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Bigfork runs (and throws) to Western B track sweep

by Daily Inter Lake
| May 21, 2023 8:57 AM

MISSOULA — Jack Jensen and Wyatt Johnson each won twice for the Vikings, and depth won out for the Valkyries Saturday as Bigfork swept the team titles at the Western B Divisional meet.

The meet, held concurrently with the Western C Divisional at MCPS Stadium, saw Bigfork dominate the girls team race with 163 points — with five individual winners.

Emma Pouwers was the fastest Val, winning the 200 in 27.5 seconds and placing second (with teammate Ione Plummer third) in the 100.

Scout Nadeau won the shot put with a heave of 39 feet, 7.5 inches, not far off her best and No. 2 in Class B; Zoey Albert and Madison Chappius went 1-2 in the javelin; Inga Turner marked 16-7, a personal record, to win the long jump; and Chappius won the triple jump.

Add in events like Turner’s second place in the 100 hurdles, Claire Jensen’s second in the 1,600 and Nadeau’s second in the discus — her throw of 114 feet ranks also second in B — and the points start adding up. Powers finished right behind Turner in the long jump as well.

Missoula’s Loyola Sacred Heart got much of its 81 points from Isabelle Berry, who swept the hurdles — she ran a Class B-best 15.21 in the 100s — and won the 100 meter dash decisively, in 12.63 seconds. The Breakers also won the long relay.

Thompson Falls, with senior Ellie Baxter sweeping all three distances — with a PR of 5:29.06 in the 1,600 — was third with 73 points. Baxter ranks fourth in Class B in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Eureka was fourth at 43. The Lions’ Remmi Stanger cleared 5-2 to win the high jump, and is one of three Class B girls to get to that height. She was also second in the triple jump. Freshman Haidyn Guckenberg was second in the 300 hurdles with a PR of 49.36 for the Lions..

Plains’ Alexis Deming won the discus; she continues to lead Class B in that event.

Jensen ran a PR and Class B-best 1:59.01 to win the 800 and outdueled Florence’s Kyler Harris in the 1,600 — they rank 1-2 in the class — for the Vikings, who had 122 points to 119 for Loyola and 117 for Florence.

Mission was next at 55, followed by Eureka at 25.

Johnson (15.34) and Isak Epperly (15.44) finished a close 1-2 in the 110 hurdles, each with a PR that puts them 2 and 3 in the B rankings. Then Johnson PR’d again in the 300s, winning in 41.24. He also ran in the Vikings’ victorious long relay along with Jensen, Joseph Farrier and Maddox Matr.

Farrier added a win in the javelin for Bigfork, while Levi Peterson won the triple jump — going 44-0.25, the top mark in the Class — and was second in the long jump. Tristan Herd was runner up in the pole vault as well.

Winning the pole vault was Eureka’s Caleb Utter, who cleared 13-7 — a career best, and No. 2 in B behind Huntley Project’s Luke Donally (14-6).

Loyola was led by sprinter Tytus Palma, who won the 100 meters, and thrower Beau Meyer. Florence’s William Wagner won the 200 and 400.

Mission’s Bryce Umphery won the long jump and helped the Bulldogs win the short relay; Zoren LaFrombois won the 3,200. Canyon Sargent’s time of 11.32 in the 100 puts him in the top six in Class B.

Full results can be found at athletic.net.