Braves 4th, Bravettes 7th in track

The Daily Inter Lake

BUTTE - No state trophies this year in track.

The Flathead boys and girls both came up short on the second, and final day, of the Class AA state track meet Saturday.

The FHS boys finished fourth, one point away from a third place trophy, while the Flathead girls settled for seventh place.

Flathead did have two individual state championships, however, with Seth Grossman winning the 3,200 (9:28.04) and Dan Odgen taking first place in the discus (169-9).

Grossman was a double winner as he won the 1,600 on Friday.

"We (coaching staff) are proud of the kids," said FHS boys' coach Dan Hodge.

"The way they performed. Everyone that competed today, scored. If we could have done that yesterday, we could have won it."

Billings West won the boys' title, scoring 85 points. Butte High was second, 81 1/2, followed by Missoula Big Sky, 77, and Flathead, 76.

"One lousy point," Hodge said.

"We scored 51 points today."

And so did Big Sky.

Flathead was tied for fifth place with Bozeman after Friday's action with 25 points. Big Sky had 26.

Hodge said Ogden pulled a muscle in his back on the final day during the javelin competition. After icing it for four hours, Ogden came back to win the discus with a season-best distance.

"We didn't think he could compete any more," Hodge said.

"A gutty performance. Just an exceptional throw in the discus."

Hodge said Carl Nystuen, who finished third in the 3,200 (9:46.30), "ran the best race he ever has. He out-competed the other athletes."

Coltin Weber finished second for FHS in the javelin with his best throw ever - 189-7. Ogden was fourth, 186-2.

Flathead's 1,600 relay team - Beau Gravelle, Mike Gallagher, Orion Bras and Reed Watkins - finished fourth with a time of 3:24.42.

"They really ran well," Hodge said.

Watkins had the Braves' other high finish on the day, third in the triple jump with a distance of 42-7 3/4. Teammate Richie Carter was sixth, 42-4 1/2.

Bras also took a fifth in the 800 (1:57.47).

The Flathead girls, who struggled during Friday's opening session, had more of the same on the final day. The Bravettes had just two placers Saturday - a third in the 1,600 relay and a sixth by Samantha Gunlikson in the triple jump (35-1 1/2). That was a personal best for Gunlickson.

The Bravettes finished with 31 points.

Bozeman rolled to the team title, breaking the century mark with a 121-point total. Billings West was second, 83, and Billings Senior third, 79.

"A little bit disappointing," said FHS girls' coach Jerry Boschee.

"You can't have it go right all the time. We've been pretty fortunate in past years."

Boschee said the meet ended on a high note - the 1,600 relay.

"It was a great race," he said.

"Us, Bozeman and Billings West. The last race of the day."

Flathead's foursome of Ashley Younkin, Jenae Lister, Nichole Hall and Shannon Ross turned in a time of 3:55.91, which is a new school record. Their best time coming into state was 4:03.

West won the relay in 3:53.58. Bozeman was next at 3:53.62.

"As poorly as we competed, it was a great way to end the meet," Boschee said.

Class AA

Charlie Merrifield Track/Butte

Saturday

BOYS

Team Totals

Billings West 85, Butte High 81.5, Missoula Big Sky 77, Flathead 76, Missoula Hellgate 39, C.M. Russell 36, Bozeman 36, Helena 31.5, Billings Senior 25, Helena Capital 22, Great Falls 21, Billings Skyview 4.

Individual Events

200 - 1, Justin Maes, Helena, 22.26; 2, Christian Prosperie, CMR, 22.37; 3, Lance Carl, Big Sky, 22.48; 4, Chris Wilson, CMR, 22.58; 5, Tony Cunneen, Butte, 22.59; 6, Nick Haynes, Butte, 22.70.

800 - 1, Kyle Anderson, Big Sky, 1:56.28; 2, James Allred, Capital, 1:56.42; 3, Eric Larson, Big Sky, 1:56.87; 4, Kenny Hornung, Skyview, 1:57.34; 5, Orion Bras, Flathead, 1:57.47; 6, Matt Francis, Bozeman, 1:58.33.

3,200 - 1, Seth Grossman, Flatheadl, 9:28.04; 2, Hunter Nelson, Big Sky, 9:31.59; 3, Carl Nystuen, Flathead, 9:46.30; 4, Kyle Anderson, Big Sky, 9:47.96; 5, Daniel Jackson, Bozeman, 9:49.21; 6, Dylan Davis, Bozeman, 9:54.71.

