Ells, Glacier boys prevail at end of long day

Sam Ells is used to long days, and Tuesday was one of those for the Glacier distance standout: The crosstown track and field dual with Flathead gave him a late-May menu with swirling winds to boot.

The senior, outstanding on the soccer pitch and cross country course last fall, swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 on Glacier’s wind-swept track. The hosts won their dual with Flathead, 117-19.

The Flathead girls were almost as dominant, winning 102-43.

“Today was just going to be a good work day,” said Ells, a future Montana State runner. “The goal was just to go out and compete. I was happy, especially with the windy conditions — I knew the times weren’t going to be all that fast.

“That 32 at the end was a nice cherry on top of the day.”

Ells’ 3,200 time of 9 minutes, 59.98 seconds puts him in the top four in Class AA, which is something to hang your Carhartt on. He wasn’t actually done there: He, his brother Liam and a couple others combined for a long relay that couldn’t catch the winning quartet of Jake Turner, Jeff Lillard, Connor Sullivan and Ethan Anderson (3:42.93).

“We were quite a ways back,” Ells said.

He ran 2:03.08 in the 800, which sits sixth in AA, and his performance helped Glacier win all 16 events Tuesday (the boys pole vault was scrapped because of the wind).

“We get to run at the (Swede) Dahlberg meet this week,” Glacier coach Arron Deck noted. “After last year having all duals, and we had a couple big meets canceled — the boys were ready to compete against someone other than ourselves.”

Among the highlights: Tate Kauffman’s mark of 44 feet, 7 inches in the triple jump sits atop the state for all classes, and Sullivan’s leap of 21-8 1/2 in the long jump is second.

Jackson Hensley won the 100 and 200 and anchored the short relay. Turner ran his first 400 in 53.74, which sits not far outside AA’s top 10.

“In that wind, that was impressive,” Ells said.

Another impressive 400 was run by Anderson, a freshman who subbed into the long relay and ran the fastest split. “That kid is a blue-chipper,” Deck said.

Jake Rendina’s winning shot put of 45-1 is 11th in AA; Xavier Stout and John Pyron finished 1-2 in the high jump, both clearing 5-10.

Flathead’s Zink now has the fifth-best long jump in AA after going 21-1 1/2, and sits right behind Kauffman in the triple with a mark of 43-11 Tuesday.

It should be noted that the jumpers had a tail wind: Still, the 17-1 1/2 that Flathead’s Akilah Kubi marked in the long jump is impressive. The mark ties for fifth in AA.

“She has been getting progressively better this season,” Flathead girls’ coach Kaylee Fox said. “I was pretty excited when I heard she went 17, that was pretty cool.”

Alivia Rinehart won the 200 and the 100 hurdles for the Bravettes, and teammate Taliana Miler swept the shot put and javelin.

“Tali Miller qualified in the shot put,” Fox noted of the junior, who marked 35-5. “She had a good day. She went to state in the javelin last year, but she really has come on pretty strong in the shot put. Like Akilah, she has been progressively getting better every week.

“She threw a good one out there. She’s very strong but is working hard to develop her technique in the throwing events, and it’s paying off.”

Miller’s winning javelin throw of 114-1 was just shy of the AA qualifying standard of 115-0. The girls did get their pole vault in: Flathead’s Hania Halverson won at 9-6.

Sidney Gulick took the 300 hurdles, one of five wins by the Glacier girls. Gulick’s time of 48.85 sits fifth in AA.

GIRLS

Flathead 102, Glacier 43

100 — 1, Noah Fincher, Glacier, 13.64. 2, Rylee Barnes, Flathead, 13.87. 3, Kelcey Copping, Flathead, 13.92.

200 — 1, Alivia Rinehart, Flathead, 29.10. 2, Payzlee Boyce, Flathead, 30.95. 3, Clare Converse, Flathead, 31.33.

400 — 1, Peyton Walker, Flathead, 1:06.14. 2, Afton Wride, Flathead, 1:10.73. 3, Charlotte Osler, Glacier, 1:13.00.

800 — 1, Alyssa Vollersten, Glacier, 2:30.44. 2, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Flathead, 2:32.32. 3, Holly Skelton, Glacier, 2:55.00.

1600 — 1, Josie Wilson, Flathead, 5:57.60. 2, Sierra Vickrey, Flathead, 6:25.83. 3, Holly Skelton, Glacier, 6:29.51.

3200 — 1, Madelaine Jellison, Flathead, 13:01.20. 2, Aurora Baker, Flathead, 13:56.04. 3, Mikenna Conan, Flathead, 14:28.81.

100 hurdles — 1, Alivia Rinehart, Flathead, 17.25. 2, Sidney Gulick, Glacier, 17.46. 3, Bailey Gable, Glacier, 18.55.

