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Bigfork’s Wyatt Duke soars to personal best in high jump

by FRITZ NEIGHBOR
Daily Inter Lake | April 6, 2021 8:28 PM

Conditions weren’t optimal for running fast times at Legends Stadium, where host Flathead ran a time trials meet Tuesday: Runners had to contend with a bracing head wind on the straightaway.

Less affected was Bigfork high jumper Wyatt Duke, a senior who cleared 6 feet, 8 inches in a cross wind.

It was the outstanding mark of the unscored meet, though Whitefish hurdler Hailey Ells clocked 48.39 seconds through the girls 300s. It was a slight surprise for Duke, though he had cleared 6-8 before.

“In practice,” he noted. “Late in July last year, we had two weeks where we practiced because we didn’t have a season because of COVID. Before we put the mats up, we put the bar up at 6-8 and I cleared that — and then we decided to call it good until the season.

“And now, here we are.”

Duke, who cleared 6-6 to finish second at the 2019 State B meet, had issues getting past 6-2 Tuesday, needing three attempts.

“And the bar fell off (on the third attempt),” he added. “I think I was off the mat before the bar fell, which I think is … some kind of rule? Then we put it up at 6-4, cleared that first try; 6-6, I think I cleared that first try or second try. Then I got 6-8 my first try.”

He then missed three times at 6-10.

“I wanted to go up to 6-9, but my coach (Jim Epperly) said, ‘Nope, 6-10,’” Duke said. “I love him. Without him I wouldn’t be jumping 6-8, that’s for sure.”

Duke, who’s drawn interest from MSU-Billings’ track and field program, also won the 110-meter hurdles in — through that head wind — 17.86 seconds. His teammate Wyatt Johnson won the 300 hurdles in 45.35.

Another Bigfork athlete, Cormac Benn, won twice: in the 200 and the long jump. Benn went 20-8.25 in the latter. In all the Vikings won nine of 17 events, including the short relay.

There were two double-winners among the girls, both from Flathead: Tessa Smith in the high and triple jumps and Rebecca Eacker in the discus and shot put.

Flathead swept the relays and went 1-2 in a photo-finish at 3,200 meters. Lilli Rumsey Eash crossed in 11.48.50, and Hannah Perrin was .08 behind. Perrin won the 1,600 in 5:22.53.

Whitefish speedster Mikenna Ells passed on the 400 and ran the 800, finishing second to the Bravettes’ Tori Noland-Gillespie, who clocked 2:32.04.

In all, Flathead girls won 14 of 17 events. Whitefish had wins from Brooke Zetooney in the 200, Hailey Ells — she edged Flathead’s Skye Thompson in the 300 hurdles — and Erin Wilde in the long jump.

BOYS

100 — 1, Alec Thomas, Fla, 12.25; 2, Joseph Farrier, Bgf, 12.33; 3, Marvin Kimera, Wfh, 12.36; 4, Cormac Benn, Bgf, 12.37.

200 — 1, Cormac Benn, Bgf, 24.56; 2, Alec Thomas, Fla, 24.83; 3, Nate Prieto, Fla, 24.88; 4, Colter Gaertner, Wfh, 25.00.

400 — 1, Colter Gaertner, Wfh, 54.39; 2, Jackson Walker, Fla, 54.90; 3, Maddox Mater, Bgf, 56.03; 4, Connor Wride, Fla, 56.69.

800 — 1, Grant Gauthier, Fla, 2;12.53; 2, Jack Jensen, Bgf, 2;15.90; 3, Mason Genovese, Wfh, 2:17.19; 4, Robert Walker, Fla, 2;17.84.

1600 — 1, Jack Jensen, Bgf, 5:04.61; 2, Bauer Hollman, Fla, 5:07.39; 3, Kesler Hughes, Fla, 5:08.44; 4, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 5:10.18.

3200 — 1, Gabe Felton, Fla, 11:04.83; 2, Samuel Aczas, Fla, 11:40.86; 3, Landon Brown, Wfh, 11:42.25; 4, Bo Modderman, Bgf, 11:44.37.

110 hurdles — 1, Wyatt Duke, Bgf, 17.86; 2, Jordan Betts, Bgf, 18.60; 3, Bowdrie Krack, Wfh, 20.05; 4, Carter Bullins, Fla, 20.14.

300 hurdles — 1, Wyatt Johnson, Bgf, 45.35, 2, Jordan Betts, Bgf, 47.66; 3, Bowdrie Krack, Wfh, 49.19; 4, Chandler Noland-Gillespie, Fla, 50.60.

400 relay — 1, Bigfork (Joseph Farrier, Cormac Benn, George Bucklin, Noah Kinslow) 46.12; 2, Flathead 46.26; 3, Bigfork 46.99; 4, Flathead 47.73; 5, Whitefish 49.51.

1600 relay — 1, Flathead (Brody Thornberry, Robert Walker, Jackson Walker, Grant Gauthier) 3:43.55; 2, Bigfork 3:47.42; 3, Whitefish 3:47.49.

Discus — 1, Kayden Berkey, Fla, 105-10; 2, Timer Richberg, fla, 102-0.5; 3, Silvestre Rodriguez, Bgf, 97-8; 4, Joseph Farrier, Bgf, 91-5.

Javelin — 1, Rowdy Kellough, Fla, 139-0; 2, Ethan Aegerter, Fla, 132-8; 3, Shelton Woll, Bgf, 128-5; 4, Dominick Mitten, Fla, 116-9.

