15.5. 2. Chris Hicks, W, 15.9. 3. Andy Nelson, P, 16.23. 4. Greg Schenavar, TF, 16.26. 5. Eric Wehrman, Bf, 16.8. 6. Cody Doyle, P, 17.2.

1,600 - 1. Marlin Blackwolf, Br, 4:47.56. 2. Michael Fisher, R, 4:49.69. 3. Andrew Graham, R, 4:52.56. 4. Derek Naegeli, TF, 4:55.18. 5. Charlie May, L, 4:56.1. 6. Kallen Bodily, CF, 4:57.0.

200 - 1. Tony Kazmierczak, TF, 23.3. 2. Ryan Dorrian, TF, 23.61. 3. Brad Peterson, Br, 23.99. 4. Ryan Brozer, Br, 24.2. 5. Brandon Couture, P, 24.36. 6. Roger Mad Plume, Br, 24.56.

300 hurdles - 1. Justen Owen, E, 41.8. 2. Thane Adams, E, 43.02. 3. Erik Wehrman, Bf, 43.7. 4. Ryan Morhouse, TF, 44.0. 5. Brock Scherman, R, 44.18. 6. Jack Scherman, CF, 44.24.

3,200 - 1. Marlin Blackwolf, Br, 10:26.06. 2. Michael Fisher, R, 10:26.68. 3. Derek Naegeli, TF, 10:51.21. 4. Grant Casey, P, 10:52.26. 5. Josh Stefalis, Br, 10:56.43. 6. Bochamp, Br, 11:03.8.

400 - 1. Tony Kazmierczak, TF, 51.76. 2. Chris Hicks, W, 52.2. 3. Ryan Dorrian, TF, 52.77. 4. Ryan Broyhill, TF, 53.13. 5. Chris Ogle, P, 53.88. 6. Austin Trojano, W, 55.57.

800 - 1. Chris Ogle, P, 2:05. 2. Andrew Graham, R, 2;07. 3. Ryan Broyhill, TF, 2:12. 4. Luke Snaric, W, 2:13. 5. Coyote Fairbank, TF, 2:15. 6. Jacob Naegeli, TF, 2:16.0.

Discus - 1. Aaron Skogen, R, 137-6. 2. Jace Ladenburg, CF, 135-11. 3. Greg Macijunas, CF, 135-3. 4. Adam Rudolph, Bf, 120-9. 5. Chris Higgins, Br, 119-2 1/2. 6. Nick Beckwith, CF, 117-8 1/2.

High jump - 1. Chris Hicks, W, 6-2. 2. Kyle Baker, L, 6-2. 3. Jake Teske, L, 5-10. 4. Jack Scherman, CF, 5-8. 5. Cameron Barber, R, 5-8. 6. Nate Bache, TF, 5-6.

Javelin - 1. Blaine Baker, L, 203-8. 2. Nate Bache, TF, 194-8. 3. Kyle Baker, L, 166-4. 4. Isaiah Thomas, P, 162-6. 5. Rich Brumbaugh, L, 154-10. 6. Kyle Rosenbaum, CF, 154-9.

Long jump - 1. Chris Hicks, W, 21-7 1/4. 2. Terry Lundeen, P, 19-11. 3. Jack Scherman, CF, 19-11. 4. Andrew Orr, L, 19-7. 5. Roger Mad Plume, Br, 19-1. 6. Ryan Augare, Br, 19-1/4.

Pole vault - 1. Tim Ahler, W, 13-0. 2. R.C. Carter, W, 13-0. 3. Kevin Love, P, 12-0. 4. Ted Morigeau, P, 11-6. 5. Isaiah Thomas, P, 11-0. 6. Jobi Armstrong, E, 11-0.

Shot put - 1. Blaine Baker, L, 50-9 1/2. 2. Kyle Baker, L, 46-10. 3. Dick Cork, TF, 45-5. 4. Adam Rudolph, Bf, 43-10 1/2. 5. Mac Gordon, P, 43-10. 6. Jace Ladenburg, CF, 42-5.

Triple jump - 1. Kevin Boyer, CF, 41-9. 2. Cameron Baber, R, 40-11. 3. Bobby Opp, CF, 40-8 1/2. 4. Ryan Morhouse, TF, 40-4 1/2. 5. Marc Heisler, TF, 39-3. 6. Nate Bache, TF, 39-2.

400 relay - 1. Browning, 46.5. 2. Thompson Falls, 46.5. 3. Polson, 46.9. 4. Libby, 47.0. 5. Bigfork, 47.3. 6. Eureka, 47.7.

1,600 relay - 1. Thompson Falls, 3:36.17. 2. Polson, 3:39.54. 3. Libby, 3:46.02. 4. Whitefish, 3:47.6. 5. Browning, 3:49.8. 6. Ronan, 3:56.5.