TRACK: Distance aces take aim at Archie Roe Invitational
Joseph Terry | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 6 months AGO
With more than 1,000 competitors from 15 schools represented, the Archie Roe Invitational track meet will once again host a field of the best athletes in Montana when it kicks off today at Legends Stadium.
The field will be highlighted again by the distance races, where Glacier’s Annie Hill and a field of talented runners will look to attack some well-established meet records.
Hill set the meet record last year in the 1,600-meter run, beating the old mark by nearly 7 seconds while running the second-fastest time ever recorded in a state high school meet in 4:49.65.
She’s on an even faster pace in her sophomore season, and will take aim at her own record in the 1,600 and a 12-year-old mark in the 3,200 in addition to running the long relay as she ramps up her conditioning for the postseason.
Hill topped her Roe record time by five seconds earlier this year, finishing in 4:44.67 at the Great Falls Optimist meet, marking the fourth-best time in the country this year. She’s also on pace to push the meet record in the 3,200, where she set a state best time of 10:31.14 at the crosstown dual and has the third-best time in the country after a 10:14.14 finish in California.
She should have competition in the races as well, with Bigfork’s Bryn Morley and Flathead’s Gillian Maness and Kaitlin Wride each posting top 10 times in the state in the distances this season.
On the boys side, Flathead’s Jake Perrin will challenge for a pair of distance records set by his older brother, Zach, three years ago. Perrin’s best times in the 1,600 and 3,200 rival his brother’s meet record times, having run 4:16.54 in the 1,600 in Missoula last month and 9:02.49 in the 3,200 in California.
Perrin will need to carry that West Coast speed in Montana, however, where the best marks hover around 9:30, still 18 seconds too slow. Bigfork’s Logan Morley has a best time of 9:34 in the event and Perrin 9:36 in state.
Glacier’s Aaron Robinson has the state’s best time in the 300 hurdles, where his mark of 35.82 seconds at the Western Top 10 in Missoula would best the Archie Roe record by more than three seconds.
Whitefish’s Luke May is within a short heave of the javelin record, with a state-best mark of 205 feet, 4 inches this season. The future University of Minnesota thrower will need to find another foot to best the record, where his career-best throw of 206-7 would beat the record by three inches.
The weather is forecast to be in the high-70s and sunny, which should be ideal conditions for good times and distances. The meet begins at 10 a.m. with the 3,200.
41st Archie Roe Invitational
Meet Records
BOYS
Athlete School Mark Year
100 Graig Galle Flathead 10.70 1995
200 Ralph Dempsey Cut Bank 21.90 1991
400 Cody Henning Whitefish 49.25 2004
800 David Vidal Flathead 1:55.9 2001
1,600 Zach Perrin Flathead 4:16.6 2013
3,200 Zach Perrin Flathead 9:13.3 2013
110 Hurdles Jamison Banna Flathead 14.10 1988
300 Hurdles Drew Owens Flathead 38.91 2010
400 Relay Missoula Hellgate 42.90 2002
1,600 Relay Whitefish 3:23.8 2004
Shot Put Scott Steckel Havre 60-5.5 1980
Discus Lee Tillman Havre 187-7 1987
Javelin (new) Nate Bach T. Falls 206-4 2005
High Jump Mark Koefelda Hellgate 7-0 1993
Long Jump Trevor Gunlock Polson 22-7.5 2000
Triple Jump Matt Tokarz Flathead 47-5.5 2013
Pole Vault Curt Rogers Whitefish 15-6 2007
GIRLS
100 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 12.5 2013
200 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 25.5 2013
400 Marlow Schulz Whitefish 57.26 2013
800 Makena Morley Bigfork 2:16.2 2013
1,600 Annie Hill Glacier 4:49.6 2015
3,200 Zoe Nelson Flathead 10:27.9 2004
100 Hurdles Lexie Miller Flathead 14.4 1979
Claudine Robinson Hellgate 14.4 1989
300 Hurdles Hailey Phillips Plains 44.43 2015
400 Relay Flathead 49.34 2013
1,600 Relay Flathead 4:03.1 2007
Shot Put Laine Botchek Big Sky 44-6.25 1999
Discus Bree Fuqua Polson 148-9 1999
Javelin (new) Marissa Tschida Loyola 141-6 2005
High Jump Lexi Boschee Glacier 5-9 2012
Brenda Naber Havre 5-9 1992
Long Jump Tess Brenneman Flathead 18-7 2010
Triple Jump Kasey Harwood Polson 37-4.5 2004
Pole Vault Melinda Owen Polson 12-3 2003