AA track: Braves finish 2nd; set another record

GREAT FALLS — There was a moment late in Saturday’s State AA track and field meet when the Flathead Braves owned a lead in the boys’ team race.

They will have to settle for another all-class record instead.

With the team outcome decided, Flathead scorched the Memorial Stadium track in the meet’s final event, the 1,600-meter relay. The quartet of Lane Chivers, Ben Bliven, Brody Thornsberry and William Holensteiner finished four laps in 3 minutes, 15.92 seconds.

That was way under the old all-class record of 3:18.01 run seven years ago, and put a satisfying bow on the program’s first state trophy since the Braves tied for the 2015 title.

“I was thinking we have one race left, and we have a special bond, especially with Brody,” Bliven, a junior, said. “It’s his last race, let’s make it memorable. That’s exactly what we wanted to do.

“We couldn’t ask for much more, in that aspect.”

The victory, with Gallatin finishing second, narrowed the Raptors’ lead in the team race to 84-77.

The Raptors’ title came in the school’s fourth year. Great Falls High edged out Glacier for third, 57-53.

For Flathead, it was still an amazing run.The Braves scored five points at state in 2021.

“It’s a huge difference, from taking 15th to this year we ended up taking second today,” Thornsberry said.

A freshman triple jumper in 2021, Thornsberry finished third in the 100 meters Saturday, then was part of a 3-4-5 Flathead finish in the 200, just behind Bliven and Hollensteiner. At that point Flathead had surged in front of Gallatin. 

Then the Raptors pulled off an upset in the discus, where Glacier’s Aiden Krause had put up huge numbers. The biggest one Saturday belonged to Gallatin’s Jake Murray: On his second preliminary throw he marked 198 feet, 1 inch. That took Dan Tabish’s 1982 record of 193-7 off the books.

Krause threw 188-9 on his second throw, and couldn’t close the gap.

“He’s only a junior,” Krause, who’s headed to North Dakota State on a track scholarship, said of Murray. “Breaking a state record that’s been around for 40 years is pretty good. I’m happy for him.

“I put up a good number; it’s hard to be upset with second place. I wanted to repeat, but things don’t always go your way.”

Things were working out for the Raptors, who picked up six points in the triple jump while Thornsberry, fighting a bruised heel, didn’t place.

“It was rough,” Thornsberry said. “My last two jumps I could really feel it.

“We taped my ankle as tight as I could take it, had no feeling left in the foot, and gave it one last shot in the four-by-four.”

It was Flathead’s second all-class record relay race of the meet; the Braves set the short relay mark (42.06) on Friday.

They also found some depth points, namely from senior Braden Casper, who threw 174-0 in the javelin and took second behind Helena Capital’s Tyler Crum (174-4). 

“That was huge,” Thornsberry said. “Huge day for Braden — four inches from a state championship for him, in his first year in track.”

Fellow senior Jacob Dolezal finished third in the 110-meter hurdles as well. Chivers took fourth in the 300s. 

Glacier’s boys had a solid weekend. Ethan Anderson, a junior who clipped a hurdle in Friday’s trials and didn’t make the final in the 110s, ran an impressive time of 38.05 in the 300 hurdles.

Trouble was, Gallatin senior Nash Coley clocked 36.91, an all-class record.

The Pack also picked up Saturday points from Owen Thiel (3,200, fourth) and Evan Barnes (fourth in the 110 hurdles and fifth in the 100). 

Bozeman’s Nathan Neil got his second all-class record on Saturday, running the 3,200 meters in 8:53.19. That shattered the old mark of 9:04.35, set by Flathead’s Jake Perrin in 2016.

Another record went to Helena’s Logan Todorovich, who ran the fastest girls 100 meters in state history: 12.06 seconds.

In fact there were nine girls events run at the AA meet Saturday, and a Todorovich, either Logan or Madilyn, won four of them. The sisters combined for six firsts, and that’s not counting Helena’s relay sweep.

“They’re just incredible athletes and competitors,” Flathead girls coach Kaylee Fox, whose Bravettes finished fourth with 48 points, well behind Helena’s 129. “They spread them out really well and get them in everything. They’re studs. It’s fun to watch them compete.”

A notable non-win for the Bengal pair came in the 200 meters, where Flathead’s Alivia Rinehart followed up her two third-place finishes in the hurdles with a sprint victory.

That said, Saturday didn’t go as planned for the junior.

