Troy's Palmer wins javelin at Class B state track meet
It didn't take long for Troy senior Aaron Palmer to feel the heat on Friday. It was only 9:30 a.m., and he was waiting to compete in the final Class B javelin throw at the state track meet at Legends Stadium.
Because it was the first event of the entire meet, Palmer hadn't had time to get too nervous. That is, until he saw the distance thrown by his closest competitor, Will Dalby of Thompson Falls.
"I saw Dalby had thrown a 196-6, and I hadn't thrown that far in a couple weeks," Palmer said. "I didn't feel good about it. The last couple of weeks have been rough."
The future Harvard University student withstood the pressure, however, and hurled a monster 204-5 to take the state championship.
"Dalby got me on my heels," Palmer said. "I don't like the pressure. I like it to be easy, but I'm happy with it."
Dalby ended up taking second place, with Orin Johnson of Cut Bank in third and Mitch Thompson of Plains in fourth.
Luke Truman of Eureka took second place in the discus with a 154-5 throw, and Scotty Harper of Troy took fifth in the long jump (19-11).
For the girls, sophomore Bailey Malecha of Eureka had a far better day than she anticipated. Competing in the 800-meter dash for her first event, she knew she was up against some great runners.
"The 800 isn't my best event, so I wasn't expecting much," she said.
Malecha got off the starting block fast, and kept up with the lead pack around the first two turns. Drafting right behind speedster and eventual state-champion Bobbi Knudsen of Malta, the Lady Lion pushed herself to keep up. Coming down the stretch, she gave it everything she had and crossed the finish line with a grimace of pain on her face. She finished a close fourth place overall with a time of 2:16.
"That's my best time by like seven seconds," she said incredulously after the race. "It's so hot out here so I'm really happy with it."
To shave seven full seconds off of a personal best time at the state meet is a rare feat, and Malecha looked like she paid dearly for it.
"I was in pain, but I just gave it everything," she said.
The 16-year-old also finished in fifth place in the 400 with a time of 59.62. This time, it was her push right at the finish line that gave her a good time.
"I passed two girls right at the very end," she said breathlessly.
Malecha will compete in the relays and the 200-meter dash today.
Senior long jumper Molly Harpole of Troy finished in sixth place with a jump of 15-7 1/2.
"It wasn't my personal best, but we had a head wind," she said. "It was kind of weird."
Events continue today from 10:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. at Legends Stadium.
Boys' Team Totals' Manhattan (MAN) 26, Powell County (POW) 20, Lincoln County (LIN) 14, Plains (PLA) 14, Thompson Falls (THO) 13, Colstrip (COLS) 12, Troy (TRO) 12, Huntley Project (HUN) 11, Columbus (COLUM) 10, Powder River County (PRC) 10, Red Lodge (RED) 10, Glasgow (GLA) 9, Darby (DAR) 8, Forsyth (FOR) 8, Fort Benton (FORT) 8, Three Forks (THR) 8, Cascade (CAS) 6, Cut Bank (CUT) 6, Fairfield (FAIR) 6, Broadwater (BRO) 2, Loyola Sacred Heart (LOY) 1, Malta (MAL) 1, Plentywood (PLE) 1, Sweet Grass County (SWE) 1.
Individual Events' 100 Trials - 1, Josh Neumiller, GLA, 11.39; 2 Justin Smith, PRC, 11.50; 3, Shade Theriault, BRO, 11.51; 4, Eric Buer, HUN, 11.64; 5, Chad Price, LIN, 11.67; 6, Nate Debruycker, COLUM, 11.75; 7, Trevor Gilreath, HUN, 11.81; 8 Matthew Brookie, MAL, 11.88; 8 Kevin Berland, LOY, 11.91; 9 Kodee Varner, BAK, 11.99.
