Class A schools head Archie Roe field

Eighteen schools, more than 1,000 athletes, six track meets all happening simultaneously at Legends Stadium.

There should be something for every track and field athlete and every fan at today's Archie Roe Invitational.

The meet, which gets under way at 10 a.m., will include several athletes either at the top or near the top of the state's top 10 lists.

Opening event today is the 100-meter dash trials (varsity only). Things should finish up sometime during the early evening hours with the 1,600 relays.

Field events also begin at 10 a.m.

Class A schools will again dominate the field. Of the 18 schools entered, 10 are Class A. Missoula Big Sky, Missoula Hellgate and Flathead will make up the Class AA competition. The rest will be Class B.

Both Flathead teams are defending champions.

"The nice thing about it is, for all the people who come here, it draws together outstanding competition in every event," said Flathead boys head coach Dan Hodge.

"We look forward to this meet. It's an elite meet, a high quality meet," agreed Whitefish coach Derek Schulz.

But Schulz also likes that kids can compete at their own level.

"We call it 'freshman state,'" he said.

If a freshman does well at Archie Roe … "Your future is bright in track," Schulz said.

Hodge also likes that aspect.

"Every kid that I have on my track team will get to run on their ability level. My freshmen don't have to compete against sophomores, juniors and seniors.

"It's exciting for those kids," Hodge said.

"They're always put in the grinding mill when they have to compete against the older kids. They don't get any special recognition."

As for Bravette coach Jerry Boschee, it's been a long week since Flathead's last competition.

"We're pretty solid in every event," Boschee said. "The sprints, I'll be curious to see what happens for us. The 100 and 200 will be interesting to see. The 400, 800, both hurdles, the 1,600 … I like what I see there.

"I can't wait to get going again and compete. For the varsity kids, they haven't competed now for about a week. We kind of plateaued a little bit.

"Last year, we won it on depth. We do not have the depth. We just don't have the kids, the ones where we can take two or three places in an event. It was pretty amazing last year.

"Hopefully, being spread out the way we are, we can score enough points and win the meet. But I'm more concerned about being ready in two weeks than tomorrow.

"We are building for divisional. I think we're peaking at the right time," Boschee added.

To help boost some athletes, Boschee has changed his approach to Archie Roe.

"I'm not going to work the heck out of a bunch of kids. Sam Gunlikson is going to have a busy day and Kendalyn Habel is going to have a busy day," he said.

But a lot of the other girls will run in just one or two events and try to focus in on those, Boschee said.

For instance, Janae Lister will enter the 400 and the 400 relay.

The 400 "is the kind of race that fits her," the coach said.

And Shannon Ross will run only the 1,600 relay and the 800 today.

Ross ran a 2:23 in Great Falls. The reason she's running only two events is to try to get her to drop below 2:20 in the 800, Boschee said.

There are a couple of meet records that may be in jeopardy today.

The boys javelin record of 206 feet, 4 inches may have a challenger in Libby's Kyle Baker. He had a throw just a couple of weeks ago of 198-6.

The other record is the girls 1,600 relay.

The Flathead team of Megan Lavin, Shannon Ross, Zoe Nelson and Krista Jimenez ran the event in 4:05.8 in 2004.

"We might be in that ballpark," Boschee said.

"We're going to run a pretty good mile relay team. The team I'm going to run has run a 4:06 this year," he said.

Among the top boys expected to attend today are pole vaulters Cort Rogers of Whitefish and Lance Carl of Big Sky and high jumper Cameron Barber of Ronan-St.Ignatius.

In the distance ranks, Big Sky should send two who are in the top 10 - Hunter Nelson and Kyle Anderson.

Top girls should include Whitefish cousins Ashley and Courtney Ferda and junior distance runner Caitlin Stone of Class B Seeley-Swan.

"There's some pretty dang good athletes," Boschee said.

Archie Roe Schedule

at Legends Stadium

Track

10 a.m.

100 meter trials

3200

110 hurdles

100 hurdles

400 relay

100

800

400

300 hurdles

1600

200

1,600 relay

Field events

Boys varsity

10 a.m. - Shot, pole vault, long jump, javelin

Noon - Triple jump, high jump, discus

Girls varsity

10 a.m. - Shot, high jump, long jump.

Noon - Javelin

1 p.m. - Pole vault

2 p.m. - Discus

p.m. - Triple jump

Archie Roe Records

Girls

Event Record Athlete School Year

100 12.5 Kim Kindle Eureka 1995

Michelle Cartwright Havre 1985

200 25.8 Emily Alspaugh Hellgate 1999

400 58.03 Kasey Harwood Polson 2004

800 2:16.32 Kasey Harwood Polson 2003

1,600 5:07.3 Zoe Nelson Flathead 2004

3,200 10:27.89 Zoe Nelson Flathead 2004

400 relay 49.66 Brittany Berger Flathead 2003

Cricket Johnston

Molly Burt

Krista Jimenez

1,600 relay 4:05.8 Megan Lavin Flathead 2004

Zoe Nelson

Shannon Ross

Krista Jimenez

100 hurdles 14.4 Lexie Miller Flathead 1979

Claudine Robinson Hellgate 1989

300 hurdles 44.91 Kasey Harwood Polson 2003

Long jump 17-9 Tanya Tesar Columbia Falls 1989

Triple jump 37-4 1/4 Kasey Harwood Polson 2003

Pole vault 12-3 Melinda Owen Polson 2003

High jump 5-9 Brenda Naber Havre 1992

Shot put 44-6 1/4 Laine Botchek Big Sky 1999

Discus 148-9 Bree Fuqua Polson 1999

New javelin 153-9 Marissa Tschida Missoula Loyola 2005

Boys

Event Record Athlete School Year

100 10.7 Craig Galle Flathead 1995

200 21.9 Ralph Dempsey Cut Bank 1991

400 49.25 Cody Henning Whitefish 2004

800 1:55.9 David Vidal Flathead 2001

1,600 4:17.4 David Vidal Flathead 2001

3,200 9:23.9 Seth Watkins Flathead 2001

400 relay 42.9 Mark Terrazas Hellgate 2002

Robb Hollenbeck

Mike Molloy

Joe Thompson

1,600 relay 3:23.8 Justin Scoggin Whitefish 2004

Chris Hicks

Cody Henning

Matt Helgath

110 hurdles 14.1 Jamison Banna Flathead 1988

300 hurdles 39.0 Jamison Banna Flathead 1988

Long jump 22-7 1/2 Trevor Gunlock Polson 2000

Triple jump 46-8 1/2 David Schwenk Big Sky 1998

Pole vault 15-3 Trevor Gunlock Polson 2000

High jump 7-0 Mark Koefelda Hellgate 1993

Shot put 60-5 1/2 Scott Steckel Havre 1980

Discus 187-7 Lee Tillman Havre 1987

Old javelin 233-0 Matt Murphy Hellgate 1987

New javelin 206-4 Nate Bach Thompson Falls 2005