Track and field notebook: Nation-leading javelin throw, state-best marks highlight stellar performances

MISSOULA — One of the best weeks of the high school track and field regular season wrapped up Saturday, and athletes delivered in remarkable fashion.

There were 16 all-class state-best marks set between April 29 and May 3, with one of those marks topping the entire country. Hunter Loesch of Corvallis launched an impressive javelin throw of 214 feet, 8 inches at the Corvallis Quadrangular on May 2.

Loesch burst onto the national radar in early April with a throw of 204-04 and has consistently thrown in the low 200s or 190s since. But it all came together for the senior last week, as he hit the school-record 214-08 throw that vaulted him to the top of the national leaderboard. Montana’s all-class state record, which can only be set at a state meet, is 213-04, set by Thompson Falls’ Nate Bache in 2005.

Earlier in the week, Billings Skyview senior Rae Smart recorded the season’s top girls javelin throw during a stellar day at the Midland Roundtable Top 10 meet in Laurel. Smart won all three throwing events, setting the state-best marks in both the javelin and shot put. She threw 136-11 in the jav and 46-05 in the shot.

Smart’s shot put also broke the meet record, and her 134-03 in the discus is the best throw in Class AA this season.

The Midland Roundtable Top 10 meet saw all sorts of meet records fall, and athletes hit another seven state-best marks. For the girls, Huntley Project’s Avery Gerdes (56.07 seconds in the 400-meter run), Gallatin’s Isabell Ross (5:01.39 in the 1,600) and Joliet’s Cori Coombe (37-09½ in the triple jump) sit atop the statewide leaderboards.

Billings West and Gallatin also ran the state’s fastest times in the 400- and 1,600-meter relays at 48.28 and 3:57.27, respectively.

On the boys side, Wilson Schmidt of Belgrade continued his stellar season in the 800-meter run, crossing the finish line in a meet-record time of 1:51.73 to improve his state-best time. And Billings West ran to a state-best time of 42.03 in the boys 400 relay.

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Out west, Kalispell Flathead burned up the track at the Archie Roe meet in Kalispell for three state-best times. Ben Bliven became the first boy this season to break the 22-second barrier in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.98 seconds; William Hollensteiner went 48.10 in the 400; and the Braves’ 1,600-meter relay team finished in 3:22.49.

Slim Kimmel / MTN Sports

Bliven also won the 100-meter dash at the meet, teammate Kasen Kastner won the 800 and the Braves won the 400-meter relay, giving the team six wins on the track. Hollensteiner added wins in both the long and triple jump.

It wasn’t all Flathead at the Archie Roe, though, as crosstown rival Kalispell Glacier actually won the team title with 126 points compared to Flathead’s 112.5. The Wolfpack showed off their depth, led by Ethan Anderson, who clocked a 38.64 in the 300-meter hurdles for the fastest time in the state this spring.

Glacier also got individual event wins from Owen Thiel (4:17.37 in the 1,600), Ben Winters (52-06 in the shot put) and Cole Opre (14-00 in the pole vault).

A couple Class C high jumpers had a good Saturday, as well. Noxon’s Ricky Williams cleared 6-8 at the KLH Memorial in Missoula, while Brynn Kammerzell of Chester-Joplin-Inverness went over 5-7 at the Havre High Lions Invite.

The 6-8 jump is a personal-best for Williams by 3½ inches, and he now leads the state in the event. Kammerzell, meanwhile, is now tied with Helena High’s Madilyn Todorovich for the best girls jump this season.

Class C-best marks set at Norm Girard Top 10 meet

In addition to Class A programs Havre and Sidney, the 43rd annual Norm Girard Top 10 meet April 29 in Glasgow featured many of the best Class B and C athletes from the Hi-Line and eastern Montana, and produced a handful of Class C-best marks.

Richey-Lambert’s Jolee Klempel accounted for two of those marks in a rare 100-meter hurdles/shot put combination. The sophomore clocked a 16.09-second time in a competitive 100-meter hurdles race that featured four of the five fastest Class C times this season. Klempel also threw 37-09½ in the shot to take over the top spot on the Class C leaderboard. She won the long jump at the meet, as well, with a mark of 16-04¾.

Cambry Conradsen of Savage (25.19 seconds in the 200), Hailey Berwick of Bainville (1:00.72 in the 400) and Shelbi LaBrie of Whitewater (5:18.26 in the 1,600) also recorded times that are tops in Class C.

Havre’s Kaydance Reiter, one of the best sprinters in the state regardless of class, won both the 100 (12.58) and 200 (25.17), and teammate Macy Brandon won the 400 (58.87). The Blue Ponies also won the 400-meter relay.

For the boys, Henry Kukowski of Plentywood, Ethan Walker of Harlem and Johnslee Pierre of Lustre Christian were multiple-event winners. Kukowski won the 100 meters in a Class C-best time of 11.32 seconds and the triple jump with a 42-00 mark; Walker took the titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 in 4:42.82 and 10:08.41, respectively; and Pierre swept the hurdles, clocking a 16.52 in the 110s and a 41.67 in the 300s.

Culbertson also ran a Class C-best time in the 400-meter relay, winning the event in 44.78 seconds.

Class B, C stars shine at Al Walker Memorial Stillwater meet

Class B and C stars were out at the Al Walker Memorial Stillwater meet, as well, with standouts like Huntley Project’s Avery Gerdes (100 and triple jump) and Red Lodge’s Kougar Kappel (100 and 200) grabbing multiple wins.

Gerdes PR’d in the 100 with a 12.6 to move into second on the Class B leaderboard. She leads the class in the 200 and 400 and ranks second in the 800 and triple jump. Kappel, meanwhile, won the 100 in a personal-best time of 11.33 seconds and the 200 in 22.69 seconds. He is the Class B leader in the 200 and 400, ranks third in the 300 hurdles and is tied for fifth in the 100.

Also at the Al Walker Memorial meet, the Columbus boys recorded Class B’s fastest time in the 400 relay (43.6 seconds), and Roy-Winifred’s Kolt Lensing moved to the top of the Class C leaderboard with a huge PR of 152-03 in the discus.

For the girls, Roberts senior TJ Chirrick posted Class C’s best times in the 800 (2:22.57) and 300 hurdles (46.87), while Huntley Project’s Caidance Merecki (46.57 in the 300 hurdles), Three Forks’ Kyle Rowan (40-04¼ in the shot put) and Big Timber’s Paige Wertheimer (123-01 in the javelin) set Class B-best marks.

Note: All marks are compiled from Athletic.net, the official database of Montana High School Association track and field results.