GREAT FALLS — The Cascade girls and the North Star boys sit atop the team standings after Day 1 of the Northern C divisional track and field meet, while several athletes posted state-leading marks and meet records heading into Thursday’s finals.
HIGHLIGHTS: Northern C Track Day 1
Cascade leads the boys standings with 74 points, followed by Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Power-Dutton-Brady tied for second with 31. Augusta sits fourth with 28 points. On the girls side, North Star leads with 47.5 points, ahead of Belt with 33 and Cascade with 29.
One of the highlights of the day came in the boys 400-meter relay, where both Cascade and Belt broke the previous meet record of 44.3 seconds set by Hobson-Moore in 2022. Cascade’s quartet of Peyton Hauk, Elijah Kennerson, Kegen Vanek and Brant Ligameri won the race in 43.84 seconds, edging Belt’s team by just .24 seconds.
Belt answered with a record-setting performance in the girls 400 relay. Ashton Pasha, Olivia Knudsen, Destinee Goodman and Vannie Urick combined to run 49.94 seconds, shattering the 1993 record of 50.3 seconds also set by the Huskies.
Chester-Joplin-Inverness junior Dane Grammar delivered one of the top performances of the meet in boys shot put. Already owning the best throw in Class C entering the divisional, Grammar improved his personal best by nearly four feet with a winning throw of 55 feet, 9½ inches.
Augusta also had a strong day in the throwing events. Conor Barrett won the boys javelin with a throw of 158-11 — more than 16 feet farther than the runner-up. Barrett also placed fourth in shot put.
In girls shot put, Augusta’s Cerenity Hjorth captured the divisional title with a personal-best throw of 37-5¼, while also placing seventh in javelin.
Cascade’s Brant Ligameri repeated as Northern C champion in the boys long jump, winning with a leap of 20-6½.
On the girls side, Simms junior Kenna Brooks won the long jump at 15-8½ inches, while teammate Ella Fryberger finished second.
In distance races, Cascade’s Trent Lane swept the boys 800- and 3,200-meter runs, posting times of 2:02.98 and 10:38.16.
The girls 1,600 featured one of the breakout performances of the meet as Sunburst eighth grader Colette Bucklin lowered her personal best by seven seconds to win in 5:35.36.
Thursday’s finals will determine the remaining state qualifiers, with the top six finishers in each event advancing to the Class C state meet in Laurel.
