Boschee's Big Day: Glacier athlete shines at Class A Invite

In an already stellar high school track and field career that includes three individual state championships, Tuesday was by all accounts Lexy Boschee's best overall day.

"Oh definitely," she said smiling sheepishly near the finish line inside Legends Stadium at the Class A Invitational meet.

Boschee turned in three remarkable performances, winning the 100 hurdles in 16.06 seconds, the long jump with a personal-best 17-feet-6 1/2 inches and the triple jump in another personal-best 36-2. She also ran on the 1,600 relay team that bookended the meet with a victory time of 4:16.23.

"She's having an unbelievable day," said her proud father, Jerry Boschee, the Glacier girls head track coach. "She's probably floating on air right now."

The Glacier junior qualified for the Class AA championship meet in all three individual events she competed in, making that four total including the high jump that she has guaranteed herself a shot at in Butte on May 27. What's more, her triple jump on Tuesday was three inches further than her winning leap at state last year and her long jump would have tied Flathead state champ Tess Brenneman's gold-medal mark.

"It's a good feeling. Hopefully I can just keep skyrocketing," Lexy said.

She has won state titles in the high jump two-years running and placed second in the 100 hurdles and third in the long jump last year.

Despite setting the bar awfully high as a dominating freshman and sophomore, Lexy showed on Tuesday she's not slowing down in this her third year.

"I know that I have a target on my back now," said Lexy, who trained throughout the winter and competed in two indoor meets, including the reputable Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho. "I'm just motivated to keep going and improving so that I don't have to worry about people catching me."

Out of the roughly 600 athletes competing in the meet formerly known as the Tom Gilman Meet, quite a few names stood out.

Flathead sophomore Zach Perrin barely broke a sweat winning the 3,200 in 9:57 and surpassing the qualifier. The reigning state champ pushed through wind on the back stretch and nearly lapped the field in what he called a "warm-up" for this weekend's Missoula Invitational.

Perrin's prowess on the track was back in display for the 1,600 relay, which he started out strong for Flathead. The Braves finished second behind Columbia Falls, which shined in the day's final event, clocking 3:36.46.

"I want to get the whole team motivated and get the long distance team back to where they used to be a couple years ago," Perrin said. "We have a good team coming up, I'm super excited about that."

Perrin said disappointment pushed him to train harder in the offseason and compete in three indoor meets, including Simplot where he ran 9:32.

"I was kind of bummed out about my performance in cross country, but it was good motivation to keep running and get excited about track. I love track," he said.

Cut Bank senior Deni Fitzpatrick picked up two first-place finishes, winning the 100 (13.05) and the 300 hurdles (47.85). Fitzpatrick, the reigning Class B state champion in the 100, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200, is chasing her goal of being the first four-time state champion in the 200 for girls, according to the Montana High School Association record books. Fitzpatrick will run track at Carroll College next year.

Flathead junior Tess Brenneman earned two top finishes, winning the 200 and 400.

"It felt good for my first time out and I felt like I gave it my all and I can only do better from there," Brenneman, last year's state runner-up in the 400, said. "We got a lot of good girls. We have a young team that's really strong and a lot of depth in our team. I'm excited."

Glacier senior Jacob Leininger broke his own school record in the 110 hurdles, winning in 15.16. He also took second in the 300 hurdles and ran on the winning 400 relay team with Trey and Kyle Griffith and Anthony Gugliuzza.

Glacier's Tanner Morrison broke his old school record in the discus, throwing 160-6 for the win. Kyle Griffith shattered his old triple jump school record by two feet, leaping 44-8 1/2 for the victory. Shane Freese cleared 6-6 to win the high jump.

Reigning shot put state champ Connor Thomas, a senior at Flathead, won with 48-1 1/2.

Class A Invitational

Legends Stadium

Non-scoring meet

Teams attending - Flathead, Glacier, Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Libby, Bigfork, Eureka, Polson, Ronan, Browning, Cut Bank,

BOYS

100 - 1, Michael Managhan, FH, 11.70. 2, Charles Old Chief, Brow, 11.87. 3, George Sherwood, FH, 11.88. 4, Evan Epperly, Gla, 11.92. 5, Aaron Mitchell, Gla, 11.93. 6, Caleb Lapka, Lib, 12.02.

200- 1, Michael Managhan, FH, 23.90. 2, Charles Old Chief, Brow, 24.20. 3, Tyson Hubbard, Gla, 24.49. 4, Aaron Mitchell, Gla, 24.54. 5, George Sherwood, FH, 24.71. 6, Ryan Hayes, BF, 24.76.

400 M- 1, Michael Managhan, FH, 52.58. 2, Derrick Williams, CF, 52.61. 3, Justin Whitman, CF, 53.80. 4, James Cutler,Gla, 54.95. 5, Chris Cote, Pol, 55.33. 6, Dylan Berget, Lib, 55.70.

