Track squads primed for state finales
They were the definition of clutch last weekend, but now the Glacier girls track team has to try and do it all over again.
The Wolfpack gained a head of steam a week ago and put together a near-perfect two days to win the program's first Western AA divisional track title.
Glacier, which had five-first place finishes and scored in all but one event at divisionals, enters today's Class AA state track meet in Great Falls hoping for another milestone weekend.
The Wolfpack has 15 athletes slated for competition, including two reigning state champs - Maddey Frey (100) and Lexy Boschee (high jump).
Glacier is tied for having the second-most athletes competing at state via regular-season qualifying standards.
Billings Senior is the front-runner at today's finale after winning Eastern AA in Butte last weekend and qualifying the most athletes (23) during the season.
Divisional runner-up Billings West had 15 athletes qualify by standards.
Butte won last year with 85 points. Glacier finished sixth as a team with 40 points. Flathead was eighth with 29 points.
Boschee no-heighted at divisionals last week but still has a shot at defending her state title in the high jump, where she ranks tops across AA. The Glacier sophomore won the triple jump at divisionals and also has the third best long jump this season. She will also compete in the 100 hurdles.
Frey, who swept the sprint events at divisionals, has the fastest time in AA in the 100 and the second fastest 200 and long jump.
Her crosstown competition has been Flathead sophomore Tess Brenneman, who is one of the state's best all-around competitors. Brenneman won the 400 at divisionals and ranks near the top in that event. She also holds the best 200 time, although she came in second at divisionals. Her best long jump mark (18-7) still stacks up as the state's best and is within 4 1/4 inches of the 31-year-old state record held by Lexie Miller Beck of Kalispell. Frey has jumped 18 1/2.
The Bravettes are taking 11 competitors to Great Falls.
On the boys side, Billings West is chasing a fifth-straight state title and is armed to do so after storming through divisionals with 139 points and 21 competitors earning state tickets.
Although not at the top in the team contention, both Kalispell schools have individuals strong enough to bring home accolades.
From Flathead, Jesse Bennett is back to defend his 800 title while Leif Castren and Zach Perrin will pace the long distance events. Bennett is tied for the best time in the 800 with Billings West's Porter Hannah, who won the East in 1:59.6. The two seniors are followed by a pack of six runners within two seconds of that top-time.
The 1,600 and 3,200 have been owned so far by Perrin and Castren, who have the top two times in both events across AA. Castren, a senior, surpassed his freshman teammate at divisionals in the 1,600, winning by less than a second. Perrin notched a victory in the 3,200.
At Glacier, Shane Freese is looking to seal a state title in the high jump after coming within a few minutes of winning it last year. Freese, as a sophomore, had the top clear until Billings West's Scotty Owens won on his final jump at Legends Stadium.
At divisionals last week, Freese won with a near-division record of 6-10. The jump was a personal best and the top height in the state thus far ahead of Billings West's Lee Hardt's 6-9. Tanner Morrison won divisionals in the discus and has a shot at medaling for the Wolfpack as well.
The Braves placed second at divisionals while Glacier came in third. At state last year in Kalispell, Flathead was fifth with 43 points and Glacier was seventh with 39.
Class A State
Northwestern A has been quite the track and field hotbed the last 10 years, compiling five boys and three girls state titles.
At today's state meet in Laurel, Northwestern A's finest look to keep the tradition alive. The Polson girls and Columbia Falls boys are riding a wave of momentum after winning easily at divisionals with 200-plus point performances. The Pirates are after their fourth state title since 2003 and first since 2008. Columbia Falls is aiming for its first state title in track.
It's been a banner year for running in Wildcat country as the cross country team won its first championship last fall and have a core group from that team excelling on the track this spring. Columbia Falls' Derrick Williams will battle for a title in the 800 and 1,600 while Patric Jessat and Justin and Shawn Whitman have ran with success as well. Nate Thompson (triple jump) and Taylor Martinson (long jump) lead Columbia Falls in the field events. The Wildcats will give chase to defending champ Corvallis, which won the Southwestern A divisional.
Columbia Falls' boys took sixth with 22 1/2 and the Polson girls placed third at state last year with 58 points. Belgrade's girls won with 83 points.
Class B State
The Bigfork girls continue to pile up trophies this spring, winning the District 7B title two weeks ago and then the Western B divisional a week later. The Vals, led by distance star Kayla Carlson, are reaching for one final trophy at the state meet in Laurel starting today.
Carlson etched her name in the record books at the previous two postseason meets and has Class B's best times in all three distance races. The Bigfork senior also runs on the 1,600 relay team, which took the divisional title. At the Class A state meet last year, Carlson won the 3,200, took second in the 800 and third in the 1,600.
Mallery Knoll is Bigfork's other multiple-event standout. The junior placed third in both the 100 dash and 300 hurdles at state as a sophomore and won both events at divisionals last week and ran on the long relay.
Bigfork's Keenan Evans is the top Vikings contender, hoping to ride his winning 100 time at divisionals onto the podium at state.
Eureka's Bailey Malecha is a contender in the 400 and 800. Last year as a sophomore, Malecha placed fourth in both the 400 and 800. She won the divisional 400 in Missoula.
The Manhatten boys won last year with 64 points and Choteau's girls came away with the victory with 45 points. Bigfork's girls placed fourth at the Class A state.