200 Trials - 1, Casey Nickol, SHE, 22.85; 2, Josh Neumiller, GLA, 23.14; 3, Shade Theriault, BRO, 23.26; 4, Justin Smith, PRC, 23.31; 5, Nate Debruycker, COLUM, 23.42; 6, Chad Price, LIN, 23.49; Steven Sundberg, COLUM, 23:55; 8, Riley Shaw, FORT, 23.71; 9, Cody Pixley, MAN, 23.77; 10, Kevin Berland, LOY, 23.82;
400 - 1, Nate Debruycker, COLUM, 50.87; 2, Chris Jones, FORT, 50.95; 3, Evan Etchart, GLA, 51.20; 4, Matt Swan, MAN, 51.33; 5, Brendan King, POW, 51.62; 6, Pres Harris, PLE, 51.69;
1600 - 1, Mike Asay, MAN, 4:21.01; 2, Todd Blythe, COLS, 4:27.97; 3, Seth Garbett, DAR, 4:28.06; 4, Chase Robinson, COLS, 4:34.32; 5, Matt Stout, DAR, 4:34.58; 6, Stephen Block, THO, 4:24.76;
110 High Hurdles Trials - 1, Jeff Mohl, RED, 15:33; 2, Mick Miller, FAIR, 15:42; 3, Tanner Varner, BAK, 15:90; 4, Ehtan Shevala, COLUM, 16:09; 4, Orin Johnson, CUT, 16:09; 5, Michael Moore, MAN, 16:10; 6, Neil Gebhardt, CAS, 16:17; 7, Kyle Boos, MAL, 16:19; 8, Seith Wiseman, BAK, 16:24; 9, Brendan King, POW, 16:55;
300 Hurdles - 1, Michael Moore, MAN, 39.63; 2, Brendan King, POW, 39.83; 3, Mick Miller, FAIR, 39.96; 4, Scott Samson, THR, 40.02; 5, Chris Henrichs, HUN, 40.99; 6, Mike Brown, LOY, 41.54;
Javelin - 1, Aaron Palmer, TRO, 204-5; 2, Will Dalby, THO, 196-6; 3, Orin Johnson, CUT, 193-4; 4, Mitch Thompson, PLA, 176-3; 5, Calvin Kemmis, GLA, 176-1; 6, Lucas Knight, HUN, 174-9;
Long Jump - 1, Justin Smith, PRC, 21-5.5; 2, Cale Matteson, FORS, 20-2.75; 3, Jesse Thomson, LIN, 20-.25; 4, Mike Camarillo, THR, 20-.25; 5, Scotty Harper, TRO, 19-11; 6, Casey Knudsen, MAL, 19-8.5;
Pole Vault - 1, Jeff Mohl, RED, 13-6; 2, Eric Buer, HUN, 13; 3, Daniel Woodland, CAS, 13; 4, Stephen Block, THO, 12; 5, Nick Clark, MAN, 12; 6, Luke Zeiger, GLA, 11-6;
Discus - 1, Brandon Forson, POW, 158-3; 2, Luke Truman, LIN, 154-5; 3, Trent Thompson, PLA, 150-8; 4, Ethan Harvey, PLA, 147-7; 5, Kyland Santos, BRO, 147-4; Brandon Arlian, SWE, 146-8;
400 relay trials - 1, Glasgow, 44.28; 2, Manhattan, 44.48; 3, Baker, 44.52; Three Forks 44.54; 5, Columbus, 44.79; 6, Broadwater, 44.86; 7, Malta, 44.99; 8, Forsyth, 45.08; 9, Huntley Project, 45.01; 10, Manhattan Christian, 45.15;
Girls' Team Totals' Darby (DAR) 18, Whitehall (WHI) 17, Three Forks (THR) 14.5, Florence-Carlton (FLO) 13, Plentywood (PLE) 13, Thompson Falls (THO) 13, Malta (MAL) 10, Shepherd (SHE) 10, Manhattan Christian (MANC) 8.5, Broadwater (BRO) 8, Colstrip (COLS) 8, Glasgow (GLA) 8, Lincoln County (LIN) 8, Loyola Sacred Heart (LOY) 8, Choteau (CHO) 7, Cascade (CAS) 6, Harlem (HAR) 4, Sweet Grass County (SWE) 4, Powder River County (PRC) 2, Roundup (ROU) 2, Wolf Point (WOL) 2, Fairfield (FAI) 1, Troy (TRO) 1.