110 hurdles - 1, Tony Cunneen, Butte, 14.74; 2, Ryan Whitney, Senior, 15.38; 3, Christian Segota, Hellgate, 15.45; 4, David Mahrt, Capital, 15.56; 5, Kyle Beto, Capital, 15.61; 6, Justin Hickert, Bozeman, 15.77.

1,600 relay - 1, Butte (Kaleob Palmer, Adam Bleken, Nick Haynes, Tony Cunneen), 3:22.22; 2, Helena, 3:23.47; 3, Billings Senior, 3:24.31; 4, Flathead, 3:24.42; 5, Billings West 3:24.87; 6, Missoula Big Sky, 3:25.45.

Pole vault - 1, Lance Carl, Big Sky, 14-0; 2, Sean Robinson, West, 14-0; 3, Bryce Foley, Butte, 13-6; 4, Kasey Schuster, Great Falls, 13-6; 5, Chris Maus, Hellgate, 13-0; 6, Bobby Pomroy, Butte, 12-6.

Triple jump - 1, Christian Segota, Hellgate, 44-41/4; 2, Ben King, West, 43-03/4; 3, Reed Watkins, Flathead, 42-73/4; 4, Brent Zundel, West, 42-61/4; 5, Jase Muri, West, 42-53/4; 6, Richie Carter, Flathead, 42-41/2.

Discus - 1, Dan Ogden, Flathead, 169-9; 2, Alex Smith, Butte, 163-10; 3, James Cole, Bozeman, 160-4; 4, Brandon Quesenberry, West, 148-5; 5, Andrew Voorhees, CMR, 148-2; 6, Drew Waltee, Helena, 148-2.

Javelin - 1, Konnor Backer, West, 197-10; 2, Coltin Weber, Flathead 189-7; 3, Chris Farro, Big Sky, 188-0; 4, Dan Ogden, Flathead, 186-2; 5, Willie Sullivan, Butte, 183-7; 6, Kalob Smith, Senior, 176-8.

GIRLS

Team Totals

(After 17 events)

Bozeman 121, Billings West 83, Billings Senior 79, Butte, 66, Missoula Big Sky 41, Missoula Hellgate 35, Flathead 31, C.M. Russell 27, Helena 25, Missoula Sentinel 10, Helena Capital 7, Great Falls 2.

Individual Events

100 - 1, Shani Sullivan, Butte, 12.27; 2, Melissa Jenkins, Big Sky, 12.42; 3, Kelsey Ham, Bozeman, 12.55; 4, Lindsay Greytak, Hellgate, 12.56; 5, Lauryn McKay, West, 12.64; 6, Nicole Hickey, CMR, 12.74.

1,600 - 1, Bridgett Hoenke, Senior, 5:07.27; 2, Kala Jauquet, Butte, 5:10.17; 3, Carly Selleck, West, 5:12.21; 4, Kate Dolan, Bozeman, 5:14.68; 5, Alexa Aragon, Senior, 5:15.54; 6, Auriele Faith, Senior, 5:17.71.

100 hurdles - 1, Sarah McGree, Butte, 15.35; 2, Lindsey Hall, Big Sky, 15.51; 3, Gwenn Abbott, Butte, 16.00; 4, Coriann Clark, Bozeman, 16.24; 5, Cassie Holm, West, 16.55; 6, Kassie Krpan, Helena, 16.62.

1,600 relay - 1, Billings West (Jessica Leslie, Shannon Kernall, Callie Muri, Lauryn McKay), 3:53.58; 2, Bozeman, 3:53.62; 3, Flathead, 3:55.91; 4, C.M. Russell, 4:00.95; 5, Butte, 4:02.58; 6, Helena, 4:04.58.

Pole vault - 1, Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 11-6; 2, Anne Yeager, Hellgate, 11-0; 3, Alexa May Fraser, Helena, 10-6; 4, Kaycee Gillespie, Capital, 10-0; 5, Diana Dimarcom Bozeman, 10-0; 6, Rebekka Chambers, Senior, 9-6.

Triple jump - 1, Asia Graham, Sentinel, 37-5; 2, Courtney Kosovich, Senior, 37-1; 3, Kirsten Tilleman, Bozeman, 36-91/2; 4, Callie Muri, West, 36-01/2; 5, Ali Dombroski, Big Sky, 35-10; 6, Samantha Gunlikson, Flathead, 35-11/2.

Discus - 1, Jessica Sharbono, West, 135-4; 2, Kirsten Tilleman, Bozeman, 128-0; 3, Emily Willmuth, Bozeman, 121-6; 4, Kellie Cole, Bozeman, 121-5; 5, Jesse Harkness, West, 115-2; 6, Kiandra Rajala, Hellgate, 113-6.