Off and running: Glacier, Flathead teams leading the way at Western divisional

When Shane Freese was a freshman at Glacier High he had to be talked into going out for track.

Now in his final days of high school, Freese is happy he decided to give it a try.

The mohawked senior has the Wolfpack within grasp of gold after winning his third consecutive Western AA high jump title on Friday at Legends Stadium.

After the first day of events, the Glacier boys lead the seven-team divisional with 81.5 points. Helena Capital is second with 48 and Flathead is a close third with 47.5.

For girls, the Bravettes are in second place with 43 points followed by Glacier with 40. Helena High leads with 71.

On an overcast day that no one could complain about this spring, Freese cleared a season-best 6-foot-8 to win and went after 6-11 just to try.

He missed by a toenail, but settling for a third division title in a row was fine by him.

"It feels good. I was thinking about it today, that's a big accomplishment for me," Freese, who tied for fifth at state last year and was second in 2009, said of his school-record feat. "From not even wanting to do track as a freshman to now being a three-time divisional champ, it means a lot to me."

Freese went on to win the long jump also, edging teammate Kyle Griffith.

Flathead's Zach Perrin continued his successful sophomore season along with the tradition of Braves being on top the podium in the long distance events.

Perrin won the 3,200 with a state-best and seven-second personal-best time of 9:24.21. His time is the fastest by a sophomore at Flathead since David Vidal clocked almost the exact same in 1999.

In the 1,600 today, Perrin will battle the state's other great distance runner, Missoula Sentinel's Jake Turner, who took second in the 3,200 and won the 800 on Friday.

Glacier's Troy Fraley earned fifth in the 3,200.

Flathead's Tess Brenneman won the girl's long jump and took second in the 300 hurdles. In fact, four of the six placers in the girls long jump were local athletes. Glacier's Lexy Boschee was second, Kwyn Johnson of Flathead was fourth and teammate Emma Andrews was fifth.

Johnson also placed fifth in the 300 hurdles. Teammate Paige Bouma was fourth in the 3,200. Cera Lau was fifth in the javelin, Kelsey Davis was fifth in the shot put and Kayla Mitchell took sixth in the pole vault.

Glacier teammates Anna Deleray and Heather Fraley traded leads throughout the girls 800 before Deleray kicked down the final 100 for the victory. Fraley also placed third in the 3,200 and teammate Rachael Hart was fifth. In the boys 800, Glacier's Richie Boyer placed third and Flathead's Hunter Schutt was fifth.

Glacier's Monique Cannady took third in the girls pole vault.

Glacier senior Jacob Leininger powered through the 300 hurdles for his first individual division trophy, something that has alluded him throughout his high school career because of hard-luck injuries.

"I'm happy. I had qualified earlier this year but I still wanted to win it because it's senior year," he said. "I'm excited for next week."

Glacier sophomore Andrew Nelson took the baton on the final leg of the short relay with the Wolfpack standing in third place. Nelson powered down the final stretch and made up ground for the photo-finish victory. Nelson, Griffith, Leininger and Aaron Mitchell set a new personal best time of 43.88.

The field eventers piled up points for Glacier as they have all season. In the javelin, Jeremy Leopold took second, Todd Ogden was third and Taylor Hulslander was sixth. In pole vault, Travis Komenda and Josiah Bumgarner tied for third. Rial Gunlikson took sixth in the high jump.

For the Braves, Dianicio Cantu finished second in the high jump. John Collins placed third in the 300 hurdles. Connor Thomas was third in the shot put, Tanner Thiel was fourth and Ian Kirchoff was fifth. Thiel also took fifth in the javelin. Dylan Creek tied for fifth in the pole vault. The short relay team took third.

The divisional meet concludes today with field events starting at 10:30 a.m. and track events beginning at 11:30.

CORRECTION: The number of athletes who advance to the state meet through the divisional changed this season from the top five to the top six.

BOYS

Team scores - Glacier 81.5, Helena Capital 48, Flathead 47.5, Helena 31, Missoula Sentinel 28, Missoula Big Sky 25, Missoula Hellgate 18.

Individual results

800 - 1, Jake Turner, Sent, 1:58.36. 2, Killian Smith, Cap, 1:58.54. 3, Richie Boyer, Gla, 2:01.67. 4, Sawyer Moranville, Cap, 2:03.33. 5, Hunter Schutt, Fla, 2:04.06. 6, Ed Kapalczynski, BSky, 2:04.78.

3200 - 1, Zach Perrin, Fla, 9:24.21. 2, Jake Turner, Sent, 9:27.57. 3, Adam Peterman, Helg, 9:31.64. 4, Matt Barker, Hele, 9:42.63. 5, Troy Fraley, Gla, 9:44.06. 6, Mark Messmer, Sent, 10:00.32.

300 hurdles - 1, Jacob Leininger, Gla, 39.70. 2, Beau Berg, Cap, 40.37. 3, John Collins, Fla, 40.48. 4, Jay Owens, BSky, 41.17. 5, Brian Sinrud, Cap, 41.45. 6, Nick Propp, Sent, 41.97.