“Not at all, actually,” she said. “Not in the 300 hurdles especially. I didn’t not expect to fall.”

Coming off the final turn she clipped a hurdle and wiped out, but amazingly got up and finished third in a photo finish (Madilyn Todorovich won the event).

“Just a little burn on my knee. Not too bad,” Rinehart said. 

Certainly not enough to keep her from 200 glory. She won in 25.59.

“I told her, run the corner hard, see where you’re at,” Fox said. “She told me, ‘I ran the corner hard and just kept running hard.’ She looked really strong, especially the last 50 meters.”

Glacier was ninth in the girls team race with 21 points. The Pack had Saturday points in the 3,200 (Lauren Bissen was third), and in the discus where Kai Johnson and freshman Rylee Bigelow finished fourth and fifth.

Adding points for Flathead were junior Zoey Bortz (second in the 300 hurdles, fifth in the long jump), sophomore Bristol Lenz (fifth in the 100 hurdles) and senior Mikenna Conan (fourth in the 800).

“I think the kids that placed were competing really hard,” Fox said. “We wanted to pick up a couple points here and there in other events, too, but for the most part we felt like we had a good meet.

State AA

May 24-25, Memorial Stadium, Great Falls

Saturday

BOYS

Team scores — Gallatin 84, Flathead 77, Great Falls 57, Glacier 53, HelenaCapital 43, Boeman 40, Missoula Sentinel 37, Billings Senior 25, Billings Skyview 22.33, Missoula Big Sky 19.33, Butte 18, Belgrade 16, Great Falls CMR 12, Helena 11.33, Billings West 8, Missoula Hellgate 4.

100 — 1, Ryan Dierenfield, Sky, 10.88; 2, Hudson Lembke, Snt, 11.13; 3, Brody Thornsberry, Fla, 11.13; 4, Jackson Tarver, CMR, 11.36; 5, Evan Barnes, Glacier, 11.38; 6, Scott Anderson, GF, 11.45.

200 — 1, Ryan Dierenfield, Sky, 21.98; 2, Jackson Tarver, CMR, 22.12; 3, Ben Bliven, Fla, 22.16; 4, William Hollensteiner, Fla, 22.54; 5, Brody Thornsberry, Fla, 22.57; 6, Ethan Anderson, Gla 22.66.

800 — 1, Ryan Harrington, GF, 1:52.69; 2, Wilson Schmidt, Bel, 1:53.07; 3, Ashtyn Rask, GF, 1:54.36; 4, Kiedis MacFarlane, Gal, 1:55.12; 5, Dyan Hill, Hel, 1:55.46; 6, Christian Landers, Boz, 1:56.16.

3,200 — 1, Nathan Neil, Boz, 8:53.19 (all-class record: old record 9:04.35, Jake Perrin, Flathead, 2016); 2, Quinn Newman, Snt, 9:12.18; 3, Ryan Harrington, GF, 9:25.09; 4, Miles Halvorsen, Boz, 9:25.15; 5, Owen Thiel, Gla, 9:25.61; 6, Jeremy Posdon, Boz, 9:26.38.

110 hurdles — 1, Gavin Mow, Cap, 14.68; 2, Nash Coley, Gal, 14.17; 3, Jacob Dolezal, Fla, 14.72; 4, Ean Barnes, Gla, 14.73; 5, Corbin Weltzien, Hgt, 14.74; 6, Oliver Simianer, MBS, 14.79.

300 hurdles — 1, Nash Coley, Gal, 36.91 (all-class record: old record 37.66, Jake Larson, Butte, 2000); 2, Ethan Anderson, Gla, 38.05; 3, Oliver Simianer, MBS, 38.91; 4, Lane Chivers, Fla, 40.19; 5, Carter Dahlke, Gal, 40.65; 6, Corbin Weltzien, Hgt, 40.86.

1,600 relay — 1, Flathead (Lane Chivers, Ben Bliven, Brody Thornsberry, William Hollensteiner) 3:15.92 (all-class record: old record 3:18.01, Billings Senior, 2017); 2, Gallatin 3:18.34; 3, Bozeman 3:21.25; 4, Glacier 3:21.76; 5, Helena 3:23.27; 6, Capital 3:24.61.

Discus — 1, Jack Murray, Gal, 198-1 (All-Class record: old record 193-7, Dan Tabish, Hellgate, 1982); 2, Aiden Krause, Gla, 188-9; 3, Danny Sirmon, Snt, 187-0; 4, Kyler Stenson, Butte, 170-8; 5, Maxx Lee, BSR, 160-4; 6, Cole Dawes, Cap, 158-6.

Javelin — 1, Tyler Crum, Cap,174-4; 2, Braden Capser, Fla, 174-0; 3, Sy Hilliard, Gal, 163-5; 4, Oak Sullivan, Boz, 162-9; 5, Tristan Hiller, MBS, 162-3; 6, Timbur Nilson, Hgt, 161-0.

Triple jump — 1, Scott Klinker, GF, 48-0.5; 2, Sam Henderson, Butte, 47-2.25; 3, Trystin Chapel, BSR 46-3.25; 4, Quinn Clark, Gal, 46-0.25; 5, Asyden Simmons, Hel, 45-11.75; 6, Porter Gibbs, MBS, 45-0.

GIRLS

Team scores — Helena 129, Missoula Hellgate 70, Gallatin 59, Flathead 48, Missoula Sentinel 42, Great Falls 35, Billings Skyview 33, Billings Senior 26, Glacier 21, Billings West 18, Bozeman 17, Butte 10, Missoula Big Sky 6, Helena Capital 6, Belgrade 4, Great Falls CMR 3.

100 — Logan Todorovich, Hel, 12.06 (record; old record 12.08, Jaeden Wolff, Billings West 2022); 2, Sofia Szollosi, Hgt, 12.33; 3, Angel Martin, Sky, 12.43; 4, Emery Peel, BSR, 12.51; 5, Brooklyn Ludemann, MBS, 12.52; 6, Reghan Skogen, Hel, 12.60.

200 — 1, Alivia Rinehart, Fla, 25.59; 2, Madilyn Todorovich, Hel, 25.88; 3, Abigail MacDonald, GF, 26.08; 4, Scarlet Harris, GF, 26.31; 5, Breanna Smith, Snt, 26.61; 6, Emery Peel, BSR, 26.66.

800 — 1, Sophia Miller, Hgt, 2:12.67; 2, Isabel Ross, Gal, 2:12.74; 3, Kaitlyn Skinner, Hgt, 2:16.50; 4, Mikenna Conan, Fla, 2:17.06; 5, Grace Stewart, Bel, 2:17.07; 6, Hazel Cooper, Gal.

3,200 — 1, Claire Rutherford, Gal, 11:07.82; 2, Kylee Neil, Boz, 11:12.95; 3, Lauren Bissen, Gla, 11:18.24; 4, Jamison Molloy, Hgt, 11:31.28; 5, Kortney McKay, Hel, 11:32.13; 6, Stella Diaz, Hgt, 11:32.18.

100 hurdles — 1, Logan Todorovich, Hel, 14.80; 2, Emily McElmurry, Snt, 14.89; 3, Alivia Rinehart, Fla, 14.97; 4, Scarlet Harris, GF, 15.40; 5, Bristol Lenz, Fla, 15.60; 6, Cienna Soens, Sky, 15.98.

300 hurdles — 1, Madilyn Todorovich, Hel, 44.50; 2, Zoey Bortz, Fla, 45.99; 3, Alivia Rinehart, Fla, 46.68; 4, Isabelle Linder, Cap, 46.68; 5, Cienna Soens, Sky, 46.78; 6, Phoenix Hyland, Hgt, 47.00.

1,600 relay — 1, Helena 3:57.22; 2, Billings West 3:58.72; 3, Hellgate 4:01.41; 4, Great Falls 4:03.25; 5, Gallatin 4:03.63; 6, Flathead 4:04.23.

Discus — 1, Torie Jamieson, BSR, 138-8; 2, Rae Smart, SKY, 133-8; 3, Tesse Kamps, Gal, 124-1; 4, Kai Johnson, Gla, 124-0; 5, Rylee Bigelow, Gla, 121-5; 6, Sara Braley, BSR, 115-7.

Triple jump — 1, Ava Kellenberg, Snt, 40-8.25 (All-class record: old record 39-9.25, Lauren Heggen, Sentinel, 2019); 2, Emily McElmurry, Snt, 38-11.25; 3, Logan Todorovich, Hle, 38-0; 4, Alix Mund, Hgt, 36-4.25; 5, Kyesha Farmer, GF, 36-3.25; 6, Rylee Thompson, Fla, 35-10.