Vikings run, jump to records, Western A boys title

FRENCHTOWN — The Bigfork Vikings made their first-day lead hold up Saturday, riding two wins each from record-setters Tamret Savik and Robert Merchant to the Western A Divisional track and field crown.

Savik set personal records in both the triple jump — he went 48 feet, 3 inches, a meet record — and the high jump (6-5). 

Merchant completed a sprint sweep, clipping through the 100-meter finals in 10.90 seconds and the 200 in 21.88 Saturday; the latter set the meet record. He also tied the Western A record in the 100, set by Whitefish’s Joel Rosenberg in 1998, during Friday’s prelims: 10.79 seconds. Friday he won the 400 in another record time of 48.78. 

After his 200 victory, Merchant anchored the Vikings’ victorious 1,600-meter relay, teaming with Quinn Kerr, Austin Savik and Tayden West. The same crew won Friday’s 400-meter relay in 42.77 — another record. 

The old relay record of 43.21 was set by Corvallis in 2009 and tied by Columbia Falls in 2024. That Wildcat team had Malaki Simpson, who shared the previous 200 record of 22.00. 

Whitefish’s Cody Henning had held the open 400 record of 48.90 since 2004. 

Tamret Savik surpassed yet another Whitefish product, Chris Hicks, who had held the triple jump record of 46-4.5 since 2006.  

The Vikings scored 114 points to 93 for second-place Corvallis and 73 for Columbia Falls. They were followed by Frenchtown (61), Hamilton (44), Polson (36) and Whitefish (29). 

Hamilton won the girls title with 97 points, followed by Frenchtown (81) and Whitefish (75.5) 

Kerr and West finished fourth-and-six in the 100, and then West and Kerr went 4-5 in the 200 as the points piled up. 

Austin Savik, victorious in the 110-meter hurdles on Friday, finished third in the 300 hurdles at 40.77 seconds. Frenchtown freshman Jared Nygard won in 40.42 and Browning’s Robert Miller was second at 40.50. 

Tamret Savik was huge, getting two big wins after a second in Friday’s long jump. He surpassed his previous best triple jump by more than half a foot; his previous best high jump was 6-4.  

Browning senior River Racine won a fast 800 in 1:56.41, with Hamilton’s Brayden Lanser (1:56.56) a close second. Browning’s Kayden Rutherford was fourth and Ronan’s William Normandeau, fifth. 

Columbia Falls found big points in the 3,200, where Aiyers Powell ran second to Corvallis’ Tagart Jessop while hitting a PR of 10:11.30, and the triple jump, where Easton Brooks finished second with a mark of 42-4. 

Jett Brandeberry finished third in the 100 for the Wildcats; Miles Colliander took fourth in the 300 hurdles and Dylan Owens tied Frenchtown’s Eli Nahapetian for second in the high jump. Both cleared 6-0. 

Frenchtown’s Henry Griffin threw 180-8 to add a discus win (and meet record) to his shot put victory from Friday. 

Libby’s Tristan Andersen took fifth in the high jump Saturday after placing second in Friday’s javelin. 

Whitefish surged up the girls standings Saturday with Ginger Bergland winning the 300 hurdles and adding a third in the open 400 and a fourth in the 200. 

Freshman Avery Orme won the triple jump (36-8) for the Bulldogs and added depth points in the sprints along with Brooklyn Shoff. Margaret Zoninch and Nola Brown finished 2-4 in the high jump and teammate Sol Holmquist took second in the javelin. 

Another Whitefish freshman, Kendall Dye, was third in an 800 race that featured one of four divisional girls records: Hamilton’s Annalise Lewis finished in 2:13.46, breaking the 30-year-old record set by Ronan’s Zeffy Moss (2:15.34). Lewis also won the 400. 

Polson’s Amelia Stene took third in the 100 meters — Frenchtown’s Blake Hardy swept the 100 and 200 — and teammate Quinn Delaney, a freshman, was second in the 3,200 to Hamilton’s Aleigha Child.  

Morgan Delaney won Friday’s 1,600 for Polson and did in record fashion: Her time of 4:59.42 took Bigfork’s Brooke Andrus (5:08.82 in 2006) off the record books. 

Columbia Falls’ Soli Bullemer cleared 11-0 to finish second in the pole vault, where Hamilton’s Aubrey Korst tied the meet record she held along with two other athletes. Bullemer also took fourth in the triple jump, where Browning’s Teslin Tromble was third. The Wildcats and Polson each scored 48 points, tying for sixth. Bigfork had 16.5 points, Libby 10 and Browning 6. 

Libby’s Capri Farmer was second in Friday’s 1,600 and didn’t run Saturday’s 3,200. 

The Valkyries’ top performers were Millie Hall, who finished third in the discus, and Avery Price, who took fourth in the javelin. 

First-day Highlights 

Polson’s boys scored 35 of their 36 points on Friday, led by David DiGiallonaro and Jackson Bontadelli, who finished first and third in the 1,600; DiGiallonardo won in 4:23.76. Bontadelli’s time of 4:32.33 was a PR. 

Isaac Kinnick cleared 12-6 to win the pole vault and Dion Litchtenberg added a third in the javelin for the Pirates. 

Columbia Falls got 10 points from Joe West, who won the javelin with a throw of 168-0 and depth from Colliander (third, 100 hurdles), Powell (fourth, 1,600), and Tristian Archuletta and Bergen Bullemer, who were fourth and sixth in the pole vault. 

Whitefish’s Colby Minton was second in the 400, clocking 50.38; freshman teammate Oakley Tunison marked 20-7.5 to take fourth in the long jump. 

Whitefish saw Ginger Bergland (60.69, a PR) and Booklyn Shoff finished 3-5 in the 400;

Bergland didn’t run the 100 hurdles, which Stevensville’s Reagan Johnstone won in a PR of 14.85, the fastest in A.  

Johnstone, like Bergland a sophomore, also won the long jump with an eye-popping mark of 18-9.25; that broke the meet record of 18-4.5 set in 1986 by Butte Central’s Tammy Mathewson. Teammate Sophia Hutchinson was second at 18-2.75, and those are unofficially the two best marks in Class A. 

Full results can be found at athletic.net.