Western AA divisional track: Braves, Wolfpack share title
<p>Glacier’s Tessa Krueger lets the discus fly Saturday morning during the second day of Western AA divisional track meet at Legends Stadium. She finished second with a distance of 127 feet, 9 inches. </p>
<p>Flathead’s Mattie Mazur (right) and Rhiannon Sturgess compete in the 100-meter hurdles Saturday morning at the Western AA divisional track meet at Legends Stadium. Sturgess finished second (15.86) and Mazur third (16.41). (Patrick Cote/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
In one of the closest competitions in state history, Flathead and Glacier’s boys tied for the team championship at the Western AA divisional track meet on Saturday at Legends Stadium. The top four boys teams were separated by just five points.
It was a win in the final event, a hurl of 166 feet, 7 inches in the discus by the Braves’ Caleb McCracken that secured the tie for Flathead. The Braves had entered the final two events trailing Glacier by four points, but passed the Wolfpack on the homestretch of the 1,600 relay to finish fifth. McCracken’s winning throw bested Glacier’s Zach Dennehy by four feet to take the divisional title and tie for the team gold. It was the best throw for McCracken this season by more than nine feet.
It was a successful day for both teams on the track and in the field, where they made up double-digit points on Helena High to win by one.
The Braves’ Jess Beaman leapt 43-6 3/4 to win the triple jump and the Braves placed eight athletes and a relay team on the second day, including half of the field in the 110-meter hurdles.
Glacier’s Evan Epperly ran away from the field to win both the 100 and 200 and ran a personal best mark in the 400 to pace the Wolfpack on the track, despite a headwind on the main stretch.
“It was kind of nice to have them all right in a row, so I could stay warm,” Epperly said. “A little bit of a headwind on the straightaway. You definitely felt it, but everyone has to run with it so I can’t complain.
“Super fast heat today in the 400. I knew if I stayed up with those top guys I’d have a good time. I just went out with them and had to finish as hard as I can.”
Glacier teammate Nathan Connell held off a strong effort from Hellgate’s Christopher Herrick to run his fastest time of the season and win the 1,600 in 4:27.22.
“It was a tough one,” Connell said.
“I knew I had good competition in Chris. I knew I had to outkick him at the end. It was going to be close at the beginning. I just had to go out and follow the strategy that coach laid out for me and it worked out.
“(The plan was to) stay with him the first 1,000 (meters) and just draft behind. Then push it and make him hurt at the end and pass him when I felt like I could win.
“I knew if I stayed behind I wouldn’t be able to beat him. I had to stay out front and hold on.”
Glacier placed three boys and the long relay on the second day.
The Wolfpack’s Zoee Boschee won the triple jump with a season-best leap of 35-4 3/4 in the day’s final field event. She was the only local girl to win an event on the second day as Missoula Big Sky handily won the team title. Glacier finished a distant second.
Glacier placed 13 athletes and its relay on the second day, including four athletes in the triple jump and three in the discus.
Flathead’s Rhiannon Sturgess couldn’t follow her winning performance in Friday’s 300 hurdles with a sweep, finishing second in the 100 hurdles to Big Sky’s Hannah Entzel. The Bravettes’ Mattie Mazur finished third.
“That wasn’t my best race ever,” Sturgess said.
“I’m frustrated with it, but at least it wasn’t at state. That’s what I’m trying to focus on (the state meet).”
The Bravettes placed five athletes and a relay on the second day and nearly doubled its expected group heading to state with the athletes that made qualifying marks.
The state meet begins Friday at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls. Also hosting the Class C, the meet runs through Saturday.
Western AA divisional meet
Saturday
At Legends Stadium
BOYS
Team Totals
Flathead 93, Glacier 93, Capital 92, Helena 88, Big Sky 68, Hellgate 54, Sentinel 39
Events
100 — 1, Evan Epperly, Glacier, 11.38. 2, Kyle Nickol, Capital, 11.45. 3, Brady Heffner, Big Sky, 11.65. 3, Anthony Taylor, Capital, 11.65. 5, Nick VanHorssen, Helena, 11.68. 6, Sam Kirkedie, Big Sky, 11.77.
200 — 1, Evan Epperly, Glacier, 23.06. 2, Kyle Nickol, Capital, 23.14. 3, Anthony Taylor, Capital, 23.31. 4, Easton Johnson, Flathead, 23.83. 5, Brady Heffner, Big Sky, 23.84. 6, Sam Kirkedie, Big Sky, 23.89.
400 — 1, Kyle Nickol, Capital, 48.96. 2, Sterling Reneau, Sentinel, 49.40. 3, Kyle Cochran, Helena, 49.77. 4, Evan Epperly, Glacier, 49.82. 5, Danny McLain, Capital, 51.05. 6, Chris Lange, Big Sky, 51.30.
1,600 — 1, Nathan Connell, Glacier, 4:27.72. 2, Christopher Herrick, Hellgate, 4:28.61. 3, Sam Barrett, Hellgate, 4:31.72. 4, Aidan Reed, Helena, 4:32.31. 5, Chance Kittle, Flathead, 4:32.60. 6, Marcus Bearmedicine, Sentinel, 4:35.90.
