Rachael Wilmot crushed it, Grace Sliman cleared it and the Whitefish Bulldogs won it.

Wilmot completed a sprint sweep and Sliman won the high jump Saturday, and Whitefish claimed the girls team title at the State A track and field championships at Legends Stadium. 

By the time the long relay came around, it was academic: The Bulldogs took fourth and finished with 74 points to 60 for Havre. A year after losing stalwarts Brooke Zetooney and Hailey Ells to graduation, Whitefish earned its first state championship since 2022 and sixth overall. 

“When I looked at the scores, I was surprised,” said Wilmot, who won the 100 in 12.47 seconds Saturday, and the 200 in 25.05. It’s awesome. I’m so happy.” 

Hamilton scored 56 points to take third in a balanced girls team race. Whitefish might have lacked the depth of year’s past but had some big punchers. 

One was Sliman, who hit her personal record of 5 feet, 4 inches to win the high jump. 

“I’m so proud of her,” Wilmot said. “To watch her was so exciting, and she’s just a freshman.” 

Another was Ginger Bergland, also a freshman, who twice ran second to Stevensville (freshman) hurdler Reagan Johnstone.  

A sophomore, Polson’s Morgan Delaney, took the 3,200. She was coming off an illness that kept her to one race (the 1,600, taking fifth) at divisionals; on Saturday she won in 11:28.82. 

“I kind of just fallowed Capri (Farmer, Libby’s standout freshman),” Delaney said. “My dad said not to do any move the first mile, and so I just waited. With two laps to go I was hurting pretty good. But as soon as she went to go past me, I guess I found something.” 

Farmer was second in 11:35.24. 

Whitefish’s other big gun was senior Simon Douglas, who won Saturday’s 800 in 1:56.37. On Friday he was second in the 1,600 to Livingston’s Finn Schretenthaler — by less than half a second. 

“Yesterday in the mile, I didn’t know he had such a lethal kick,” Douglas said. “Shocked me for sure. I knew if I led again today I’d run myself into a very similar fate. I told myself I wasn’t going to lead, and I didn’t.” 

He stayed on the shoulder of Hamilton’s Evan Bennett for a lap. 

“We came across in 60 seconds and I decided to gut it out from there,” Douglas said. “It's awesome. I couldn’t be more stoked. I’ve been dreaming of being a state champ since sophomore year, when I barely made it in the mile.” 

Whitefish scored 40 points to finish fifth in the boys team race. Columbia Falls, with Jack Phelps taking second in the 100 and fourth in the 200, was fourth at 55.  

Corvallis, getting a 2-3 finish in the 200 from Ayden Spencer and Solomon Morgan, won the state title with 76 points. Frenchtown, with Cole Zeigler winning the 100 and 200 and Brody Hardy winning the 300 hurdles and finishing second in the 110s, was second with 75. 

Neither squad had a long relay. 

Polson’s Astin Brown had a day, uncorking a 64-foot, 7-inch shot put on his first throw.  

It broke the Class A record set one year ago by Corvallis’ Wyatt Miles. 

“It felt great to get it out of the way,” Brown said. “I felt it come off my hand and I knew, in that moment, it was done right there. Four years of hard work and then, what, two seconds of a spin? Meant a lot to me.” 

It was a lot like Lane Voermans’ win in the discus from Friday; the Columbia Falls went 175-5 on his first attempt. 

“I really just focused on getting a decent mark, and it went a little bit farther than I thought it was going to for sure,” he said. “After that, you can go for it.” 

It was Brown who got the record. 

“That was awesome,” said Voermans, and if he sounds like a fan, he is. “I love that man to death. We’ve thrown almost every summer, sent videos to each other, and always have  good time with it.” 

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to show Grace Sliman's victory was in the high jump.

State A Track and Field

Legends Stadium, Saturday

BOYS 

Team scores — Corvallis 76, Frenchtown 75, Laurel 64, Columbia Falls 55, Whitefish 40, Hardin 34, Billings Central 32, Hamilton 31, Bigfork 26, Polson 21, Livingston 17, Miles city 13, Glendive 10, Butte Central 8, Lewistown 8, East Helena 6, Ronan 4, Browning 2, Havre 2, Libby 2, Sidney 1. 

