MISSOULA — While the Billings West softball team was winning the Class AA state softball championship across town, the Golden Bears track and field teams were making it a clean sweep in the Garden City.
West, on the strength of its relay teams, won both the boys and girls team championships at the Class AA state track meet Saturday at MCPS Stadium.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
"Our team is so deserving of it, because everyone works so hard," West senior Demry Boyd said. "We tell each other that we each need to do our own business, take care of yourself, but at the same time, be there for your team. You may be on your own when you're doing your event, but you have the rest of your team there for you, and I think that's really what helps us push forward and take first."
Boyd and the Golden Bear girls ended the meet the same way they started it — with a win in the relays. West started Friday's action by winning the 4x100-meter relay in an all-class record time of 47.02 seconds.
Boyd ran the anchor leg after Carleigh Mahn, Nora Allen and Ella Claunch got the race started.
"When I get the baton, I already have faith," Boyd said. "It's really nice having faith in my teammates. I've never gotten the baton and had to be like, there's any girls within 15 meters of us when I first get it, which is really nice.
"I'm just thinking I need to finish this off for my team, don't let anyone else catch me and just make the rest of my team look good. Because at the end when they take videos of us, it's usually only me coming across the finish line, but it's thanks to all of us to where I got there."
Photos: Day 2 of the 2026 Class AA and B state track and field meets in Missoula
Boyd, Nora Allen and Mahn were joined by Aliyah Vogel in Saturday's 4x400-meter relay, which West won in 3 minutes, 56.53 seconds. Vogel also won the 400-meter dash with in a personal-record time of 55.99 seconds.
The Bears' only other win came from Laktynn Johson in the discus. The junior threw an even 135 feet to capture the gold medal.
West's girls, though, stacked up 122 points to outpace second-place Gallatin, which finished with 84 points. Kalispell Glacier was third with 66 points.
Boyd placed second and Nora Allen third in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, Vogel was third in the 800, Jane Allen was second in the 1,600 and third in the 3,200, Nora Allen was second in the 300-meter hurdles and Brittyn Boyce finished second in the shot put and third in the discus.
The Bear boys got event wins from Dylan Garcia with a triple jump of 47 feet, 8¼ inches, and the 4x100-meter relay on Friday. West placed second in the 4x400 relay Saturday to edge Glacier in the team race and secure the championship trophy.
West finished with 76 points to Glacier's 74. Helena Capital and Bozeman tied for third with 52 points each.
Westdon Kelley placed second in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes for West, Sean Klem was second in the long jump, Walker Olson finished third in the javelin and Beau Dringman was third in the pole vault.
Cooper Pelc claims hurdles record
In one of the most highly anticipated races of the day, Kalispell Glacier junior Cooper Pelc won the 110-meter hurdles and set a new all-class record in the process.
The 110s were expected to be fast with Helena Capital standout Oliver Mow running a 13.79-second mark earlier this season. But Pelc ran stride for stride with Mow on Saturday and beat him at the finish line, breaking the barrier in 14.03 seconds. Mow, who tumbled to the track after he crossed, finished in 14.08 seconds.
Pelc's 14.03 broke the all-class record of 14.14 seconds set by Huntley Project's Bradley Graves in 2019.
"I really wasn't expecting to go that low. My PR was like 14.4 before, and I was grinding for that one," Pelc said. "Coach said if I start as well as I usually do and kind of keep that pace, get the trail leg through and down, I can go pretty low in the 14s, and that's what I did."
In addition to Pelc's win, Glacier got a win from Daniel Pederson in the javelin Saturday. Pederson threw 189 feet, 5 inches on his final throw to overtake Helena's Auston Rowe for the top spot on the podium. Rowe placed second with a mark of 188-6.
Emery Peel sweeps sprints
On Friday, Billings Senior sprinter Emery Peel set the all-class record in the 100-meter dash when she won her preliminary heat in 11.96 seconds.
Saturday, she added gold medals in both the 100 and 200. She won the 100 in 12.44 seconds and the 200 in 25.26.
"It's not about the medals, and to me it's about running with the girls, but it does make me very happy just to have it a little reward, like something to show my hard work," Peel said.
Peel has been racing against Boyd since the two were in middle school.
"Just watching her thrive this year, it's been really cool," Boyd said of Peel. "Even though we're competitors, I love our grade. ... After she broke the state record, I immediately went and gave her a hug. I'm honestly not mad. She's my friend, and she works her tail off, so at the end of the day, second for me is first if it means someone like her can win."
"Even though I have the title of being the first to (break 12 seconds in the 100), I see the next classes and how talented these girls are, and I know that they're following and they'll break it shortly after me," Peel said. "And it's just cool to reach that milestone, because I know these other girls are going to get it, too."
Gold medal roundup
Other girls winners Saturday included Glacier freshman Ada Thiel in the 1,600 meters. Thiel, who also won the cross country championship last fall, finished the 1,600 in 5:01.54 to give the Wolfpack a sweep in the distance races.
Glacier's Dacia Benkelman and Lauren Bissen won the 800 and 3,200, respectively, on Friday.
Great Falls' Scarlet Harris won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.12 seconds Saturday, while Gallatin's Aizalyn Flaten won the 300s in 43.42 seconds. Missoula Big Sky's Gabby Alec marked a personal-best 37-3 to win the triple jump, and Gallatin's Kate Breeding threw 43-11 to win the shot put.
For the boys, Capital's Brayden Brisko won the 100-meter dash in 10.97 seconds a day after winning the pole vault title, and Big Sky's Blake Williams took the 200 crown in 21.9 seconds. Williams also ran a leg on the Eagles' winning 4x400-meter relay team.
Belgrade's Wilson Schmidt, who set the all-class record in the 800 on Friday, out-kicked Kalispell Flathead's William Hollensteiner to win the 400 meters in 47.92 seconds. Hollensteiner won the long jump with a mark of 22-7½.
Billings Senior's Kolby Palm won the discus with a throw of 165-2; Jameson Canney of Helena Capital won the 300 hurdles in 39.61 seconds; and Taylor Neil and Miles Halvorsen gave Bozeman a 1-2 finish in the 1,600 meters. Both ran personal-best times, with Neil getting the win in 4:11.32.
View complete results from the Class AA state track and field meet here.