110 Hurdles — 1, Chris Lange, Big Sky, 15.07. 2, Chade Gonter, Flathead, 15.41. 3, Josh Barrows, Helena, 15.46. 4, Dillon Thomas, Flathead, 15.66. 5, Josh Osborne, Flathead, 15.74. 6, Noah James, Glacier, 15.82.
1,600 Relay — 1, Capital ‘A’ (Levi Donaldson, Daniel Van Dyke, Danny McLain, Ryan Burger), 3:25.70. 2, Big Sky ‘A’, 3:27.79. 3, Helena ‘A’, 3:28.40. 4, Sentinel ‘A’, 3:30.68. 5, Flathead ‘A’, 3:31.28. 6, Glacier ‘A’, 3:31.76.
Triple Jump — 1, Jess Beaman, Flathead, 43-6.75. 2, Alex Morren, Big Sky, 42-10. 3, Kyle Nickol, Capital, 42-4. 4, Keaton Krantz, Flathead, 42-3. 5, Jorden Smith, Hellgate, 42-2. 6, Brock Shaide, Big Sky, 41-9.
Discus — 1, Caleb McCracken, Flathead, 166-7. 2, Zach Dennehy, Glacier, 162-7. 3, Kolby Tamol, Capital, 151-6. 4, Dakota Dunlap, Helena, 149-8. 5, Zayne Babbitt, Hellgate, 149-2. 6, Riley Linsted, Sentinel, 148-2.
GIRLS
Team Totals
Big Sky 132.5, Glacier 95, Helena 84.5, Hellgate 62, Flathead 61, Sentinel 60, Capital 32
Events
100 — 1, Anna Jarrett, Big Sky, 12.74. 2, Callie Kanthack, Helena, 12.78. 3, Hannah Porch, Big Sky, 12.81. 4, Kenzie Wingard, Hellgate, 12.96. 5, Shauna Williams, Glacier, 12.97. 6, Moncia White, Flathead, 13.08.
200 — 1, Callie Kanthack, Helena, 25.71. 2, Hannah Porch, Big Sky, 25.79. 3, Anna Jarrett, Big Sky, 26.08. 4, Kenzie Wingard, Hellgate, 26.55. 5, Shauna Williams, Glacier, 26.75. 6, Hannah Kearns, Big Sky, 26.99.
400 — 1, Carly Smiedala, Helena, 58.33. 2, Josey Smiedala, Helena, 59.29. 3, Syd Steele, Sentinel, 1:00.20. 4, Olivia Burgad, Sentinel, 1:00.94. 5, Ahna Kreitenger, Glacier, 1:01.11. 6, Brielle Bumgarner, Glacier, 1:01.89.
1,600 — 1, Madeline Hamilton, Sentinel, 5:14.69. 2, Madison Liechty, Sentinel, 5:16.64. 3, Samantha Sayer, Hellgate, 5:20.70. 4, Miranda Foster, Hellgate, 5:20.75. 5, Bailey Smith, Glacier, 5:22.74. 6, Haley Rogers, Sentinel, 5:25.74.
100 Hurdles — 1, Hannah Entzel, Big Sky, 15.76. 2, Rhiannon Sturgess, Flathead, 15.86. 3, Mattie Mazur, Flathead, 16.41. 4, Brynn McChesney, Glacier, 16.42. 5, Courtney Carl, Big Sky, 16.74. 6, Hannah Coburn, Big Sky, 16.96.
1,600 Relay — 1, Helena ‘A’ (Jamie Orme, Callie Kanthack, Josey Smiedala, Carly Smiedala), 4:02.28. 2, Big Sky ‘A’, 4:09.14. 3, Glacier ‘A’, 4:12.34. 4, Flathead ‘A’, 4:14.05. 5, Capital ‘A’, 4:21.65. 6, Hellgate ‘A’, 4:29.91.
High Jump — 1, Hana Feilzer, Big Sky, 5-3. 2, Maggie Settle, Capital, 5-1. 3, Katie Wiley, Glacier, 4-11. 3, Janae Moon, Flathead, 4-11. 3, Kaci Paffhausen, Hellgate, 4-11. 6, Tia Kohs, Flathead, 4-11.
Triple Jump — 1, Zoee Boschee, Glacier, 35-4.75. 2, Janae Moon, Flathead, 34-11.50. 3, Courtney Carl, Big Sky, 33-4. 4, Caitlyn Douglas, Glacier, 33-1.50. 5, Abi Fiske, Glacier, 33-1.25. 6, Taylor Salonen, Glacier, 32-9.
Discus — 1, Hana Feilzer, Big Sky, 145-3. 2, Tessa Krueger, Glacier, 127-9. 3, Shauna Williams, Glacier, 120-4. 4, Nikki Krueger, Glacier, 110-6. 5, Emily Kananen, Capital, 105-10. 6, Shanna Florschinger, Helena, 105-10.