Four Troy track and field athletes headed to state

Troy track and field athletes posted several state-qualifying performances and top finishes at the Western B/C Divisional meet last week at Big Sky High School’s MCPS Stadium.

Aspen Orr led the Lady Trojans with a Western B divisional championship in the triple jump. Orr won the event with a mark of 35 feet, 5 inches to qualify for state. She also placed second in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 16-6, giving her another state berth. Orr added a seventh-place finish in the javelin at 90-4 and placed eighth in the 400 meters in 1 minute, 4.78 seconds.

Orr is seeded third in the triple jump.

Toryn Witmer also qualified for state for Troy, placing fifth in the Western B high jump with a personal-best clearance of 4-6. Jaylee Meyers added another state berth for the Lady Trojans in the 1,600, finishing fifth in a personal-best 6:06.60.

Jessie Heileson competed in multiple events for Troy. She placed ninth in the 200 meters in 30.68 after running a personal-best 29.99 in the preliminaries. Heileson also placed 11th in the 100 prelims in 14.58 and finished 12th in the triple jump at 28-8.

In the girls throwing events, Shyanne Manley placed 11th in the shot put at 24-1 and 11th in the discus at 69-5.

On the boys side, Michael Gillespie qualified for state in the Western B triple jump, placing fifth with a mark of 37-11.75. Gillespie also finished ninth in the long jump at 17-9.75 and 10th in the 200 meters in 25.59 after running 25.54 in the preliminaries.

Kai Brownell turned in two top-seven distance finishes for Troy. Brownell placed seventh in the 1,600 meters in a personal-best 4:54.19 and seventh in the 3,200 in a personal-best 11:09.05.

Conner Powell added a 10th-place finish in the boys shot put with a throw of 34-9.

The Class B Track and Field Championships are being held Friday and Saturday in Missoula at MCPS Stadium.