Polson girls continue title haul
LAUREL - Keep the fire engines warmed up, there's another state championship team to parade through Polson.
The Pirates more than tripled their first-day score at the Class A state track meet and came away with the girls championship trophy on Saturday, becoming the second Polson High School girls team to win a state title in as many days. On Friday, the Polson softball team won the Class A state title while the girls tennis team picked up a runner-up finish at state.
"We have a really good bunch of girl athletes in our school system. For a little school, we've got about 70 girl athletes or so, and look what they did this weekend," Polson track coach Bob Gunderson said.
Polson had one state champion - Loni Havlovick - and scored in every event but one on Saturday to total 86 points and claim the fourth title in the last eight years and second since 2008.
"I told them they could do this at the beginning of the year. I told them they could do it midway through the year. And today at the state meet I told them they did it," Gunderson said.
Hamilton was the runner-up with 55 and Corvallis was third with 54.
The Columbia Falls boys fell just 11 points short of claiming their first state title ever and finished second to Corvallis, who won for the second year in a row, scoring 88 points.
Taylor Martinson was Columbia Falls' lone state champ, winning the 100 in 11.27 and leading the Wildcats to their best season finish since the program placed second in 2005.
"That was kind of what set the comeback. It really did get us rolling," Columbia Falls coach Jamie Heinz said of Martinson's win.
"We just wanted to go there and relax and try to enjoy the day. They competed really relaxed and just really had fun."
On Saturday, Columbia Falls' Derrick Williams placed second in the 1,600, Nate Thompson took second in the triple jump and fifth in the javelin and Patric Jessat came in fourth in the 200. The Wildcats were also runners-up in both relays.
"I have to thank my seniors for laying the groundwork for the future of our track program," Heinz said. "They just set a great example."
The Whitefish boys came in fourth with 43 points and picked up a state championship in the short relay. Daniel Simmons, Derek Crittendon, Iaian Cameron and Anto Daoud combined for 43.71 and edged Columbia Falls' 44.00.
Daoud also was runner-up in the 200 and the Bulldogs' long relay placed third.
The Polson girls sealed the deal with two events left when Mesa Starkey beat her own school-record in the 3,200 by 14 second and placed second.
Havlovick needed her best throw of the weekend to win the discus on her final attempt. The Montana State signee heaved 130-feet for the walk-off state championship.
Nicole Davey led Polson in medals with six. On Saturday she placed second in both the 300 hurdles and pole vault and ran on both runner-up relay teams. The short relay squad of Davey, Katie Finley, Anna DiGiallonardo and Breanne Kelley broke the school record with a 50.34.
DiGiallonardo, a freshman, took second in the 100, Kelley was fourth in the 100 hurdles and Christa Red Crow placed fourth in the 300 hurdles.
The Pirates will be honored in the Memorial Day parade on Monday, riding on the town's fire trucks, an honor reserved for state champions.
"It's really been a fun bunch to coach. They are clutch. They don't back down and they compete, you have to beat them," Gunderson said. "They're just tough. They all do multiple events and they do them well."
Whitefish's Amanda Foley placed sixth in both sprints, Megan Apple was third in the 300 hurdles and Jessica Sagen took fourth in the 3,200. Olivia Nagler placed sixth in the discus.
State A
At Laurel
Saturday
Boys
Team Totals
Corvallis 88, Columbia Falls 77, Belgrade 55, Whitefish 43, Sidney 34 1/2, Lewistown 31, Dillon 27, Frenchtown 22 1/2, Hamilton 21, Polson 19, Butte Central 18, Laurel 17, Billings Central 15, Libby 10, Anaconda 8, Glendive 8, Ronan-St. Ignatius 8, Browning 6, Havre 6, Miles City 5, Livingston 4, Stevensville 4.
Individual Results
100 - 1, Taylor Martinson, CF, 11.27; 2, Jonny Dilworth, Fre, 11.47; 3, Andrew Dorn, Ham, 11.48; 4, Garrett Long, Bel, 11.49; 5, Anto Daoud, Whi, 11.55; 6, Slater Powell, Cor, 11.56.
200 - 1, Garrett Long, Bel, 22.97; 2, Anto Daoud, Whi, 23.29; 3, Slater Powell, Cor, 23.53; 4, Patric Jessat, CF, 23.62; 5, Matt Thibault, Bel, 23.71; 6, Jonny Dilworth, Fre, 23.73.
1600 - 1, Chris Jessop, Cor, 4:31.66; 2, Derrick Williams, CF, 4:31.76; 3, Derek Desrosier, Bro, 4:31.21; 4, Colter Bull, Pol, 4:33.38; 5, Joey Vaughn, Bel, 4:35.2; 6, Colby Henderson, Cor, 4:35.66.
110 hurdles - 1, Slater Powell, Cor, 14.97; 2, Nick Kozub, Lew, 15.6; 3, Derek Crittendon, Whi, 16.03; 4, Austin Christopher, Ste, 16.15; 5, Bo Descheemaeker, Lew, 16.35; 6, Garrett Sellers, Lau, 16.88.
400 relay - 1, Whitefish (Daniel Simmons, Derek Crittendon, Iaian Cameron, Anto Daoud) 43.71, 2, Columbia Falls 44.0, 3, Belgrade 44.14, 4, Frenchtown 44.15, 5, Corvallis 44.47, 6, Dillon 44.6.
