It’s not an easy thing to win a state championship. But in the end, that’s one of the things that make a team or individual championship such a coveted achievement.

At this year’s Montana Class C Track and Field Championship meet in Laurel, more than 35 schools sent athletes hoping to reach the pinnacle in the event or events in which they were entered.

Only a handful come out on top, but everyone who competed and made it to the State meet did something not many can say they did.

That being said, someone has to win the team and individual titles and this year it was Plentywood’s women and Manhattan Christian’s men who laid claim to the championship plaques that will adorn their trophy cases for years to come.

Plentywood piled up 75.75 points on their way to the women’s team crown, while Manhattan Christian scored 81 composite points to claim the men’s top honor.

And it was almost a clean sweep for Manhattan Christian as the women finished second in the team chase.

For local (Sanders and Mineral county) Class C schools it was a rocky road. Noxon was the highest placing local team with seven points and a 20th place finish among the women’s team, while Superior’s men scored six points for 19th place.

Superior’s women tallied 5.5 team points, good for 23rd place out of 32 teams who scored, and Noxon’s boys totaled four points to finish 28th among 35 teams.

Alberton High School had two athletes finish in the top 10 in their events but were not among the top six to whom team points are awarded. Alberton sophomore Colton Baughman placed eighth in the men’s javelin with a personal best throw of 148-08, while Panthers teammate Shea Fredette, a freshman, placed 13th in the men’s 1600 meter run.

Superior’s boys had two top six finishers in the men’s pole vault, junior Lucas Kovalsky cleared 13 feet even for fourth place, while senior teammate Decker Milender was fifth with a vault of 12-06. Saco’s Blaine Downing, a sophomore who had cleared 14 feet earlier this year, won the event, making it over the bar at 13-06. Bobcat discus thrower Jaxson Green placed 11th in the discus event and eighth grader Landon Richards jumped 5-10 to place 18th in the men’s high jump. Superior senior Allen Ryan came in 20th in the grueling 3200 meter run.

Hot Springs sophomore David Chapman, part of a promising group of Savage Heat underclassmen, took 11th in the 300 meter hurdles event, while teammate Quincy Styles-Depot was 20th. Another Savage Heat athlete who competed in the state finals was junior Elijah Campbell, who was 24th in the 3200 meter run.

Noxon sophomore Ricky Williams was the highest finishing local athlete among the men, placing fourth in the high jump with a leap of 6-02, then finishing eighth among triple jumpers with a personal best effort of 41-09.50.

The results were similar for local women’s athletes who made it to state, with Superior’s Isabella Pereira and Noxon’s Emily Brown placing high in several events. Both are seniors.

Pereira, who is headed to Spokane’s Whitworth College this fall on a track scholarship, finished just out of the points in the 200 meter sprint, crossing the finish line in 27.21 seconds, good for seventh place. She also ran the anchor leg on the Lady Bobcats sixth-place 4X100 relay team, which also featured Alysha Ryan, Braelynn Mangold and Molly Patko. Pereira was also sixth in the women’s pole vault, clearing the bar at 8-08. Plentywood’s Annie Kaul won the event with a personal record vault of 11-06.

Pereira’s best finish was in the triple jump, where she claimed fourth place via a personal best hop, skip and jump of 35-03.75.

Brown picked up two medals at the meet, topped by her third place in the women’s 800 meter run, where she posted a personal best mark of 2:18.29. Robert’s senior Taylee Chirrick won the 800 with a personal best of 2:12.97.

Brown also picked up team points for the Lady Devils with her sixth place medal in the women’s javelin following a throw of 115-02. She also came in 14th place in the 400 meter run.

Eddy Betts, a sophomore from Superior, which has several top performers returning next year, placed 16th in the shot put with a heave of 31-04. Teammate Maryisa Swope, a Lady Bobcats ninth grader, was ninth in the javelin with a personal best throw of 109-04. And senior multi-sport standout Payton Milender tied for 11th in the pole vault, clearing 8-0.

St. Regis athlete Jamie Kearbey, another of the promising group of local underclassmen, was 21st in the women’s long jump with a leap of 15-02.50. Kearbey also had a top 20 time in the women’s 100 meter preliminaries.

Local track and field fans have a solid core of freshmen, sophomores and even eighth graders on the way up.