BILLINGS – We said goodbye to another high school sports season over the weekend. Now, it’s time to take a look at some of the best individual performances in a special edition of Gamechangers.
At No. 5, we start with a Billings West Bear. It took Carter Slade half the season to qualify for state in the shot put. Then he passed 50 feet in May, 52 feet at divisionals, and hit 54 feet Friday for a massive PR and a state title. Oh, he won the discus title too.
No. 4 – all eyes were on Big Timber’s Casey Gunlikson in his final high school meet, and he delivered in a big way. Gunlikson broke two Class B records, one in the 100, the other in the 300 hurdles. He also broke the 200 record, though it was ruled wind-aided – but it’s a day he’ll never forget.
Neither will Wrenzi Wrzesinski. The Baker senior won both hurdles races, the 200 meters, was third in the 100, and was part of both winning relay teams. Add everything together, and Wrzesinski’s 56 combined points were more than anyone all weekend. And don’t forget to add the Class B team title, too.
But for the top two, we go to the diamond, where Senior has found their pitcher of the future. Freshman Kennedy Venner won the Broncs’ first three state games, striking out 24 and gave up just two earned runs as the four-seed Broncs reached the state championship.
They came up one win short – but Huntley Project did not, thanks to Addy Hultgren. The junior threw every pitch for the Red Devisl on their way to the state title. 28 innings, 42 strikeouts, including 17 in the semifinal against Plains. And for good measure, she caught the championship-winning comebacker Saturday afternoon. The epitome of a gamechanger – if we’ve ever seen one.