400 relay - 1, Glacier (Kyle Griffith, Aaron Mitchell, Jacob Leininger, Andrew Nelson), 43.88. 2, Helena, 43.90. 3, Flathead, 44.23. 4, Helena Capital, 44.40. 5, Missoula Sentinel, 44.71. 6, Missoula Hellgate, 45.47.

High jump - 1, Shane Freese, Gla, 6-8. 2, Dianicio Cantu, Fla, 5-11. 3, Cory Allen, Hele, 5-11. 4, Daniel Lympus, Helg, 5-11. 4, Cole Baker, BSky, 5-11. 6, Rial Gunlikson, Gla, 5-7. 6, Brady Kimball, Cap, 5-7.

Pole vault - 1, Jason Allred, Cap, 14-0. 2, T.J. Bomar, Hele, 13-0. 3 (tie), Travis Komenda, Gla, 13-0. 3, Josiah Bumgarner, Gla, 13-0. 5 (tie), Dominick Speranza, Cap, 12-6. Dylan Creek, Fla, 12-6.

Long jump - 1, Shane Freese, Gla, 21-3 1/4. 2, Kyle Griffith, Gla, 21-1. 3, Michael Duncan, BSky, 20-6 1/2. 4, Nate Caldwell, Hele, 20-4 1/2. 5, Zach Murphy, Sent, 20-4. 6, Austin Lindquist, BSky, 20-1.

Shot put - 1, Darby Maier, BSky, 51-3 1/2. 2, Jesse Ginn, Helg, 51-3. 3, Connor Thomas, Fla, 50-3 1/2. 4, Tanner Thiel, Fla, 49-8 1/2. 5, Ian Kirchoff, Fla, 48-4. 6, Nate Hinrichs, Hele, 47-3 1/2.

Javelin - 1, Trey Spirlin, Cap, 188-3. 2, Jeremy Leopold, Gla, 182-2. 3, Todd Ogden, Gla, 177-5. 4, Howard Juneau, Sent, 172-8. 5, Tanner Thiel, Fla, 171-4. 6, Taylor Huslander, Gla, 166-0.

GIRLS

Team scores - Helena 71, Flathead 43, Glacier 40, Missoula Hellgate 31, Missoula Big Sky 26, Helena Capital 19, Missoula Sentinel 18.

Individual results

300 hurdles - 1, Liz Harper, Sent, 44.56. 2, Tess Brenneman, Fla, 45.45. 3, Allison Morrison, Hele, 46.47. 4, Elle Tinkle, BSky, 46.87. 5, Kwyn Johnson, Fla, 47.16. 6, Monica Grimsrud, Hele, 47.57.

800 - 1, Anna Deleray, Gla, 2:16.82. 2, Heather Fraley, Gla, 2:17.40. 3, Katie McKay, BSky, 2:22.99. 4, Breanna Jaynes, Sent, 2:23.67. 5, Jessica Diehl, BSky, 2:23.92. 6, Eryn Boyer, BSky, 2:24.14.

3200 - 1, Paige Gilchrist, Helg, 11:06.87. 2, Leah Esposito, Hele, 11:25.10. 3, Heather Fraley, Gla, 11:40.38. 4, Paige Bouma, Fla, 11:43.13. 5, Rachael Hart, Gla, 11:49.56. 6, Addie Melvin, Helg, 11:50.37.

400 relay - 1, Missoula Big Sky (Natalie Zimmer, Katie McKay, Brielle Rolle, Morgan Braby), 50.04. 2, Flathead, 50.23. 3, Helena, 50.36. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 51.30. 5, Missoula Hellgate, 51.47. 6, Helena Capital, 51.51.

Pole vault - 1, Taylor Allen, Helg, 10-6. 2, Terah Cundith, Hele, 10-0. 3, Monique Cannady, Gla, 10-0. 4, Adelheid Langer, Helg, 9-6. 5, Brielle Rolle, BSky, 9-0. 6, Kayla Mitchell, Fla, 9-0.

Long jump - 1, Tess Brenneman, Fla, 17-11 1/2. 2, Lexy Boschee, Gla, 17-5. 3, Allison Morrison, Hele, 17-2 3/4. 4, Kwyn Johnson, Fla, 16-7 1/2. 5, Emma Andrews, Fla, 16-5 1/4. 6, Kristen Daugherty, BSky, 16-3 1/4.

Shot put - 1, Taylor Corne, Cap, 39-1 1/2. 2, Taylor Kanthack, Hele, 37-1. 3, Taylor Amestoy, Hele, 36-3 3/4. 4, Lexie Hildebrand, Hele, 34-7 1/2. 5, Kelsey Davis, Fla, 34-7. 6, Kaye Bignell, Cap, 34-2 1/2.

Javelin - 1, Kyndal Williams, Hele, 124-8. 2, Kayla Cummings, Hele, 123-4. 3, Kaci Matthies, Cap, 119-5. 4, Raina Walther, Helg, 117-1. 5, Cera Lau, Fla, 112-7. 6, Kaye Bignell, Cap, 111-1.