KALISPELL — The high school track and field season officially came to a close Saturday night at Legends Stadium, as the Gallatin girls and Kalispell Flathead boys were crowned Class AA state team champions.
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Over the last three days — which started with boys pole vault on Thursday — athletes across Montana's largest classification showcased their skills for one final time this spring. And showcase, they sure did.
Saturday saw two more all-class records get broken, as Billings Skyview's Rae Smart started off the day by throwing the javelin 162 feet, 11 inches to shatter the previous best. Smart also won state titles in the discus with a throw of 127 feet, 5 inches, as well as Friday's shot put.
Also breaking an all-class record was Flathead's Alivia Rinehart, as the senior recorded a 14.06 in the 100-meter hurdles to win the state title there. That was not the only event Rinehart showed out in on Saturday though, as she ran top times in both the 200-meter dash (24.54 seconds) and the 300-meter hurdles (42.07 seconds). All of the times listed were new personal bests for Rinehart.
Flathead got a huge boost to the boys title from William Hollensteiner, who won the 300 hurdles with a new best time of 37.94 seconds. The junior also closed out the final leg of the 1,600-meter relay, where Hollensteiner had to come from way behind to eventually beat out Missoula Big Sky's team and lead the Braves to a 3:19.76. This race was vital to take Flathead to the title, as Helena trailed by only three team points prior.
It does not stop there either, as Hollensteiner also won the 200-meter dash by crossing the finish line in 21.94 seconds. On top of it all, he set a new all-class record in the 400-meter dash Friday.
Leading the way for the Gallatin girls to help them to their title was the distance runners of Isabel Ross, Hazel Cooper and Claire Rutherford. Finishing both first and second in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs respectively were Ross and Cooper, while Rutherford clocked in the second-best mark in the 3200-meter run.
Both Ross and Cooper ran personal bests in the 800 and 1600 across Friday and Saturday.
For full results from the three-day meet, visit this link.
