TRACK: Distance aces take aim at Archie Roe Invitational

With more than 1,000 competitors from 15 schools represented, the Archie Roe Invitational track meet will once again host a field of the best athletes in Montana when it kicks off today at Legends Stadium.

The field will be highlighted again by the distance races, where Glacier’s Annie Hill and a field of talented runners will look to attack some well-established meet records.

Hill set the meet record last year in the 1,600-meter run, beating the old mark by nearly 7 seconds while running the second-fastest time ever recorded in a state high school meet in 4:49.65.

She’s on an even faster pace in her sophomore season, and will take aim at her own record in the 1,600 and a 12-year-old mark in the 3,200 in addition to running the long relay as she ramps up her conditioning for the postseason.

Hill topped her Roe record time by five seconds earlier this year, finishing in 4:44.67 at the Great Falls Optimist meet, marking the fourth-best time in the country this year. She’s also on pace to push the meet record in the 3,200, where she set a state best time of 10:31.14 at the crosstown dual and has the third-best time in the country after a 10:14.14 finish in California.

She should have competition in the races as well, with Bigfork’s Bryn Morley and Flathead’s Gillian Maness and Kaitlin Wride each posting top 10 times in the state in the distances this season.

On the boys side, Flathead’s Jake Perrin will challenge for a pair of distance records set by his older brother, Zach, three years ago. Perrin’s best times in the 1,600 and 3,200 rival his brother’s meet record times, having run 4:16.54 in the 1,600 in Missoula last month and 9:02.49 in the 3,200 in California.

Perrin will need to carry that West Coast speed in Montana, however, where the best marks hover around 9:30, still 18 seconds too slow. Bigfork’s Logan Morley has a best time of 9:34 in the event and Perrin 9:36 in state.

Glacier’s Aaron Robinson has the state’s best time in the 300 hurdles, where his mark of 35.82 seconds at the Western Top 10 in Missoula would best the Archie Roe record by more than three seconds.

Whitefish’s Luke May is within a short heave of the javelin record, with a state-best mark of 205 feet, 4 inches this season. The future University of Minnesota thrower will need to find another foot to best the record, where his career-best throw of 206-7 would beat the record by three inches.

The weather is forecast to be in the high-70s and sunny, which should be ideal conditions for good times and distances. The meet begins at 10 a.m. with the 3,200.

41st Archie Roe Invitational

Meet Records

BOYS

Athlete School Mark Year

100 Graig Galle Flathead 10.70 1995

200 Ralph Dempsey Cut Bank 21.90 1991

400 Cody Henning Whitefish 49.25 2004

800 David Vidal Flathead 1:55.9 2001

1,600 Zach Perrin Flathead 4:16.6 2013

3,200 Zach Perrin Flathead 9:13.3 2013

110 Hurdles Jamison Banna Flathead 14.10 1988

300 Hurdles Drew Owens Flathead 38.91 2010

400 Relay Missoula Hellgate 42.90 2002

1,600 Relay Whitefish 3:23.8 2004

Shot Put Scott Steckel Havre 60-5.5 1980

Discus Lee Tillman Havre 187-7 1987

Javelin (new) Nate Bach T. Falls 206-4 2005

High Jump Mark Koefelda Hellgate 7-0 1993

Long Jump Trevor Gunlock Polson 22-7.5 2000

Triple Jump Matt Tokarz Flathead 47-5.5 2013

Pole Vault Curt Rogers Whitefish 15-6 2007

GIRLS

100 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 12.5 2013

200 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 25.5 2013

400 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 57.26 2013

800 Makena Morley Bigfork 2:16.2 2013

1,600 Annie Hill Glacier 4:49.6 2015

3,200 Zoe Nelson Flathead 10:27.9 2004

100 Hurdles Lexie Miller Flathead 14.4 1979

Claudine Robinson Hellgate 14.4 1989

300 Hurdles Hailey Phillips Plains 44.43 2015

400 Relay Flathead 49.34 2013

1,600 Relay Flathead 4:03.1 2007

Shot Put Laine Botchek Big Sky 44-6.25 1999

Discus Bree Fuqua Polson 148-9 1999

Javelin (new) Marissa Tschida Loyola 141-6 2005

High Jump Lexi Boschee Glacier 5-9 2012

Brenda Naber Havre 5-9 1992

Long Jump Tess Brenneman Flathead 18-7 2010

Triple Jump Kasey Harwood Polson 37-4.5 2004

Pole Vault Melinda Owen Polson 12-3 2003