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'A' STATE TRACK MEET PREVIEW
Will Corvallis dominance continue?
Over the last decade, the State Class A track and field meet has almost exclusively belonged to the Western Division, and especially Corvallis.
The Blue Devils boys have won the meet four times in the last seven years, but the girls have done better, winning the last five in a row.
Corvallis swept last year’s meet, and has shown every intention of repeating on both sides this year’s combined A-B meet Friday and Saturday at Van Winkle Stadium in Bozeman after taking both sides of last week’s Western A Divisional. The girls won going away, the boys outdistanced Columbia Falls by just one point.
Havre head coach John Ita says the Belgrade Panthers will have something to say about that.
“Belgrade has had a very strong team this year,” Ita said. “They have two very strong teams, with speed, throwers and jumpers.”
The Blue Ponies could have some input as well: “Our girls are young, but we’re looking for good things out of Naomi Terry in the sprints, Rachel David in the middle distances, and our 4-by-400 relay,” Ita said.
Terry, a junior, has the third fastest qualifying time in the 100 meters, while the senior David will run the 400 and 800. Both will be on the 4-by-400 team along with sophomores Logan Huebsch and Kaylee Mystrom.
Ita will have some strong runners on the boys’ side with sprinters Nate Rismon and Michael Loftus and middle distance runners Luke Karnauskas and Ivar Aageson. Jacob LaBrie will run on the 4-by-100 along with Loftus, Karnauskas and Aageson, while Rismon will replace LaBrie on the 4-by-400.
“We don’t have a lot in the field events, except for Rismon and Aageson in the pole vault,” Ita added. That event was scheduled for Thursday afternoon, weather permitting.
Steve Olson’s teams at Lewistown’s Fergus High had strong showings last week at divisionals, the girls’ team finishing second only to Laurel while the boys came in fourth.
The Golden Eagle girls are projected to finish sixth or seventh, according to montanatrack.com, but in order for that to happen, “we need to have a good weekend from Jaree Mane and Marissa James,” Olson said.
Mane, who blew out her ACL and had surgery last summer, has come back with a vengeance since returning toward the end of basketball season. The senior won the 100 and 200 meter sprints at divisionals, took second in the javelin and was on the second-place 4-by-100 relay team, and finished third in the 400. Man was third in the 100, 200 and 400 last year at state.
James, a sophomore, won the 100 hurdles and took the high jump in a jump-off.
The Fergus boys will have a lot of hope riding on junior Haiden Collins, who will be a busy athlete this weekend. Collins took the 110 hurdles with a personal best 15.64 and won the 300 hurdles as well, so he’ll be running both hurdles, the 100, 200 and 400 dashes, and the 4-by-400 relay.
Matt Harrison, who will also run the long relay, goes into state with the best Class A distance in the shot put, and Dylan Sipe was second only to Collins in the 300 hurdles.
Ty Parsons will be in the 800 and the metric mile, and Noah Majerus is in the 1,600 and 3,200.
“We need to have a good race from both of them,” Olson said.
Browning head coach Ray Croff has athletes entered in just four events, all qualifying at last week’s Super-Divisionals.
“It’s going to be tough,” Croff said. “They all had to finish in the top 10 last week. But for young kids to excel like that is quite an accomplishment.”
The only boy for the Indians is sophomore Phillip SunRhodes, who placed 10th last weekend and “has been knocking his time down,” Croff said. “If he can finish in the 2:05 range, he’ll have a good jump on next year.”
Leading the girls is junior Caroline McEvers, who took the fourth-place medal in the triple jump. Senior Charnelle Bear Medicine was eighth in the 100 hurdles, and freshman Chas’lin Kipp had a 10th-place finish in the 3,200.
Field events start the schedule both Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m., with the track events starting at 10:30
Bitterroot well represented in Bozeman
Despite their proximity -- the towns of Hamilton and Corvallis are separated by a short 4-mile drive -- Broncs track coach John Stromberg suggests his team's motivation to claim the Class A girls' track and field title isn't intensified by the chance to spoil their rival's five-year reign at the top.
"They've of course been a perennial power and are a class act," Stromberg said, "but no, there's been no motivation really."
Regardless, the Broncs are among a throng of teams with enough athletes to challenge Corvallis. There are also Columbia Falls, Belgrade and Whitefish, and maybe even Butte Central or Polson if the two can pick up a couple lucky breaks.
It's exactly what was expected when the track and field season began almost two months ago.
"I think there are going to be four or five teams that have a chance to win it," Corvallis coach Spencer Huls said in early April. "All four or five of those teams could be within 10 points on that Saturday at state."
That will be decided sometime Saturday afternoon at Bozeman's Van Winkle stadium when the Class A and Class B meets come to an end. Those other three meets are said to be far more predictable: projections released this week have Manhattan, a dominant B boys' program, winning by almost 60 points, while Bigfork holds a 24-point advantage over Malta in the girls' meet.
And in the A boys, it's closer, but Columbia Falls and Corvallis have a clear advantage over a glut of Eastern teams.
"It's going to be a battle between Corvallis and Columbia Falls," said Stromberg in a statement echoed by Columbia Falls coach Jamie Hertz.
Hertz's group, led by sprinter Tanner Dana, could score points all over the board. Sage Wanner is a favorite in the long distance races, both relays will challenge, and the Wildcats' jumps and distance programs are strong enough to pick up enough points to give the reigning champs a test.
"We have kind of everybody represented in almost every event," Hertz said. "If we can get some help in the (distance and throwing) events then I like our chances of coming away with a trophy. It's going to be a tight battle."
The Western A Divisional was decided in favor of Corvallis by a one-point margin. Josh Jessop and Carson Jessop scored 16 points in the 800 meters and then Carson teamed with Ronald Venema to earn another 12 in the 3,200 to earn the Blue Devils the title.
Some combination of Corvallis' distance program will be counted on to make it competitive. The Devils wouldn't mind, however, if their field events can pile on the points. Skylar Jessop has the longest toss in the discus and Spencer Jessop is right behind in third.
"All in all we're two pretty strong teams and it's just going to come down to these two days and who is ready to go," Hertz said.
That will most likely be the difference in the girls' meet, as well. Split by the narrowest of margins, Hamilton, Corvallis and Columbia Falls will be trying to find points in any event they can.
The Broncs are hoping for strong finishes in the 1,600 and the 3,200 from senior Jacie Schmalz and a quintet of jumpers. Columbia Falls is pinning its hopes to its two relays and the combination of Mary Baker and Kaitlyn Casazza in the sprints and hurdles, and Corvallis will rely on the production of sprinter Penny Jessop and harriers Heidi Nisly and Albany Jessop.
Corvallis could also be awarded golds in the discus and javelin with Brookelyn Palin and Zena Smith, respectively.