1600 relay - 1, Belgrade (Levi Cade, Garrett Long, Chris Allen, Matt Thibault) 3:24.21, 2, Columbia Falls 3:27.39, 3, Whitefish 3:27.96, 4, Frenchtown 3:28.03, 5, Laurel 3:31.87, 6, Polson 3:33.78.
Triple jump - 1, Brady Sundheim, Sid, 43-11 1/2; 2, Nate Thompson, CF, 43-1 1/2; 3, Wes Knox, Dil, 42-8 1/4; 4, Stuart Landis, Cor, 40-11; 5, Kodiak Gimbel, CF, 40-8 1/2; 6, Mac Roche, Whi, 40-8.
Discus - 1, Sean Condon, Lau, 173-8; 2, Sean Ferriter, ButC, 160-5; 3, Shayne Durbin, Lew, 158-7; 4, Bryce Benson, Gle, 151-4; 5, Beau Prevost, Sid, 143-1; 6, Ryan Armstrong, MC, 142-3.
Javelin - 1, Austin Landis, Cor, 208-6; 2, Sean Funston, Ana, 175-0; 3, Brock Picard, Pol, 173-5; 4, Joe Andrews, Pol, 171-1; 5, Nate Thompson, CF, 162-6; 6, Jonathan Richards, ButC, 161-3.
Girls
Team Totals
Polson 86, Hamilton 55, Corvallis 54, Billings Central 49, Glendive 47, Lewistown 43, Belgrade 36, Stevensville 29 1/2, Sidney 22, Dillon 18, Ronan-St. Ignatius 16, Whitefish 15, Frenchtown 14, Laurel 10, Hardin 8, Havre 8, Browning 6, Livingston 4, Anaconda 3, Libby 2, Butte Central 1, Columbia Falls 1/2.
Individual Results
100 - 1, Aimee Beck, Bel, 12.93; 2, Anna DiGiallonardo, Pol, 13.14; 3, Nikki Barron, Cor, 13.15; 4, Faith Kjelstrup, Gle, 13.3; 5, Tiara Show, Bro, 13.37; 6, Amanda Foley, Whi, 13.38.
200 - 1, Paige Squire, Cor, 25.82; 2, Kelsi Almond, Ham, 26.57; 3, Marissa Stanton, BilC, 26.82; 4, Ashley Skillestad, Gle, 26.93; 5, Aimee Beck, Bel, 27.16; 6, Amanda Foley, Whi, 27.24.
800 - 1, Misha Trotter, Ham, 2:18.46; 2, Nocona Frame, Gle, 2:22.28; 3, Brook Rodgers, Lew, 2:23.79; 4, Jordyn Yarborough, Liv, 2:25.17; 5, Mikaela Beausoleil, Lau, 2:26.48; 6, Dana Anderson, Ana, 2:27.7.
3200 - 1, Nocona Frame, Gle, 11:33.88; 2, Mesa Starkey, Pol, 11:38.29; 3, Brook Rodgers, Lew, 11:48.78; 4, Jessica Sagen, Whi, 12:00.21; 5, Mauree Palmersheim, Ham, 12:02.58; 6, Taylor Condon, Lau, 12:02.96.
100 hurdles - 1, Paige Squire, Cor, 15.23; 2, Lakyn Connors, Ste, 16.15; 3, Sadie Sampson, Gle, 16.36; 4, Breanne Kelley, Pol, 16.44; 5, Kiera Bulluck, Lew, 16.8; 6, Miranda Rabold, BilC, 16.87.
300 hurdles - 1, Paige Squire, Cor, 45.53; 2, Nicole Davey, Pol, 45.62; 3, Megan Apple, Whi, 47.11; 4, Christa Red Crow, Pol, 47.19; 5, Shelby Erdahl, Bel, 47.45; 6, Lakyn Connors, Ste, 47.46.
400 relay - 1, Billings Central (Shaina Healey, Jackie Elliott, Maggie Powell, Marissa Stanton) 49.95, 2, Polson 50.34, 3, Corvallis 50.42, 4, Hamilton 50.6, 5, Belgrade 50.79, 6, Sidney 51.49.
1600 relay - 1, Billings Central (Sammy Elliott, Jackie Elliott, Maggie Powell, Marissa Stanton) 4:02.01, 2, Polson 4:05.56, 3, Hamilton 4:06.72, 4, Belgrade 4:09.92, 5, Corvallis 4:12.16, 6, Laurel 4:12.92.
Triple jump - 1, Brekka Johnson, Ste, 17-1 1/2; 2, Kelsi Almond, Ham, 16-3 3/4; 3, Adessa Durglo, Ron, 16-3; 4, Marti Eagle-feathers, 15-10 1/2; 5, Kelsey Brangoccio, Ham, 15-9; 6, Mollie McIntyre, ButC, 15-6 1/2.
Discus - 1, Loni Havlovick, Pol, 130-0; 2, Josie Three Irons, Har, 122-3; 3, Jordan Sullivan, 111-0; 4, Megan Armstrong, Gle, 110-8; 5, Faith Keck, Dil, 109-8; 6, Olivia Nagler, Whi, 105-2.
Pole vault - 1, Vanessa Bawden, Sid, 10-9; 2, Nicole Davey, Pol, 10-6; 3, Alex Brammer, Dil, 10-0; 4, Jalyssa Gorder, Sid, 10-0; 5, Aspen Evans, Cor, 10-0; 6, Saide Sampson, Gle, 10-0.