Individual Events' 100 Trials - 1 Deni Fitzpatrick, CUT 12.50; 2 Haley Thompson, PLE, 13.01; 3 Kellee Glaus, WHI 13.07; 4 Kaitlyn Wurning, HUN, 13.13; 5 Haley Sobrero, COLUM 13.16; 6 Ladean Richardson, THR, 13.31; 7 Molly Harpole, TRO 13.45; 8 Shayna Connell, WOL, 13.55; 9 Lauren Lesueur, SHE, 13.63; 5 Anna Niemeir, FLO, 13.70;
200 Trials - 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, CUT, 26.08; 2, Katie Neimeir, FLO, 26.38; 3, Ladean Richardson, THR, 26.64; 4 TIE, Haley Sobrero, COL, 26.67; 4TIE, Haley Thompson, PLE, 26.67; 6, Kaitlyn, Wurning, HUN, 26.86; 7, Shayla Mack, THR, 27.22; 8, Bailey Malecha, LIN, 27.39; 9, Amanda Sansaver, WOL, 27.42; Chloe Palakovich, WHI, 27.70;
400 - 1, Haley Thompson, PLE, 58.21; 2, Katie Niemeir, FLO, 58.41; 3, Ladean Richardson, THR, 59.52; 4, Bailey Malecha, LIN, 59.62; 5, Amanda Sansaver, WOL, 59.86; 6, Chloe Palakovich, WHI, 59.91;
800 - 1, Bobbi Knudsen, MAL, 2:14.86; 2, Kayla Neumiller, COLS, 2:14.96; 3, Chloe Palakovich, WHI, 2:15.75; 4, Bailey Malecha, LIN, 2:16.79; 5, Heather Demorest, DAR, 2:22.90; 6, Mariah Renteria, CHO, 2:24.12;
3200 - 1, Heather Demorest, DAR, 11:38.29; 2, Emilee Morehouse, GLA, 11:47.01; 3, Jordan Audet, BRO, 12:02.29; 4, Selene Johnson, SWE, 12:90.52; 5, Mary Owen, PRC, 12:21.89; 6, Abby Mytty, FLO, 12:24.21
100 hurdles Trials - 1, Katie Niemeir, FLO, 15.12; 2, Emily Douma, MAN, 16.08; 3, Tessa Sattler, CAS, 16.60; 4, Lexi Daley, CHO, 16.70; 5, Marissa McCormick, CHO, 16.63; 6, Rheanna Padden, THO, 16.78; 7, Maria Mora, THO, 16.84; 8, Jordan Pfau, LOY, 17.15; 9, Becky Rogeness, GLA, 17.41; 10, Oakley Thoeny, PRC, 17.57;
Discus - 1, Amy Ostermiller, SHE, 118-7; 2, Virginia Trent, THR, 113-1; 3, Maria Cress, DAR, 112-8; 4, Megan Leathers, FLO, 110; 5, Cedessa Berg, ROU, 109-6; 6, Sy Manuel-McInerney, FAI, 104;
Long Jump - 1, Kellee Glaus, WHI, 17-0; 2, Jordan Pfau, LOY, 16-4; 3, Ashley Vandaloh, CHO, 16-2.5; 4, Diona Buck, HARLEM, 15-9.25; 5, Lynsie Williams, BRO, 15-8; Molly Harpole, TRO, 15-7.5;
Pole Vault - 1, Rheanna Padden, THO, 9-6; 2, Breanne Heidema, MANC, 9-6; 3, Alicia Cobb, CAS, 9-6; 4, Haley Thompson, PLE, 9-0; 4, Delcie Peters, THO, 9-0; 6, Miranda Koenes, MANC, 8-6; 6, Katie Olson, THR, 8-6.