Schmit leaving in style

BIGFORK - Devin Schmit is going out in style.

The Columbia Falls senior set a Northwest Class A Divisional track record on Saturday in the 800.

His time of 1:57.1 bettered the old divisional mark by the slimmest of margins - one tenth of a second to be exact - but it still counts.

Matt Helgath of Whitefish held the old standard - 1:57.2 - set just a year ago.

Schmit also won the 400 (50.98) and ran on two winning Wildcat relays.

"This is my grand finale," he said. "It doesn't really bother me (that I won't be competing any more). I want to have fun in college. Track really dominates your life."

Schmit will officially close out his high school career Friday and Saturday at the state meet in Great Falls.

Schmit has college in his plans - University of Alaska at Fairbanks - but no more track.

"I wanted just to peak for state," said Schmit of his goals for divisional. "We had a nice rest this week, plenty of recovery time. The meets up to this one, I've been running tired."

Schmit's other focus Saturday was on the team.

"Trying to score points," he said.

It helped as Columbia Falls finished second with 113. Polson claimed the top spot with 132. Whitefish was third, 90.

Individually, Schmit wanted to post a sub two-minute time in the 800. He made sure that happened by setting a blistering pace, cruising through the first lap in a quick 57 seconds.

He followed that with a 60 second lap.

He won easily.

"I was and I wasn't," he said of being pushed in the race.

"(Chris) Ogle, my biggest competitor has a hip flexor (injury). That's been bugging him for awhile."

Ogle, of Polson, finished second in 2:00.2.

"I'm on a (winning) streak," Schmit said of all the firsts.

"Sweet."

Whitefish's Chris Hicks was the meet's outstanding individual performer, claiming firsts in five events.

Saturday, he won the triple jump (44-5 1/2), high jump (6-4) and 200 (23.3). Friday, he took firsts in the 300 hurdles (39.7) and long jump (21-4).

"I've never seen that done in our conference," said Whitefish coach Derek Schulz said.

"(Kasey) Harwood (of Polson) may have done it for the girls, but I don't know of any other boy who has done it."

While Schmit was enjoying his swan song this weekend, Whitefish's Ashley Ferda continues to enjoy a sensational freshman campaign.

Ferda completed the two-day meet by racking up two firsts. That helped Whitefish secured the team trophy with 134 points. Columbia Falls was second, 116, and Bigfork third, 96.

"I was just hoping our whole team would compete well, have fun, have a lot of people qualify for state," said Ferda, downplaying her performance.

Ferda, like she has all season, won both the 100 (15.6) and 300 (47.27) hurdles.

"I was hoping for some personal best (times), but qualifying was the most important thing," she said.

And Ferda says she never checks on meet records before hand.

"That way I don't have to feel pressure or anything," she said.

"I really didn't know what to expect," she said of her first year of track.

"It was a lot different than junior high. The competition, it's more intense."

Ferda added another first by running a leg on Whitefish's winning 400 relay.

She also ran on Whitefish's third place 1,600 relay team.

The only event she didn't score points in was the 200.

"She tried to score some points for the team," said Schulz of the 200.

"Sometimes it just doesn't work out."

This marked the second meet of the season she has competed in five events. The new addition has been the 200.

"It's not unusual to (have an athlete) do five events," said Schulz.

"It's sure unusual to do them as well as she has done.

"She's mentally very strong, competitive" Schulz continued.

"And she's a multi-sport athlete (basketball and volleyball). People like her who shine do so because they have been tested in other sports (also)."

Cousin Courtney Ferda also helped the Bulldogs by winning the dashes, 100 (12.8) and 200 (27.3). She also ran on the winning relay.

Brooke Andrus of Bigfork, who set a meet record on Friday in the 3,200, did it again. She won the 1,600 in 5:12.6 to set another mark.

The other record to fall Saturday was in the pole vault. Kari Mowbray of Polson cleared 11-0.

Columbia Falls had two double winners in Bekah Stoltz, discus (138-0) and javelin (142-2), and Cassie Stoneman, triple jump (35-3) and long jump (16-1).