800 - 1, Troy Fraley, Gla, 2:08.69. 2, Hunter Schutt, FH, 2:08.70. 3, Gage Vasquez, WF, 2:09.93. 4, Mike Devlin, Pol, 2:12.37. 5, Keifer Wills, FH, 2:13.36. 6, Brad Kittson, Brow, 2:13.96.

1600- 1, Richie Boyer, Gla, 4:48.33. 2, Hunter Schutt, FH, 5:04.58. 3, Billy Sharp, Brow, 5:08.51. 4, Alex Nystrom, Pol, 5:11.55. 5, Benjamin Moon, FH, 5:14.53. 6, Fischer Gangemi, WF, 5:16.46.

3200 - 1, Zach Perrin, FH, 9:57.30. 2, Adam Harris, Gla, 10:55.56. 3, Jimmy Bjorge, Pol, 10:57.74. 4, Benjamin Moon, FH, 11:03.64. 5, Flint Martino, Gla, 11:14.85. 6, Matthew Macfarlane, FH, 11:23.75.

110 hurdles - 1, Jacob Leininger, Gla, 15.16. 2, Nick James, FH, 16.55. 3, Hunter Price, Eur, 16.76. 4, Drew Galbraith, WF, 17.00. 5, Kodiak Gimbel, CF, 17.40. 6, John Collins, FH, 17.49.

300 hurdles - 1, Kody Berget, Lib, 40.95. 2, Jacob Leininger, Gla, 41.37. 3, John Collins, FH, 41.75. 4, Caleb Lapka,Lib, 44.36. 5, Adam Cebulla, Gla, 45.11. 6, Zion Lee, Pol, 45.23.

400 relay - 1, Glacier, 44.88. 2, Flathead, 45.08. 3, Columbia Falls, 45.30. 4, Libby, 45.52. 5, Whitefish, 45.55. 6, Polson, 46.00.

1600 relay - 1,Columbia Falls, 3:36.45. 2, Flathead, 3:38.83. 3, Glacier, 3:39.84. 4, Whitefish, 3:40.71. 5, Libby, 3:41.06. 6, Polson, 3:41.45.

High Jump- 1, Shane Freese, Gla, 6-6. 2, Reese Jensen, Lib, 6-1. 3, Kodiak Gimbel, CF, 5-11. 4, Hunter Swinehart, CB, 5-11. 5, Mike VanArendonk, FH, 5-9. 6, Drew Galbraith, WF, 5-9. 6, Kyle Hauns, BF, 5-9.

Pole vault - 1, Dylon Creek, FH, 12-00. 2, Zion Lee, Pol, 12-00. 3, Brock Bleazard, Pol, 11-6. 3, Josiah Bumgarner, Gla, 11-6. 4, Chase Hoyer, Lib, 11-6. 5, Drew Fouty, Pols, 11-00.

Long jump - 1, Nate Thompson, CF, 20-4 1/4. 2, Kyle Griffith, Gla, 20-1 1/4. 3, Matt Iavicoli, Gla, 19-2 1/4. 4, Josiah Osborne, CF, 19-1 1/2. 5, Dean Willey, Lib, 19-1 1/4. 6, James Cutler, Gla, 18-10 1/2.

Triple jump - 1, Kyle Griffith, Gla, 44-8 1/2. 2, Nate Thompson, CF, 42-0 1/2. 3, Shane Freese, Gla, 40-9. 4, Josh Nanna, WF, 39-3. 5, Jeffrey Heinrichs, WF, 38-10 1/2. 6, Rial Gunlikson, Gla, 38-6 1/2.

Shot put - 1, Connor Thomas, FH, 48-1 1/2. 2, Sawyer Zimmerman, Lib, 47-11. 3, Clark Rubel, Pol, 43-10. 4, Tanner Thiel, FH, 43-9. 5, Zachary Dedekind, FH, 42-0. 6, Daniel Jones, CF, 41-9 1/2.

Discus - 1, Tanner Morrison, Gla, 160-06. 2, Braxton Nimmick, FH, 136-02. 3, Jonathan Griffin, FH, 134-10. 4, Daniel Jones, CF, 133-8. 5, Zachary Dedekind, FH, 122-6. 6, Austin Jones, FH, 121-10.

Javelin - 1, Tanner Thiel, FH, 155-1. 2, Kelly May, Lib, 154-4. 3, Jeremy Leopold, Gla, 154-0. 4, Todd Ogden, Gla, 153-10. 5, Taylor Hulslander, Gla, 152-10. 6, Jacob Tudahl , Gla, 150-08.

GIRLS

100 - 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, CB, 13.05. 2, Tess Brenneman, FH, 13.28. 3, Marlow Schulz, WhF, 13.36. 4, Amanda Foley, WF, 13.46. 5, Anna DiGiallonardo, Pol, 13.58. 6, Savanna Moon, CF, 13.72.

200 - 1, Tess Brenneman, FH, 26.82. 2, Marlow Schulz, WF, 26.92. 3, Amanda Foley, WF, 27.33. 4, Anna DiGiallonardo, Pol, 28.25. 5, Emma Andrews, Flat, 28.33. 6, Jaclyn Rauthe, Flat, 28.63.

