Terry column: Valley of the run

Startlingly fast distance runners aren’t new to the Flathead Valley.

A quick glimpse at the Montana high school record books shows a handful of names from area schools at the top of the lists.

Flathead’s Zach Perrin and Glacier’s Troy Fraley ran the fastest two 3,200-meter runs in state history at the crosstown dual in 2013.

Flathead’s David Vidal still holds the 1,600 state record he set in 2001.

Seth Watkins and Kevin Clary are in the top 10 and Brett Winegar and Brad Treat in the top 20.

Flathead’s Zoe Nelson held the fastest girls 1,600 time for eight years and still holds the 3,200 state record.

This weekend, as the state track meet returns to Kalispell for the first time since 2009, the area’s newest crop of distance stars is looking to set some major milestones.

Of the girls distance runners in the state this year, six of the top eight in the 3,200 are from the  Flathead Valley. So are six of the top nine in the 1,600. Three of the top four boys 3,200 runners hail from the area and each of those three are in the top eight milers.

 Bigfork senior Makena Morley has been awing the state for the last four years with her times and will finish her remarkable prep career near home this weekend.

A two-time state champion in 800, 1,600 and 3,200, she has sat most of her senior season with a blood disorder. She’s ramped up her times the last few weeks and is at or near the top of the state in each race again.

The only reason she’s not far ahead of the field, like she has been for most of her career, is this year’s freshman class.

Makena’s younger sister, Bryn, leads Class B in the 800 and 1,600.

Glacier freshman Annie Hill leads the state in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

And for brief moment at Legends Stadium this weekend, all three will be chasing state history.

All three are in range of setting the all-class state records in each of the three distance races. Each has been close all season, but officially, state records can only be set at the state track meets.

Morley witnessed the records set first hand her sophomore season, when Townsend’s Chiara Warner, racing in the final meet of her career, set all three Class B marks and the all-class mark in the 1,600, by beating Morley at the state meet in Bozeman.

Hill ran inside of a second of the all-class 1,600 record while running unopposed at Legends earlier this season during the Archie Roe meet. She was inside two seconds of the all-class 800 record last week at the Western AA divisional.

Both Hill and Bryn ran even faster marks last season during a middle school meet. Makena has been stalking all three records since her freshman year.

The 1,600 will be run Friday and the 800 and 3,200 on Saturday, the Morley sisters and their Class B competition running immediately before Hill and Class AA.

Those three aren’t the only area distance      runners within range of history. Across the state in Laurel, Columbia Falls’ Samantha Mundel will be shooting for the Class A record in the 1,600 and 3,200, marks she’s come within seconds of touching this year.

The boys races should also be interesting, with Bigfork’s Logan Morley looking to defend his 1,600 title, while also entering with the state’s top 3,200 time. Flathead’s Sylas Schutt and Jake Perrin are also at the top of their class in the distance races.

There will be other athletes seeking to defend state titles or capture them for the first time, notably in the field events, with some of the state’s top jumpers and throwers also hailing from the Northwest.

But it’s the longest races that will once again take the spotlight, and a few remarkable athletes that may make this weekend one for the record books.