Ronan's Zanen Pitts doubled up with firsts in the 1,600 (4:41.0) and 3,200 (9:54.9).

The top five individuals and relays advance to state.

Girls

Team Totals

Whitefish 134, Columbia Falls 116, Bigfork 96, Polson 82, Libby 61, Ronan 36.

Individual Events

High jump - 1. K. Pearce, CF, 5-0. 2. D. Rowe, P, 4-10. 3. E. Stoltz, CF, 4-10. 4. H. Hilley, B, 4-8. 5. K. Byrne, L, 4-8. 6. C. Decker, L, 4-6.

Shot put - 1. K. Walker, P, 38-5. 2. B. Stoltz, CF, 36-10 1/2. 3. H. May, L, 32-4 1/2. 4. B. Gardner, P, 31-11 1/2. 5. C. Hughes, 31-10. 6. C. Fox, B, 31-8.

800 - 1. B. Andrus, B, 2:17.07. 2. C. Gunderson, B, 2:26.37. 3. J. Buyer, CF, 2:26.76. 4. K. Schmidt, W, 2:29.72. 5. L. Kuennen, W, 2:31.62. 6. K. Salomon, R, 2:31.77.

100 hurdles - 1. A. Ferda, W, 15.6. 2. S. Becker, L, 16.6. 3. E. English, W, 16.9. 4. C. Stoneman, CF, 17.4. 5. E. Greiner, W, 18.0. 6. J. Taylor, B, 18.1.

100 - 1. C. Ferda, W, 12.8. 2. M. Hale, W, 13.1. 3. B. Malmquist, R, 13.23. 4. C. Roberson, B, 13.4. 5. M. Hall, B, 13.5. 6. S. Salomon, R, 13.5.

400 relay - 1. Whitefish, 50.9. 2. Ronan, 52.6. 3. Bigfork, 52.7. 4. Polson, 52.7. 5. Columbia Falls, 53.3. 6. Libby, 53.5.

400 - 1. T. Bull, P, 1:01.4. 2. C. Ferda, W, 1:01.7. 3. L. Kuennen, W, 1:03.6. 4. B. Malmquist, R, 1:03.6. 5. T. Hennessy, R, 1:04.0. 6. C. Roberson, B, 1:04.0.

Discus - 1. B. Stoltz, CF, 138-0. 2. B. Gardner, P, 107-5. 3. J. Gallatin, P, 97-2. 4. C. Fox, B, 97-1. 5. H. May, L, 92-9. 6. R. Meagher, B, 89-5.

Triple jump - 1. C. Stoneman, CF, 35-3. 2. E. Greiner, W, 32-1. 3. A. Lampman, CF, 32-2 1/2. 4. K. Byrns, L, 30-9. 5. M. Hale, W, 30-8 3/4. 6. S. Salomon, R, 30-6 1/2.

Pole vault - 1. Kari Mowbray, P, 11-0, meet record, old record 10-10 1/2, Melinda Owen, Polson, 2003. 2. C. Johnston, W, 8-6. 3. P. Trembath, B, 8-6. 4. C. Decker, L, 8-0. 5. L. Patterson, P, 8-0. 6. E. Stoltz, CF, 7-6.

1,600 - 1. Brooke Andrus, B, 5:12.6, meet record, old record 5:15.5, Lauren Dalton, Bigfork, 2004. 2. J. Boyer, CF, 5:43.1. 3. D. Marjerison, CF, 5:43.6. 4. A. Danczyk, W, 4:46.7. 5. K. Benson, R, 5:53.4. 6. K. Crenshaw, R, 5:53.4.

200 - 1. C. Ferda, W, 27.3. 2. L. Kuennen, W, 27.7. 3. T. Bull, P, 27.7. 4. J. Nelson, L, 27.8. 5. B. Hall, B, 27.8. 6. M. Hale, W, 27.9.