400 - 1, Tess Brenneman, FH, 1:00.69. 2, Jaclyn Rauthe, FH, 1:04.48. 3, Cedar Jordt, CF, 1:05.00. 4, Sierra Pete, Pol, 1:06.44. 5, Lanae Salway, CB, 1:07.76. 6, Chelsea Shuman, FH, 1:08.32.

800 - 1, Jessica Sagen, WF, 2:29.06. 2, Rachel Hart, Gla, 2:33.45. 3, Bailey Malecha, Eur, 2:34.70. 4, Bailey Hughes, FH, 2:35.81. 5, Mesa Starkey, Pol, 2:37.21. 6, Shay Tatsey, Brow, 2:40.23.

1600 - 1, Rachel Hart, Gla, 5:43.20. 2, Mesa Starkey, Pol, 5:46.61. 3, Chelsea Olson, BF, 5:52.06. 4, Bailey Hughes, FH, 5:53.73. 5, Paige Bouma, FH, 5:57.42. 6, Nicole Brist, Gla, 6:13.39.

3200 - 1, Heather Fraley, Gla, 12:06.64. 2, Anna Deleray, Gla, 12:29.11. 3, Paige Bouma, FH, 12:30.67. 4, Claudia Hewston, Pol, 12:42.99. 5, Shanell Cree Medicine, Bro, 13:23.04. 6, Kayla Hall, Brow, 13:45.25.

100 hurdles - 1, Lexy Boschee, Gla, 16.06. 2, Deni Fitzpatrick, CB, 16.62. 3, Breanne Kelley, Pol, 17.17. 4, Kwyn Johnson, FH, 17.67. 5, Dani Davis, FH, 17.86. 6, Reedie Spencer, CB, 17.88.

300 hurdles - 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, CB, 47.85. 2, Breanne Kelley, Pol, 47.88. 3, Kwyn Johnson, FH, 49.80. 4, Alison Lunde, FH, 50.56. 5, Mercede Erickson, Gla, 50.61. 6, Liz Chmielewski, FH, 51.96.

400 relay - 1, Polson. 2, Whitefish, 52.32. 3, Bigfork, 52.67. 4, Columbia Falls, 53.75. 5, Flathead, 54.20.

1600 relay - 1, Glacier, 4:16.23. 2, Columbia Falls, 4:25.98. 3, Polson, 4:26.19. 4, Flathead, 4:30.33. 5, Whitefish, 4:31.51. 6, Glacier, 4:33.54.

High Jump - 1, Briana Patyk, FH, 5-1. 2, Chancey Auge, Lib, 4-11. 3, Cassie Krueger, FH, 4-9. 4, Makayla Moore, FH, 4-9. 5, Jasmine Bradford, Eur, 4-9. 6, Breanne Kelley, Pol, 4-7. 6, Emma Andrews, FH, 4-7.

Pole vault - 1, Makenna Siebenaler, Gla, 8-0. 2, Kayla Mitchell, FH, 8-0. 3, Quinci Paine, BF, 8-0. 4, Marnic Mann, Gla, 7-6. 5, Ceanna Johnson, CB, 7-0. 6, Katharina Medland, Pol, 7-0.

Long jump - 1, Lexy Boschee, Gla, 17-6 1/2. 2, Marti Eaglefeathers, Brow, 15-9. 3, Kwyn Johnson, FH, 15-0 1/4. 4, Rhiannon Sturgess, FH, 14-09. 5, Megan Klingensmith, FH, 14-8. 6, Cassie Krueger, FH, 14-6 1/2.

Triple jump - 1, Lexy Boschee, Gla, 36-2. 2, Leah Cook, Gla, 34-6 1/2. 3, Kwyn Johnson, FH, 34-1 1/4. 4, Heather Bailey, WF, 32-7 1/2. 5, Phoebe Guercio, WF, 32-0. 6, Jasmine Bradford, Eur, 31-11 1/2.

Shot put - 1, Kelsey Davis, FH, 33-2. 2, Jordyn Vaile, CB, 32-6. 3, Uriah Henderson, Brown, 32-4. 4, D.J. Conko-Camel, Pol, 29-8 1/2. 5, Brittanie Dull, Glacier High Sch, 28-10. 6, Lau, Cera, FH, 28-00.

Discus - 1, Cera Lau, FH, 99-11. 2, Uriah Henderson, Brow, 93-9. 3, Jordyn Vaile, CB, 88-01. 4, Justine Upton, Gla, 86-4. 5, Brittany Earnest, FH, 84-0. 6, Abby Strellnauer, WF, 83-4.

Javelin - 1, Shelby Backer, WF, 108-4. 2, Cera Lau, FH, 104-11. 3, Brady Gray, CB, 98-10. 4, Ceanna Johnson, Cut Bank, 98-8. 5, Chancey Auge, Lib, 98-5. 6, Elle Stricker, Gla, 97-8.