MISSOULA — It was a fairly light week on the Montana high school track and field schedule.
There were only four large meets, as many of the Class AA schools competed at duals or triangulars. That doesn’t mean there was a shortage of impressive performances, though, especially when you figure in Montana’s contingent at the 2024 Arcadia Invitational in California on Friday and Saturday.
Running at the lower elevation in California often allows Montana’s distance runners to shine, and they did so again this year. Bozeman senior standout Nathan Neil led three Treasure Staters with impressive times in the 3,200-meter run.
Neil, who was the 2023 Montana Gatorade boys cross country runner of the year, placed second overall in the invitational with a personal-best time of 8:35.32, improving upon his time at last year’s Arcadia Invitational by nearly 15 seconds. The Montana state record, which can only be set at a state meet, is 9:04.35, set by Jake Perrin of Kalispell Flathead in 2016.
Ryan Harrington of Great Falls (8:58.33) and Quinn Newman of Missoula Sentinel (9:00.72) also had blazing times in the 3,200 at the 2024 Arcadia Invitational.
On the girls side, Claire Rutherford was fifth in the open 3,200. The Bozeman Gallatin junior crossed the line in 10:52.34, a personal best and the fastest time in Montana this spring.
Also at the Arcadia Invitational:
- Montana long jump record-holder Logan Todorovich of Helena marked a season-best jump of 18-10½ to place third. That’s the best jump by a Montana girl this spring by 16 inches.
- Emily McElmurry of Missoula Sentinel was seventh in the triple jump with a 37-02½. That leads Missoula Hellgate’s Alix Mund by two feet for Montana’s top mark this spring.
- Sophia Miller of Missoula Hellgate clocked a 2:16.74 in the 800, the leading time in Montana this spring. She was 18th in the open 800 at the Arcadia Invitational.
- Bozeman Gallatin senior Nash Coley was second in the seeded 300-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 37.89 seconds, the fastest time by a Montana boy this spring. Coley also placed sixth in the open division of the 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.71 seconds. That ranks second as the fastest time in Montana this season behind Sam Henderson of Butte at 14.43 seconds.
Hamilton’s boys and girls swept the team titles at the Hamilton Invitational on Saturday.
Freshman Annalise Lewis won the girls 400 and 800 in 1:01.30 and 2:24.58, respectively, while sophomore Taylor Doleac won the boys 1,600 (4:33.29) and 3,200 (10:00.47).
The Broncs also grabbed a handful of wins in the field. For the girls, Mya Winkler won the discus with a throw of 123-02, and Aubrey Kost won the pole vault with a personal-best 11-00.
On the boys side, Tyson Bauder threw a season- and state-best 191-06 in the boys javelin, while Andrew Burrows had personal-best marks in both the shot put (56-11) and discus (175-02). His discus throw leads the state this spring.
Also at the Hamilton Invitational, Polson freshman Amelia Stene ran the fastest 100-meter dash of any Montana girls this spring, crossing the finish line in 12.56 seconds, edging Frenchtown’s Blake Hardy (12.6) and Butte Central’s Ella Moodry (12.67).
At the Fergus Invite in Lewistown on Thursday, the Havre girls and Laurel boys cruised to team championships.
The Blue Pony girls got wins all over the track. Kaydance Reiter won both the 100 (12.77 seconds) and 200 (26.13); Ashlynn Ford won the 1,600 (5:33.17) and 3,200 (11:53.16); Kyanna Jarvis won the 100 hurdles (16.55); and Havre won both relays. Jarvis added a win in the high jump (5-02).
Laurel’s boys, meanwhile, had only three wins: Tanner Schwend in the 100 (11.34 seconds), Carter Gage in the pole vault (12-06) and the 400-meter relay (44.60). But the Locomotives racked up points with their depth, as they had 20 other top-six finishes.
The Jefferson boys and Huntley Project girls won the team titles at the Red Lodge Classic in Laurel on Friday.
Aaron French, Luke Mest and Dalton Noble led the Panther boys, with French winning the 800-meter run in 2:01.66, Mest winning the 3,200 in 10:04.74 and Noble winning the shot put (51-03) and discus (150-04). Jefferson went 1-2-3 in the shot put, with Tavan McMaster (46-04) and Dylan Stevens (42-11) also getting on the podium. McMaster was second in the discus (137-09), as well.
The Huntley Project girls won both relay races and went 1-2 in the pole vault with Brynn Wandle clearing 12-0 and Delayne Lindeen going over 9-0. Wandle was also second in the 100-meter dash (12.83 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (27.62). Sophomore Avery Gerdes gave the Red Devils a win in the 800 in a time of 2:28.71 and also tied with teammate Maddison Akins for second in the high jump at 5-0.
Earlier in the week at Lockwood, Gerdes clocked a 59.49 in the 400, the fastest girls time in the state this spring.
Saco’s Josie Brown had a big meet individually, winning the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 12.78 and 26.67 seconds, respectively. The senior also won the 300-meter hurdles in 47.09 seconds and placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.79.
Elsewhere:
- Ben Bliven of Kalispell Flathead joined Billings Skyview’s Ryan Dierenfield in the under-11 club. Bliven clocked a 10.91-second 100-meter dash at a dual with Great Falls High on Friday. Earlier in the week, Bliven ran the 200 in 22.26 seconds. Both times are easily personal bests for the junior.
- Flathead also got strong performances from Jacob Dolezal and Michael Mahar last week. Dolezal cleared 6-06 in the high jump, while Mahar cleared 14-03 in the pole vault.
- Great Falls senior Scott Klinker popped off a long jump of 23-02¼ at a dual with crosstown rival CMR last Tuesday.
- Glendive’s Kohbe Smith set the school record in the triple jump with a mark of 45-11 at a meet in Dickinson, N.D., on Friday. That jump is tied with Missoula Big Sky’s Porter Gibbs for the top mark in the state. Smith also recorded Class A’s best long jump (21-09) and 200-meter dash (22.47) at the Dickinson meet.
Note: All results are compiled from athletic.net. To report omissions or errors, please email sports@ktvh.com.