300 hurdles — 1, Sidney Gulick, Glacier, 48.85. 2, Harlie Roth, Flathead, 52.10. 3, Zoey Bortz, Flathead, 52.47.

400 relay — 1, Glacier (Kiera Sullivan, Reagan Brisendine, Bailey Gable, Noah Fincher) 51.63. 2, Flathead 51.75.

1600 relay — 1, Flathead 4:20.14 (Rylee Barnes, Kelcey Copping, Akilah Kubi, Peyton Walker). 2, Glacier 4:30.16.

Discus — 1, Cyan Mooney, Flathead, 101-6. 2, Isabella Shinn, Flathead, 98-0. 3, Delanie Schultz, Glacier, 93-3.

Javelin — 1, Taliana Miller, Flathead, 114-1. 2, Kya Wood, Flathead, 101-03. 3, Atlanta Waltman, Flathead, 99-10.

Shot put — 1, Taliana Miller, Flathead, 35-5. 2, Alliyah Stevens, Flathead, 33-2.5. 3, Delanie Schultz, Glacier, 32-1.5.

High jump — 1, Kennedy Moore, Flathead, 4-11. 2, Clare Converse, Flathead, 4-9. 2, Jaidyn Pevey, Glacier, 4-9.

Long jump — 1, Akilah Kubi, Flathead, 17-1.5. 2, Bethany Sorensen, Glacier, 16-3. 3, Natalie Fisher, Glacier, 15-9.5.

Triple jump — 1, Bethany Sorensen, Glacier, 34-0.5. 2, Mia Stephan, Flathead, 33-7. 3, Afton Wride, Flathead, 32-10.5.

Pole vault — 1, Hania Halverson, Flathead, 9-6. 2, Breanna Barnes, Glacier, 7-0. 3, Selah Lackey, Flathead, 7-0.

BOYS

Glacier 117, Flathead 19

100 — 1, Jackson Hensley, Glacier, 11.71. 2, Connor Sullivan, Glacier, 11.86. 3, Jake Turner, Glacier, 12.11.

200 — 1, Jackson Hensley, Glacier, 23.72. 2, Jeff Lillard, Glacier, 24.50. 3, Brody

Thornsberry, Flathead, 25.04.

400 — 1, Jake Turner, Glacier, 53.74. 2, Xavier Stout, Glacier, 54.81. 3, Jeff

Lillard, Glacier, 55.39.

800 — 1, Sam Ells, Glacier, 2:03.08. 2, Tyler Avery, Glacier, 2:08.27. 3, Gabe

Felton, Flathead, 2:09.62.

1,600 — 1, Sam Ells, Glacier, 4:43.92. 2, Gabe Felton, Flathead, 4:52.53. 3, Tyler

Avery, Glacier, 4:55.30.

3,200 — 1, Sam Ells, Glacier, 9:58.98. 2, Bauer Hollman, Flathead, 10:53.52. 3, Eric

Firestone, Glacier, 11:06.57.

110 hurdles — 1, Caleb Bernhardt, Glacier, 16.55. 2, Ethan Anderson, Glacier, 16.81. 3, Evan

Barnes, Glacier, 17.52.

300 hurdles — 1, Evan Barnes, Glacier, 44.82. 2, Carter Bullins, Flathead, 45.57. 3, Alex Hausmann, Glacier, 46.18.

400 relay — 1, Glacier (Jake Turner, Connor Sullivan, Jeff Lillard, Jackson Hensley) 44.20. 2, Flathead 46.44.

1,600 relay — 1, Glacier (Jake Turner, Jeff Lillard, Connor Sullivan, Ethan Anderson) 3:42.93. 2, Flathead 3:48.19.

Discus — 1, Aiden Krause, Glacier, 118-0. 2, Henry Sellards, Glacier, 112-10. 3, Landon Darsow, Flathead, 107-7.

Javelin — 1, Erik Junk, Glacier, 154-04. 2, Kyle Mccollam, Glacier, 150-06. 3, Colton Schmidt, Glacier, 137-01.

Shot put — 1, Jake Rendina, Glacier, 45-1. 2, Ben Winters, Glacier, 41-1. 3, Isaac Keim, Glacier, 40-8.5.

High jump — 1, Xavier Stout, Glacier, 5-10. 2, John Pyron, Glacier, 5-10. 3, Tate Kauffman, Glacier, 5-8.

Long jump — 1, Connor Sullivan, Glacier, 21-8.5. 2, Dylan Zink, Flathead, 21-1.5. 3, Kaid Buls, Glacier, 20-7.

Triple jump — 1, Tate Kauffman, Glacier, 44-7. 2, Dylan Zink, Flathead, 43-11. 3, Carter Bullins, Flathead, 42-6.