Shot put — 1, Levi Taylor, Bgf, 46-2.5; 2, Logan Lang, Fla, 39-2; 3, Alec Thomas, Fla, 38-10; 4, Kayden Berkey, Fla, 36-7.

High jump — 1, Wyatt Duke, Bgf, 6-8; 2, Elliot Sanford, Bgf, 5-9; 3, Brady Thornsberry, Fla, 5-5. 4, Dylan Zink, Fla, 5-3.

Long jump — 1, Cormac Benn, Bgf, 20-8.25; 2, Nicolas Gustafson, Fla, 18-11.25; 3, Dylan Zink, Fla, 18-8; 4, Brady Thornsberry, fla, 17-7.

Triple jump — 1, Dylan Zink, Fla, 39-1; 2, Barrett Garcia, Wfh, 37-10.2; 3, Mason Genovese, Wfh, 37-7.75; 4, Morgan Kyle, Wfh, 37-4.5.

Pole vault — 1, Seth Osborne, Bgf, 11-0; 2, Timothy Weymouth, Fla, 10-0; 3, Shelton Woll, Bgf, 9-6; 4, Wyatt Johnson, Bgf, 8-6.

GIRLS

100 — 1, Akilah Kubi, Fla, 13.53; 2, Kelcey Copping, Fla, 13.55; 3, Aleeya Derlatka, fla, 13.61; 4, Skye Thompson, Fla, 13.67.

200 — 1, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 27.61; 2, Kelcey Copping, Fla, 28.00; 3, Lily Tanko, Fla, 28.24; 4, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 28.41.

400 — 1, Peyton Walker, Fla, 64.50; 2, Afton Wride, fla, 66.38; 3, Lauren McConnell, Fla, 67.68; 4, Harlie Roth, Fla, 68.31.

800 — 1, Tori Noland-Gillespie, Fla, 2:32.04; 2, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 2:34.19; 3, Kya Wood, Fla, 2:45.57; 4, Elley Alvord, Fla, 2:55.26.

1600 — 1, Hannah Perrin, Fla, 5:22.63; 2, isabelle Cooke, Wfh, 5:51.04; 3, Olivia Genovese, Wfh, 5:57.98; 4, Nora Iams, Fla, 6:05.95.

3200 — 1, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Fla, 11:48.50; 2, Hannah Perrin, Fla, 11:48.58; 3, Madelaine Jelllison, Fla, 12:49.04; 4, Morgan Grube, Wfh, 13;11.55.

100 hurdles — 1, Lily Tanko, Fla, 17.31; 2, Addison Reichner, Bgf, 18.77; 3, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 19:03. 4, Mia Stephan, Fla, 19.30.

300 hurdles — 1, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 48.39; 2, Skye Thompson, Fla, 49.28; 3, Cerise Lee, Fla, 50.17; 4, Mykel Lee, Fla, 51.06.

400 relay — 1, Flathead (Rylee Barnes, Kelcey Copping, Skye Thompson, Akilah Kubi) 51.87; 2, Whitefish 53.00; 3, Bigfork 54.74.

1600 relay — 1, Flathead (Cerise Lee, Tori Noland-Gillespie, Kubi, Peyton Walker) 4:21.42; 2, Whitefish 4:28.15; 3, Whitefish 4:35.63.

Discus — 1, Rebecca Eacker, Fla, 97-1; 2, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 82-1; 3, Olivia Ellison, Bgf, 80-2; 4, Scout Nadeau, Bgf, 78-11.

Javelin — 1, Taliana Miller, Fla, 101-8; 2, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 97-8; 3, Kya Wood, fla, 94-8; 4, Libby Reiner, Fla, 90-7.

Shot put — 1, Rebecca Eacker, Fla, 32-10.25; 2, Libby Reiner, 31-11; 3, Savanna Sterck, Fla, 30-11; 4, Olivia Ellison, Bgf, 29-9.5.

High jump — 1, Tessa Smith, Fla, 4-9; 2 (tie), Nora Iams, Fla, and Hania Halverson, Fla, 4-5; 4, Ryenne Schoknecht, Fla, 4-5.

Long jump — 1, Erin Wilde, Wfh, 16-1.5; 2, Akilah Kubi, Fla, 14-7; 3, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 14-5.5; 4, Mia Stephan, Fla, 14-5.

Triple jump — 1, Tessa Smith, Fla, 33-0; 2, Afton Wride, Fla, 31-9; 3, Maddy Moy, Fla, 31-4; 4, Mia Stephan, Fla, 30-8.

Pole vault — 1, Hania Halverson, Fla, 7-6; 2, Addison Reichner, Bgf, 7-0; 3, Teagan Halloran, Fla, 7-0; 4, Taylor Gentry, Wfh, 6-6.

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Flathead's Hannah Perrin approaches the finish line the 1600 meter run during a track and field meet with Whitefish and Bigfork high schools at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

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Flathead's Peyton Walker competes in the long jump during a track and field meet with Whitefish and Bigfork high schools at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

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From left, Flathad's Nate Prieto, Whitefish's Marvin Kimera, Flathead's Sam Hopp and Bigfork's Joseph Farrier compete in the 100 meter dash during a track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

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Whitefish's Ethan Schott competes in the long jump during a track and field meet with Flathead and Bigfork high schools at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

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From left, Flathead's Akilah Kubi, Skyleigh Thompson and Kelcey Copping compete in the 100 meter dash during a track and field meet with Whitefish and Bigfork high schools at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

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Whitefish's Hailey Ells clears the last jump in the 300 meter hurdles during a track and field meet with Bigfork and Flathead high schools at Legends Stadium on Tuesday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)