100 — 1, Cole Zeigler, Ftn, 11.14; 2, Jack Phelps, CF, 11.34; 3, Solomon Morgan, Cor, 11.37; 4, Danny McCarthy, BCM, 11.39; 5, Riley Zetooney, Wfh, 11.43; 6, Ayden Spencer, Cor, 11.43. 

200 — 1, Cole Zeigler, Ftn, 22.50; 2, Ayden Spencer, Cor, 22.52; 3, Solomon Morgan, Cor, 22.55; 4, Jack Phelps, CF, 22.60; 5, Wililam Snell, BCR, 22.64; 6, Beck Whicker, MC, 22.77; 800 — 1, Simon Douglas, Wfh, 1:56.37; 2, Samuel Jagodzinski, BCR, 1:56.85; 3, Finn Schretenthaler, Liv, 1:57.07; 4, Evan Bennett, Ham, 1:57.08; 5, Taylor Doleac, Ham, 1:58.39; 6, Tayen Edmo, Ron, 1:58.62. 

3,200 — 1, Ben Bird, Har, 9:32.38; 2, Grey Piseno, BCR, 9:32.41; 3, Jack Davidson, Cor, 9:39.04; 4, David DiGiallonardo, Pol, 9:47.76; 5, River Racine, Brw, 9:51.31; 6, Taggart Jessop, Cor, 9:59.98. 

110 hurdles — 1, Stuart Brennan, Cor, 14.53; 2, Brody Hardy, Ftn, 14.99; 3, Austin Savik, Bfk, 15.36; 4, Carson Gulick, Wfh, 15.44; 5, Decker Purkett, Lau, 15.52; 6, Gabriel Glassing, Lau, 16.01. 

300 hurdles — 1, Brody Hady, Ftn, 39.09; 2, Austin Savik, Bfk, 40.24; 3, Isaiah Burt, Lau, 40.30; 4, Keefer McGree, BCM, 40.47; 5, Stuart Brennan, Cor, 41.27; 6, McKay Shobel, Lew, 41.39. 

1,600 relay — 1, Whitefish (Colby Minton, Ethan Amick, Preston McPherson, Simon Douglas) 3:23.62; 2, Hamilton 3:24.00; 3, Hardin 3:26.27; 4, Miles City 3:26.74; 5, Columbia Falls 3:28.78; 6, Ronan 3:29.80. 

Javelin — 1, Hunter Loesch, Copr, 209-4; 2, Darrell Lefthand, Har, 198-8; 3, Slade Olson, EH, 175-4; 4, Drew Lewis, Cor, 164-8; 5, Tristan Andersen, Lib, 164-4; 6, Joe West, CF, 163-1. 

Shot put — 1, Astin Brown, Pol, 64-7.5 (Class A record: old record 60-9.5, Wyatt Miles, Corvallis, 2024); 2, Emmett Nelson, Lau, 54-0; 3, Henry Griffin, Ftn, 53-6; 4, Tanner Waldron, Ftn, 52-6.5; 5, Tommy Lewis, Hav, 52-5.5; 6, Laner Voermans, CF, 51-6. 

High jump — 1, Nick Vojacek, Gle, 6-4; 2, Ledge Conner, Cor, 6-2; 3, Chris Dennis, Lau, 6-2; 4, Tamret Savik, Bfk, 6-0; 5 (tie), Carson Gulick, Wfh; Trsitan Watts, Liv; and Tanner Vanek, Lew, 6-0. 

Triple jump — 1, Bridger Burrows, Lau, 46-10.75; 2, Tamret Savik, Bfk, 44-10; 3, Leighton Cyr, Ftn, 43-9.75; 4, Stanley Stremick, CF, 43-4; 5, Cooper Michaud, Ftn, 43-3.75; 6, Easton Brooks, CF, 42-5. 

GIRLS 

Team scores — Whitefsh 74, Havre 60, Hamilton 56, Miles City 47, Laurel 40, Stevensville 36, Dillon 33, Corvallis 28, Billings Central 24, Hardin 23, Frenchtown 22, Columbai Falls 17, Sidney 17, Polson 16, Lewistown 14, Libby 12, Browning 4, East Helena 2, Glendive 1, Lockwood 1. 

100 — 1, Rachael Wilmot, Wfh, 12.47; 2, Kaitlyn Dantic, Lau, 12.52; 3, Macy Brandon, Hav, 12.57; 4, Kaydance Reiter, Hav, 12.60; 5, Jillian Huls, Cor, 12.78; 6, Ela Harber, Hav, 12.80. 

