COLUMBIA FALLS - Derrick Williams took Justin Whitman's advice to heart.

And to mind.

Literally.

Williams made up a 40-meter deficit running the anchor leg in the 1,600 relay Saturday to give Columbia Falls a thrilling first-place finish with a time of 3:38.73 at the Columbia Falls Invitational track meet.

"He (Whitman) said ‘You can beat anybody,'" Williams said of the verbal exchange between the two teammates as he took the baton.

"That's the sort of mentality I went with in the 400. That was constantly going through my head."

Williams managed to catch the leader coming out of the final turn with 100 meters left. It was Williams' race after that.

"I was hoping they wouldn't catch me," Williams said when he took the lead.

"It was bad. Everything started to lock-up (in my legs)."

Columbia Falls coach Jamie Heinz was impressed.

"Generally people put their best legs last," Heinz said.

"I thought the gap was too big, and that's not taking anything away from Derrick. The fastest legs are last."

And those belonged to Williams.

Williams was also on the 1,600 relay last year at this event. That team's winning time was 3:36.7.

Columbia Falls defended its team title, finishing right at the century mark with 100 points. Corvallis was second, 91, Ronan third, 63, and Polson fourth, 57 1/2.

Corvallis captured the girls title with 92 points. Cut Bank was second, 85, Whitefish third, 73, and Ronan fourth, 50.

Polson, last year's winner, was fifth, 46.

Deni Fitzpatrick of Cut Bank was the meet standout, winning four events - 100 (13.01), 200 (26.88), 100 hurdles (15.74) and 300 hurdles (49.69).

Williams' spectacular finish capped off a superb day for the 2010 state runner-up in the 800 and 1,600. He also won the 3,200 (10:11.6) and the 800 (2:01.160.

Williams was competing in the 3,200 for the first time.

"It was fun," he said.

"I took the first mile pretty easy. I think my coach said it was 5:18.

"My second was 4:53. I just tried to run a smart race.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," he continued.

"Eight laps is a long way, but it goes by pretty fast. You constantly analyze how much energy you have."

Williams came in hoping to break the two-minute barrier in the 800.

He won this event last year in 2:02.6.

"I was hoping my 800 would be a little faster," he said.

"The wind was tough."

But all in all ...

"I'm really satisfied," he said.

"I didn't want to run the relay (to end a busy, long day), but the (relay) team gets me excited about it."

Boys

Team Totals

Columbia Falls 100, Corvallis 91, Ronan 63, Polson 57 1/2, Thompson Falls 43 1/2, Plains 34, Whitefish 31, Libby 21, Noxon 20, Troy 20, Bigfork 19, Shelby 14, Choteau 8, Cut Bank 4, Conrad 1.

Events

100 - 1. J. Franklin, Ron, 11.79; 2. A. Correa, CF, 11.98; 3. (tie) T. Knoll, Big, and R. Hayes, Big, 12.02; 5. T. Firestone, Pla, 12.06; 6. E. Malmquist, Ron, 12.09.

110 hurdles - 1. D. Galbraith, Whi, 16.77; 2. T. Wobschall, CF, 17.28; 3. P. Schubert, TF, 17.54; 4. D. Holt, TF, 17.75; 5. S. Mousley, Cor, 17.97; 6. Z. Lee, Pol, 18.02.

1,600 - 1. C. Jessop, Cor, 4:43.24; 2. J. Whitman, CF, 4:46.64; 3. C. Montgomery, Pla, 4:49.94; 4. J. Horn, Cho, 4:53.74; 5. J. Purlee, Cor, 5:00.64; 6. Cody Orr, Tro, 5:01.64.

200 - 1. A. Correa, CF, 24.05; 2. E. Malmquist, Ron, 24.50; 3. M. Devlin, Pol, 24.53; 4. C. Ballentyne, She, 24.67; 5. L. Walen, Cor, 24.74; 6. C. Lester, TF, 24.89.

300 hurdles - 1. J. Franklin, Ron, 43.03; 2. K. Gimbel, CF, 43.24; 3. A. Moore, Nox, 43.78; 4. P. Schubert, TF, 44.45; 5. D. Holt, TF, 44.46; 6. C. Lapka, Lib, 44.48.

3,200 - 1. D. Williams, CF, 10:11.6; 2. C. Stoker, Cor, 10:17.5; 3. C. Montgomery, Pla, 10:25.3; 4. C. Henderson, Cor, 10:33.0; 5. F. Gangemi, Whi, 10:56.8; 6. P. Alexander, Ron, 10:59.2.

400 - 1. B. Gross, CF, 54.38; 2. C. Cote, Pol, 54.93; 3. M. Hungerford, Ron, 55.25; 4. J. Irvin, She, 55.45; 5. R. Hayes, Big, 56.31; 6. A. Alimadadi, Ron, 56.75.

800 - 1. D. Williams, CF, 2:01.16; 2. C. Henderson, Cor, 2:02.18; 3. G. Vasquez, Whi, 2:09.62; 4. J. Horn, Cho, 2:12.71; 5. C. Stoker, Cor, 2:15.34; 6. B. Reynoso, Cor, 2:15.88.

Discus - 1. J. Henderson, Cor, 149-6; 2. B. Butt, Cor, 128-2; 3. R. Sampson, Pol, 122-11; 4. C. Forrest, Whi, 120-9; 5. S. Zimmerman, Lib, 117-5; 6. A. Cantrell, Big, 116-0.

High jump - 1. J. Franklin, Ron, 6-2; 2. Cory Orr, Tro, 6-0; 3. R. Jensen, Lib, 6-0; 4. (tie) P. Schubert, TF, C. Wilson, TF, and D. Holt, TF, 5-10 each.

Javelin - 1. L. Connors, Cor, 180-11; 2. C. Phillips, TF, 160-6; 3. A. Moore, Nox, 157-6; 4. S. Landis, Cor, 155-7; 5. N. Thompson, CF, 154-9; 6. R. Jessop, Cor, 152-7.

Long jump - 1. T. Firestone, Pla, 21-6; 2. Cory Orr, Tro, 20-3 1/2; 3. C. Ballentyne, She, 19-6 1/2; 4. J. Lighthizer, CB, 18-9 1/2; 5. R. Raynson, Tro, 18-9; 6. J. Nanna, Whi, 18-8 1/2.

Pole vault - 1. C. Phillips, TF, 12-9; 2. Z. Lee, Pol, 12-0; 3; B. Bleazard, Pol, 12-0; 4. T. Berner, Cor, 11-6; 5. D. Fouty, Pol, 11-6; 6. (tie) J. Alfiero, Pol, and D. Holt, TF, 11-0 each.

Shot put - 1. S. Zimmerman, Lib, 46-9; 2. D. Jensen, Nox, 45-5; 3. J. Rubel, Pol, 45-1/2; 4. D. BigSam, Pol, 43-5 1/2; 5. J. Parker, Cor, 42-8; 6. S. Larson, Con, 42-4 1/2.

Triple jump - 1. T. Firestone, Pla, 43-9 1/2; 2. K. Gimbel, CF, 41-9 3/4; 3. N. Thompson, CF, 41-4 1/2; 4. S. Landis, Cor, 41-2; 5. J. Bell, Ron, 40-1 3/4; 6. C. Orr, Tro, 39-7 1/4.

400 relay - 1. Ronan, 45.94; 2. Whitefish, 46.08; 3. Bigfork, 46.19; 4. Polson, 46.50; 5. Columbia Falls, 46.99; 6. Corvallis, 47.34.

1,600 relay - 1. Columbia Falls, 3:38.73; 2. Corvallis, 3:40.16; 3. Polson, 3:41.19; 4. Ronan, 3:44.75; 5. Libby, 3:49.06; 6. Thompson Falls, 3:50.90.

Girls

Team Totals

Corvallis 92, Cut Bank 85, Whitefish 73, Ronan 50, Polson 46, Eureka 30, Plains 32.5, Thompson Falls 28.5, Bigfork 28, Columbia Falls 23, Shelby 12, Noxon 9, Libby 8, Conrad 4, Choteau 6

Events

100 - 1. D. Fitzpatrick, CB, 13.01; 2. M. Schulz, Whi, 13.02; 3. A. Foley, Whi, 13.25; 4. S. Henderson, Cor, 13.30; 5. S. Moon, CF, 13.69; 6. (tie) H. Reid, TF, 13.74; H. Rehbein, CB.

200 - 1. D. Fitzpatrick, CB, 26.88; 2. S. Henderson, Cor, 27.15; 3. A. Foley, Whi, 27.70; 4. N. Rehbein, Pla, 28.48; 5. C. Moon, CF, 28.81; 6. J. Miller, Eur, 29.29.

400 - 1. C. Stirling, Shel, 1:06.50; 2. S. Pete, Pol, 1:07.14; 3. L. Lantz, TF, 1:09.20; 4. M. Soukup, Ron, 1:09.40; 5. T. Erickson, Con, 1:10.64; 6. O. Carette, CB, 1:11.34.

800 - 1. A. Eickhoff, Cor, 2:26.78; 2. J. Sagen, Whi, 2:32.24; 3. A. Jessop, Cor, 2:33.68; 4. B. Eaton, Whi, 2:37.16; 5. B. Malecha, Eur, 2:38.84; 6. C. Hewston, Pol, 2:40.97.

1600 - 1. K. Stewart, Cor, 5:47.42; 2. C. Hewston, Pol, 5:47.56; 3. C. Schwickert, Whi, 5:56.96; 4. C. Clairmont, Ron, 5:59.23; 5. B. Malecha, Eur, 6:00.56; 6. J. Gray, Ron, 6:16.45.

3200 - 1. J. Sagen, Whi, 11:54.89; 2. A. Eickhoff, Cor, 11:54.94; 3. J. Gray, Ron, 13:07.19; 4. C. Olson, Big, 13:18.52; 5. D. LeDeaux, Pla, 13:41.32; 6. M. Naegeli, TF, 14:04.39.

100 hurdles - 1. D. Fitzpatrick, CB, 15.74; 2. L. Connors, Cor, 16.24; 3. B. Kelley, Pol, 16.44; 4. M. Knoll, Big, 16.54; 5. H. Reid, TF, 16.74; 6. R. Spencer, CB, 17.24.

300 hurdles - 1. D. Fitzpatrick, CB, 49.69; 2. B. Kelley, Pol, 49.75; 3. H. Reid, TF, 51.03; 4. R. Spencer, CB, 52.78; 5. C. Neise, CF, 53.80; 6. A. Padden, TF, 53.91.

400 relay - 1. Bigfork, 52.49; 2. Whitefish, 53.48; 3. Eureka, 54.55; 4. Columbia Falls, 55.28; 5. Polson, 55.30; 6. Ronan, 56.21.

1600 relay - 1. Corvallis, 4:15.74; 2. Eureka, 4:31.94; 3. Polson, 4:33.04; 4. Columbia Falls, 4:34.24; 5. Conrad, 4:44.14; 6. Whitefish, 4:44.84.

Discus - 1. J. Vaile, CB, 104-4; 2. F. Winebrenner, Pla, 99-2; 3. T. Thompson, Pla, 94-7; 4. N. Kunzer, Pla, 93-10; 5. A. Vaught, TF, 90-0; 6. C. Chenowith, Nox, 89-0.

Javelin - 1. S. Backer, Whi, 104-10; 2. B. Gray, CB, 101-2; 3. B. Luedecke, Cor, 94-7; 4. M. Lewis, CB, 93-11; 5. K. Lewis, Cor, 88-10; 6. K. Briggs, Cor, 88-0.

Shot put - 1. J. Vaile, CB, 34-2; 2. C. Chenowith, Nox, 31-5 1/2; 3. C. Hanson, Chot, 30-9; 4. T. Hogge, Ron, 29-2 1/2; 5. DJ Conko-Camel, Pol, 29-2; 6. C. Jessop, Cor, 27-11.

High jump - 1. J. Franklin, Ron, 5-0; 2. H. Reid, TF, 5-0; 3. (tie) J. Bradford, Eur, 4-10; C. Auge, Lib; 5. C. Stirling, Shel, 4-10; 6. B. Kelley, Pol, 4-10.

Long jump - 1. A. Durglo, Ron, 15-5 1/2; 2. K. Beagley, Pla, 14-8 1/2; 3. B. Gray, CB, 14-2 1/4; 4. (tie) B. Boylan, Lib, 13-11 1/2; S. Korpi, Pol, 13-11 1/2; 6. K. Finley, Pol, 13-11.

Triple jump - 1. A. Durglo, Ron, 34-6; 2. L. Connors, Cor, 32-10 1/2; 3. J. Bradford, Eur, 32-10; 4. H. Bailey, Whi, 32-7 1/2; 5. P. Guercio, Whi, 32-5 1/2; 6. A. Berta, CF, 31-8.

Pole vault - 1. A. Evans, Cor, 9-6; 2. J. Gist, CF, 9-0; 3. C. Charlebois, Big, 8-6; 4. Q. Paine, Big, 8-0; 5. H. Reid, TF, 7-6; 6. O. Carette, CB, 7-6.