A track: C-Falls Simpson wins twice, Cats take 2nd

LAUREL — Columbia Falls’ sprinter Malakai Simpson made good, and his Wildcats nearly won team gold as well.

Simpson swept the 100 and 200 meters Saturday, running personal-record times, and the Cats also won the long relay Saturday at the State A track and field meet.

Trouble was Corvallis had an insurmountable lead going into that relay, which is generally the final event of every state meet: At the end the Blue Devils, who didn’t place in the relay, had 68.8 points to 67 for Columbia Falls.

Whitefish was third at 56.

Corvallis got its second straight title sweep, with the girls piling up 92.5 points to 77.5 for Whitefish and 77 for Hamilton. 

The Wildcat boys provided most of the drama.

Simpson clocked 10.74 seconds in the 100 and 21.67 in the 200. He also helped the short relay take second in 42.74 (to Havre; Corvallis was third).

Lane Voermans pushed Hamilton’s Andrew Burrows in the discus, before finishing second — he threw 166 feet, 8 inches to Burrows’ 170-1. 

The Wildcats’ Kai Golan was sixth in the 200 as well on Saturday

Whitefish’s Carson Krack had a banner day, sweeping both hurdles races. He ran the 110s in 15.27 and the 300s in 38.95, and he also was fourth in the triple jump with a PR of 44-1.25. Teammate Carson Gulick was fifth in the 110 hurdles.

Bigfork’s Robert Merchant was sixth in the 100 meters; Jack Jensen, who won the 800 on Friday, was fifth in the 1,600 Saturday. 

Wyatt Johnson was third in the 110 and 300 hurdles for the Vikings; Tamret Savik tied for fourth in Friday’s high jump and was third in Saturday’s triple jump. Wyatt Barnes was fifth in the triple jump as well.

The Whitefish duo of Brooke Zetooney and Rachael Wilmot finished first and third in the girls 200 Saturday, with both running PRs: 24.41 for Zetooney and 25.03 for Wilmot.  

Zetooney ends her high school career with six individual titles, three each in the 100 and 200; she was also part of seven championship relay teams. 

The Bulldogs finished second, first, second and second at state during her career.

Hailey Ells was third in the 100-meter hurdles and second in the 300s for the Bulldogs — Corvallis star Olivia Lewis won each in 14.49 and 41.86. Ells’ time of 45.42 was a PR.

Ells, Zetooney, Wilmot and Anna Boysen helped the Bulldogs sweep the relays.

Bailey Smith added a fifth in the javelin and fifth in the triple jump for Whitefish.

Polson’s Amelia Sten was fifth in the 100; teammate Morgan Delaney added a sixth in the 1,600 to her fourth-place finish in Friday’s 3,200.

Project, Boulder win B

Huntley Project (104), Missoula Loyola (87) and Townsend (70.33) finished 1-2-3 in State B girls. 

In fourth was Plains with 26 points. Junior Alexis Deming won the discus and was second in the shot put for the Trotters; freshman teammate Marina Tulloch was third in the 3,200 and fifth in the 1,600. 

Boulder won the boys title with 90 points; Loyola (68) and Red Lodge (67) went 2-3. Florence was the top Western team, tying Wolf Point for sixth with 26 points.

Eureka’s boys scored eight points: Cole Sartori, Braden Casazza, Emmett Manges and Josh Lambrrtsen were second in the long relay.

Full results can be found at athletic.net or mhsa.org.