State Track: Flathead boys could make noise
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Columbia Falls' Soli Bullemer clears 10'6" in the girls pole vault at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Cole Opre clears 13'6" in the boys pole vault at the Class AA state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Will Hollensteiner places first in the boys' 400 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Flathead's Alivia Rinehart took first place in the girls' 100 meter hurdles at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Owen Thiel took first place in the boys' 1600 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Glacier's Breanna Barnes clears 10' in the girls' pole vault at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Polson's Kellyn Nelson clears 11' in the girls pole vault at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Libby's Capri Farmer places first in the girls' 1600 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Whitefish's Rachael Wilmot wins the girls' 100 meter dash at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Oliver Kress clears 13' in the boys' pole vault at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Whitefish's Simon Douglas took first place in the boys' 1600 meter run at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Isak Soyland clears 13'6" in the boys' pole vault at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Lane Voermans took first place in the boys' discus at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Helena High would like a sweep. The Gallatin girls and Flathead boys might have something to say about it.
Legends Stadium is hosting both the State AA and A track and field championships this weekend, and while the Corvallis boys and Havre girls seem to be heavy favorites in Class A, there are a couple contenders in AA.
State AA Boys
Gallatin will be tough to catch, especially in the distances, where Elliott Stimpson and Henry Sund are very good, and in the discus, where Zach Murray is still a beast.
Flathead has four guys who could score a ton, led by Will Hollensteiner, a junior who comes in with the best times in the 400 and 300 hurdles, and is a threat in the 200 and long and triple jumps.
The boys 300 hurdles should be a highlight, with Hollensteiner and teammate Lane Chivers battling Glacier’s Ethan Anderson, among others. Both Anderson and Hollensteiner have gone under 39 seconds; Hollensteiner didn’t run the event last season and has three starts this spring.
“I didn’t expect him to do that in the hurdles,” teammate Ben Bliven said. “But honestly, Will is just a ridiculous athlete. He could throw the shot put 50 feet and I would not be surprised.”
Hollensteiner is the defending 400 champ. Other returning champs among the boys are Capital’s Gavin Mow (110 hurdles) and Tyler Crum (javelin). and Gallatin’s Murray.
Murray threw 198 feet, 1 inch to win the discus last year; his best throw this year, 183-8, leads AA while Glacier’s Dylan Smith is a close second.
The Wolfpack also have junior Owen Thiel ready to score points (distances) along with Ben Winters (shot put).
Billings Skyview’s Ryan Dierenfield swept the 100 and 200 as a junior; a hamstring injury sidelined him all spring.
The boys pole vault was held Thursday; Capital’s Brayden Brisko won at 15-6.
Missoula Sentinel’s Geffen Guscio (15-0), Belgrade’s Rodeny Schmidt (14-6), Great Falls’ Luke Allen (14-0), Billings West’s Cohen Allen and Glacier’s Cole Opre (13-6) filled out the top six.
AA Girls
Helena’s girls have the speed — freshman sprinter Quinlyn Simmons and do-everything senior Madilyn Todorovich, who won the 400 and 300 hurdles a year ago — to win a fourth straight state title.
Clouding the picture is Gallatin with sprinter Isabella Donaghey and the distance crew of Isabel Ross, Hazel Cooper and Claire Rutherford. Rutherford, the defending 3,200 champ, and her cohorts own the top three AA times in the 1,600.
Glacier, the Western AA Divisional champion, is part of glut of teams seeking top-three hardware. Distance runner Lauren Bissen, vaulter Breanna Barnes and thrower Rylee Bigelow lead the charge.
Brityn Stewart of Butte is back to defend her javelin title.
Another defending champion is Skyview’s Rae Smart in the shot put; this spring she owns the best marks in all three throws.
Of course there is also defending 200 champion Alivia Rinehart of Flathead, who could end up with three individual golds by the end of Saturday.
A Girls
Havre looks ready to rise to the top after two years of Corvallis taking home the gold.
The Blue Ponies have a serious 1-2 sprint punch in senior Kaydance Reiter and junior Macy Brandon. Reiter has the best times in A in both the 100 and 200 and is the defending 100 champ; Havre’s previous team titles came in 1990 (shared) and ‘91.
Beyond that it will be interesting to see if anyone can catch Miles City junior Peyton Frame in the 400, 800 or 1,600. The 400 is crowded, with Havre’s Brandon and Whitefish standout Rachael Wilmot. And Hamilton’s Annalise Lewis, a sophomore, is the defending champ in the 800 and 1,600.
Polson’s Morgan Delaney and Libby’s Capri Farmer are among the top 3,200 runners in the state, where Hamilton sophomore Aleigha Child is the defending champion. Stevensville’s Regan Johnston — like Farmer, a freshman — appears to be the person to beat in both hurdles.
Defending champs include Hardin high jumper Makenna Torskie, who leads the event this year; and Corvallis’ Ella Varner in the long and triple jumps.Varner’s triple jump repeat is threated by Stevensville’s Johnston.
Sidney’s Morgan Kindopp repeated in the pole vault, held Thursday night for the A girls. She cand Hami=lton’s Aubrey Korst both cleared 12-0, and Kindopp won on criteria. Columbia Falls’ Soli Bullemer was fourth at 10-6; Polson’s Kellyln Nelson was third at 11-0.
A Boys
The Corvallis Blue Devils appear poised to win the third straight team title and ninth overall. A sprint crew led by Solomon Morgan and Ayden Spencer starts things, and hurdler Stuart Brennan, javelin standout Hunter Loesch and high jumper Ledge Conner can add big points.
Frenchtown (led by hurdles favorite Brody Hardy), Laurel, Columbia Falls, Whitefish and Billings Central are all in the trophy hunt.
The Columbia Falls Wildcats can get big points from vaulters Isak Soyland and Oliver Kress, sprinter Jack Phelps, Banyan Johnston in the high jump and thrower Lane Voermans.
Voermans leads a strong distance field with a throw of 181-2; Polson’s Astin Brown is next at 165-5, followed by Frenchtown’s Henry Griffin at 164-10. Brown is the favorite in the shot put, with a best of 61-10.5; Voermans is next at 54-6.5.
Defending champs include Johnston, who won the high jump as a freshman for the Wildcats; he’s cleared 6-2 this season while Conner of Corvallis has gone 6-6.
Hardin sophomore Ben Bird is back to defend his 1,600 title; the two runners ahead of him in the rankings are Whitefish senior Simon Douglas and defending 3,200 champ Finn Schretenthaler of Livingston.
Douglas is a favorite in the 800 as well; the Bulldogs also have a strong short relay led by sprinter Riley Zetooney.
Glacier's Cole Opre clears 13'6" in the boys pole vault at the Class AA state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Will Hollensteiner places first in the boys' 400 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Flathead's Alivia Rinehart took first place in the girls' 100 meter hurdles at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Owen Thiel took first place in the boys' 1600 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Glacier's Breanna Barnes clears 10' in the girls' pole vault at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Polson's Kellyn Nelson clears 11' in the girls pole vault at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Libby's Capri Farmer places first in the girls' 1600 meter run at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Whitefish's Rachael Wilmot wins the girls' 100 meter dash at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Oliver Kress clears 13' in the boys' pole vault at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Whitefish's Simon Douglas took first place in the boys' 1600 meter run at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Lane Voermans took first place in the boys' discus at the Archie Roe Track Meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 3. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Isak Soyland clears 13'6" in the boys' pole vault at the Whitefish ARM Invitational on Saturday, April 26. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider