Vals' Andrus 6-peats at State A track

BUTTE - If it had been a baseball game, it would have been postponed because of weather … If it had been a football game, the climes could have made it immortal … But high school thinclads toughed it out Saturday at the State A-B track meet and made their marks in their Montana community's lore.

Bigfork senior Brooke Andrus swept the distance running events for the second year in a row with victories in the 800- and 3,200-meter runs Saturday - the day her father Bart lost NFL Europe's World Bowl XIV as head coach of the Amsterdam Admirals - to help lead the Valkyries to 31 points and a sixth-place finish.

But that wasn't all of the good happenings of athletes from northwest Montana.

Libby's throwers, who swept the top five places at the Northwestern A divisional last week, put three boys into the state's top five and the team netted 42 points to place fourth.

Both Polson teams tallied 20 or more points apiece, both Ronan-St. Ignatius teams registered double-digits points and the Columbia Falls teams combined for 13 points.

Awesome Andrus

All eyes were on Andrus during the distance runs.

She started with the 800 on the second day of the meet and was pushed hard by Lewistown senior Emmy Bentley the entire way.

"She definitely pushed me," Andrus said. "She was right behind me. I could hear her the whole time."

Andrus finished the 800 in 2 minutes, 17.53 seconds and distanced herself from Bentley in the final 100 meters by about a second and a half.

"I was very pleased with my 800," Andrus said. "I was happy with my time, especially with these conditions. It was my second-best time this season."

Then came the 3,200 - the final race of her high school career … The run to epitomize an awesome career.

"It was horrible!" Andrus said. "The 3,200 was the most miserable race I've ever run. It was horrible. I really wanted to enjoy it because it was my last race of high school and I went into it with a good attitude. But after the first lap I was soaked and I was cold. I was like, 'This is horrible. Let's just get this over with.' So I was really, really happy when it was over. The time, obviously, wasn't my best. It was my slowest time of the season."

Andrus was trailed closely for 300 meters by Ronan-St. Ignatius sophomore Terinee McCready. What was supposed to be kind of a victory lap turned into a run for the money until the final corner. And then Andrus turned it on.

"I was very fortunate to have her right there," Andrus said. "I would have liked to pull away a little earlier but I just couldn't. So I was like, 'OK, this is where I'm going to be. I hope I have a good kick left.' I was thinking the whole time that I was going to rely on the last 200 meters - and that's what I did. I was lucky to have that because you never know what you're going to have left, especially at this elevation and these conditions."

It ended a prep career with six gold medals.

"I'm really happy," Andrus said with laughter sandwiched between each word and grinning ear to ear in the cold rain.

Libby Boys

Libby senior Kyle Baker ended a stellar state meet, in which he won shot put gold and high jump silver Friday, with silver in the javelin.

He nearly hit his personal best of 187 feet with a first-throw 185-7. He was in first place for only one round as eventual state champ Steve Pfahler of Frenchtown launched a throw of 194-8.

"I didn't like the conditions at all," Baker said. "The rest of my throws were pretty weak so it was a good thing I got that one in."

Classmate Carl "Rusty" Naccarato put up a personal best of 180-0 on his second throw and placed third.

"I've been waiting for a 180 for a while," Naccarato said. "I guess I just threw harder."

Junior Richard Brumbaugh placed fifth with a throw of 167-1. But he wasn't happy at all.

"It was my worst day all season," he said.

Polson

The Pirates' boys went from six points Friday to 22 points Saturday on the strength of its runners.

As Whitefish was trying to put an exclamation point on its team victory with a 1,600 relay victory, Polson had other ideas and pushed the Bulldogs for all their worth.

In the end, the Pirates finished 92-100ths of a second behind in second place.

Junior Bryce Picard started the race and put the Pirates near the front.

"At the start I was worried because of the staggering," Picard said. "I didn't think I would be able to make up that much ground. But coming around that last 200, I managed to turn it on. It worked out and got Andy (Nelson) out in front."

Nelson, a senior, kept the Pirates in front.

"I just tried to stride the first 50 and 150 meters," Nelson said. "Then on that last corner I wanted to kick it in and I was able to and finish it."

Junior Ted Morigeau had to deal with Whitefish sensation Chris Hicks in the third leg.

"I just wanted to stay out front, but when I got to about the 200 mark I had a guy from Belgrade coming up on my right side," Morigeau said. "So I kept up with him. But then in the last 100 Hicks came up and he got me by about five feet."

Chris Ogle took over against Whitefish's anchor Taylor Ferda and had everyone watching and guessing.

"I didn't want to lose ground on Ferda because I didn't want to waste my energy too early and then hit the wall," Ogle said. "So as I came around the first 200 I felt like I was saving some and with about 120 meters left, that's when I decided to try and push it in. But I noticed he was also pushing it in at the same time. But I didn't lose any ground and I was proud of it. That was the best (400) of my career. I thought I was going to catch him."

Picard also scored six points with a third-place 200 finish. He ran it in 23.99 seconds.

"Coming around the last corner I was feeling pretty good but as soon as we got into the straightaway we all got hit by a gust of wind and it drilled us all pretty hard," Picard said. "I just told myself to keep my form and keep driving and try to get to the finish line. I guess it worked out. It definitely wasn't my best in these conditions. My best is a 22.76, it felt about a second slower than that."

Picard had a good meet all around.

"Coming into this meet I thought I could place in every event," he said. "But in the triple jump I kind of petered out a little bit. The 100 I got sixth with one of my better times because the wind wasn't blowing as hard. Our 400 relay got seventh. But we ran a good race. I'm definitely happy with my performance and we are happy as a team."

The Polson girls got a bronze medal in the discus with junior Brittany Gardner's 114-5 throw.

Columbia Falls

Columbia Falls placed a boy and girl in the triple jump with senior Kevin Boyer and junior Amber Lampman.

Lampman registered a jump of 34-9 1/2 to place third and Boyer marked a 43-0 jump to place fifth. The Wildcats' junior Keith Catt placed fifth in the discus with a throw of 144-11.

Ronan-St. Ignatius

The pride of the Flathead Reservation had lots to cheer for in the meet as orange and black seemed to appear everywhere.

Junior Alan Skogen earned a bronze discus medal with a throw of 151-7.

McCready placed second behind Andrus in the 3,200.

Freshman Sadie McMillan and junior Brianna Malmquist also scored points in long distance running and sprinting, respectively.

Eureka

The Class B Eureka boys got four points out of sprinter Ryan Jurjans' fourth-place 100.

He posted an 11.61-second time to tie with fifth-place's Garrett Buer of Huntley Project. But the photo finish awarded Jurjans fourth.