1,600 relay - 1. Bigfork, 4:14.4. 2. Columbia Falls, 4:15.3. 3. Whitefish, 4:19.1. 4. Polson, 4:22.1. 5. Libby, 4:24.2. 6. Ronan, 4:26.1.

Boys

Team Totals

Polson 132, Columbia Falls 113, Whitefish 90, Libby 88, Ronan 78, Bigfork 24.

Individual Events

Triple jump - 1. C. Hicks, W, 44-5 1/2. 2. K. Rosenbaum, CF, 42-1/2. 3. B. Opp, CF, 41-2 1/2. 4. C. Barber, R, 40-8. 5. K. Boyer, CF, 40-7 1/2. 6. K. Jangula, CF, 40-1 3/4.

Pole vault - 1. T. Ahler, W, 13-0. 2. M. Decker, L, 13-0. 3. K. Walter, CF, 13-0. 4. K. Love, P, 12-6. 5. K. Owen, P, 12-6. 6. T. Ohs, W, 12-0.

800 - 1. Devin Schmit, CF, 1:57.1, meet record, old record 1:57.2, Matt Helgath, Whitefish, 2004. 2. C. Ogle, P, 2:00.2. 3. Z. Pitts, R, 2:03.1. 4. O. McCrum, P, 2:03.3. 5. A. Graham, R, 2:05.7. 6. L. Snaric, W, 2:07.4.

110 hurdles - 1. A. Nelson, P, 15.5. 2. E. Wherman, B, 16.7. 3. B.Peterson, W, 16.8. 4. J. Broxterman, R, 17.1. 5. C. Doyle, P, 17.4. 6. D. Byrd, CF, 17.5.

100 - 1. B. Picard, P, 11.6. 2. R. Naccarato, L, 11.75. 3. A. Orr, L, 11.8. 4. C. Idol, W, 11.9. 5. T. McNulty, CF, 11.97. 6. B. Opp, CF, 12.03.

Shot put - 1. M. Gordon, P, 49-1. 2. M. McCracken, W, 48-10 3/4. 3. B. Baker, L, 47-8. 4. J. Ladenburg, CF, 47-7. 5. T. Harthan, W, 47-4 1/2. 6. K. Baker, L, 46-2.

400 relay - 1. Columbia Falls, 45.3. 2. Libby, 45.4. 3. Polson, 45.6. 4. Bigfork, 46.1. 5. Ronan, 46.3. 6. None.

400 - 1. D. Schmit, CF, 50.98. 2. C. Ogle, P, 52.78. 3. T. Morigeau, P, 53.12. 4. T. Espinosa, R, 53.72. 5. D. West, CF, 53.4. 6. T. McNulty, CF, 53.72.

Discus - 1. M. Gordan, P, 156-1. 2. J. Ladenburg, CF, 148-0. 3. A. Skogen, R, 147-6. 4. G. Macijunes, CF, 135-1. 5. N. Beckwith, CF, 127-7. 6. A. Rudolph, B, 126-5.

High jump - 1. Chris Hicks, W, 6-4. 2. K. Baker, L, 6-2. 3. C. Barber, R, 6-0. 4. S. Reed, B, 6-0. 5. T. Lundeen, P, 5-10. 6. Scherman, CF, 5-10.

1,600 - 1. Z. Pitts, R, 4:41.0. 2. L. Torgison, P, 4:46.0. 3. M. Fisher, R, 4:47.0. 4. O. McCrumb, P, 4:47.0. 5. Graham, R, 4:49.0. 6. G. Casey, P, 4:53.0.

200 - 1. C. Hicks, W, 23.3. 2. B. Picard, P, 23.5. 3. C. Idol, W, 23.4. 4. A. Orr, L, 24.0. 5. B. Couture, P, 24.1. 6. E. Torgerson, B, 24.3.

1,600 relay - 1. Columbia Falls, 3:31.0. 2. Polson, 3:32.0. 3. Libby, 3:38.0. 4. Bigfork, 3:38.0. 5. Ronan, 3:40.0. 6. Whitefish, 3:43.0.