200 — 1, Rachael Wilmot, Wfh, 25.05; 2, Kaitlyn Dantic, Lau, 25.20; 3, Macy Brandon, Hav, 25.57; 4, Ela Harber, Hav, 25.96; 5, Blythe Armstrong, Lew, 26.19; 6, Ella Varner, Cor, 26.40. 

800 — 1, Peyton Frame, MC, 2:12.35; 2, Annalise Lewis, Ham, 2:14.11; 3, Grace Jagodzinski, BCR, 2:14.82; 4, Ryleigh Klienke, Sid, 2:19.42; 5, Javon Dutton, MC, 2:20.24; Chloe Savoy, CF, 2:21.18. 

3,200 — 1, Morgan Delaney, Pol, 11:28.82; 2, Capri Farmer, Lib, 11:35.24; 3, Grace Jagodzinski, BCR, 11:41.41; 4, Shayla Brittain, BCR, 11:42.01; 5, Zoey Real Bird, Har, 11:45.50; 6, Laina Larson, Lock, 11:48.32. 

100 hurdles — 1, Reagan Johnstone, Ste, 15.17; 2, Ginger Bergland, Wfh, 15.63; 3, Kate Allen, Cor, 15.81; 4, Riley McCoy, Dil, 15.94; 5, Blythe Armstrong, Lew, 15.98; 6, Perri Sloane, MC, 16.03. 

300 hurdles — 1, Reagan Johnstone, Ste, 45.01; 2, Ginger Bergland, Wfh, 45.79; 3, Blythe Armstrong, Lew, 46.03; 4, Jenna Ellis, Ham, 46.49; 5, Riley McCoy, Dil, 47.09; 6, Scarlett Jones, Ftn, 47.15. 

1,600 relay — 1, Miles City (Jaclyn Dighans, Javon Dutton, Odessa Glade, Peyton Flame) 4:02.61; 2, Hamilton 4:02.98; 3, Frenchtown 4:03.66; 4, Whitefish 4:06.46; 5, Billings Central 4:07.21; 6, Sidney 4:09.54. 

Shot put — 1, Gracie Werst, Ham, 42-5; 2, Isabella Regan, Dil, 39-3.5; 3, Clara Lester, Lasu, 36-6.5; 4, Olivia Maunu, Dil, 35-7.5; 5, Rori Schoenfeld, EH, 35-0; 6, Bea Paxson, Cor, 34-7.5. 

High jump — 1, Grace Sliman, Wfh, 5-4; 2, Makenna Torske, Har, 50; 3, Daceen Verploegen, Hav, 5-0; 4, Rylee Sweeney, CF, 5-0; 5, Kassidee McKern, Ham, 5-0; 6, London Provencher, Ham, 5-0. 

Triple jump — 1, Ella Varner, Cor, 36-5; 2, Maddy Barker, CF, 35-5.5; 3, Sophia Hutchison, Ste, 35-3.25; 4, Teslin Trombley, Brw, 34-10; 5, Lily Apedaile, Ham, 34-6.5; 6, Reagan Johnstone, Ste, 34-4. 

    Whitefish's Grace Sliman clears 5' in the girls' high jump at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Whitefish's Ginger Bergland took second place in the girls 300 meter hurdles at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Polson's Astin Brown took first place in the boys shot put at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Whitefish's Simon Douglas celebrates as he crosses the finish line for a first-place finish in the boys 800 meter run at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Bigfork's Tamret Savik clears 6' for a fourth-place finish in the boys high jump at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Bigfork's Austin Savik took second place in the boys 300 meter hurdles at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Polson's Morgan Delaney and Libby's Capri Farmer took first and secondj place in the girls 3,200 meter run at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Columbia Falls' Jack Phelps sprints to a fourth-place finish in the boys 200 meter run at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Columbia Falls' Lane Voermans placed first in the boys' discus at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Friday, May 23.
 Casey Kreider   

    Columbia Falls Chloe Savoy competes in the girls 800 meter run at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Bigfork's Tamret Savik took second place in the boys triple jump at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Columbia Falls' Stanley Stremick competes in the boys triple jump at the Class A state track and field meet at Legends Stadium on Saturday, May 24. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider