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Records Fall at State Track Meet in Kalispell

Bigfork's Bryn Morley breaks all-state record in girls 1600 before Billings' Aragon takes over top time

By Dillon Tabish
Flathead's Chade Gonter clears 6-3 to win the Class AA high jump at the state track and field championships at Legends Stadium. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

Twice in a matter of 15 minutes, the all-class state record in the girls 1600 fell at the Class AA and Class B state championship track and field meet at Legends Stadium in Kalispell on Friday.

Bryn Morley, a freshman phenom from Bigfork, broke the all-class state record in the Class B girls race, clocking 4:47.76 and surpassing the previous top time of 4:48.24 set by Chiara Warner of Townsend in Bozeman in 2013.

Bryn held off her older sister, Makena, the reigning state champ who placed second in her final 1600 with a time of 5:01.69.

The AA girls lined up next with a pair of highly touted runners — Glacier freshman Annie Hill and Christina Aragon, a junior from Billings Senior — poised to threaten the all-class mark as well.

What happened next was even more historic.

Hill led the entire race with a confident stride that was on pace for 4:44 after two laps. But with 150 meters left, Aragon kicked into high gear and passed her freshman opponent. Aragon sprinted down the final stretch as the crowded stadium rose to its feet in cheers.

A new all-class record holder was crowned. Aragon clocked 4:46.34. Hill came in at 4:48.11.

The three times on Friday between Morley, Aragon and Hill were the three fastest high school times in state history. Morley’s time still stands as a Class B state record, unseating Warner.

For Aragon, it was the first of her triumphs this weekend.

The vaunted junior, who is also a highly ranked Junior Olympic gymnast, won the 400 in 55.87, breaking the Class AA record of 56.30 set by Denise Pidcock of Great Falls C.M. Russell in 1980. Carly Smiedala of Helena placed second, 56.13, and Hill took third, 57.73.

Aragon’s time was shy of the all-class record held by Loni Perkins of Conrad. Perkins ran 54.62 in 2003.

Aragon and Hill will race in the 800 and 3200 on Sunday.

The first day of the championship meet had plenty of excitement under sunburst skies and temperatures approaching 80 degrees.

Flathead’s Chade Gonter won the AA boys high jump championship, clearing 6-3 in fewer tries than four others to claim gold.

The Flathead boys are barely behind Helena in the team standings. The Braves scored 37 points on the first day. Helena leads with 40 and Billings Senior is in third with 30. Glacier is sixth with 18.

Glacier senior Kewayna Larson ended her stellar prep career with a third straight AA girls javelin championship and a new Class AA state record. Larson threw 144-7 to break the previous mark of 143-7 set by Billings West’s Aly Wardell in 2009.

The Glacier girls are in first place among the AA teams with 33 points. Missoula Sentinel is next with 32, following by Billings Senior, 29.5, and Bozeman, 22.

Glacier’s Austin Cook won the boys AA long jump title. He landed 22-1.75. Keaton Anderson of Missoula Sentinel took second, 21-6.25, and Keaton Krantz of Flathead earned third, 21-3.75.

Bigfork junior Logan Morley won the 3200 championship for Class B boys, clocking 10:04. He took third in the 800, clocking 1:57.75, a personal best by two seconds. Moritz Little of Red Lodge won in 1:57.37.

The Bigfork boys are sitting in second place with 24 points. Manhattan is in the lead with 46. Huntley Project is third with 22.

Hailey Phillips of Plains won the 400 in 57.69.

Haile Norred of Bigfork took second in the 400, 58.95, and Bryn Morley placed third, 59.40.

Bigfork’s Gabby Eaton won the pole vault with a clear of 9-6 on Thursday.

The Bigfork girls are in the lead in Class B with 43 points. Plains is second with 32 and Manhattan has 22 points.

Leah Thompson of Plains defended her Class B championship in the discus with a throw of 134-5. Mariah Harvey of Manhattan took second with 127-0 and Plains’ Kayla Holmes earned third, 116-2.

Sophia Stiles of Malta won the Class B girls long jump championship, 17-9.

Caleb Neth of Manhattan won the Class B boys 400 in 49.46. He also claimed the championship in the long jump, leaping 21-10.75.

Quincy Wittman of Huntley Project won the Class B boys pole vault title with a clear of 13-6.

Alec Nehring of Manhattan won the Class B boys discus with a throw of 172-10. Tyler Iverson of Bigfork claimed second, 161-0.

Casey Cole of Forsyth claimed the B boys javelin, 190-10.

In the AA girls high jump, Camille Landon of Bozeman won with a jump of 5-5.

Missoula Sentinel’s Shayla Palmer won the pole vault with a clear of 12-0.

Hailey Copinga of Billings Skyview won the long jump, 17-1.

Ashleigh Lehotsky of Great Falls CMR, claimed gold in the shot put, 41-10.5.

Chase Smith of Helena set a new all-class record in the pole vault. He cleared 16-4 to break the 1988 record of 15-9 set by Helena’s Todd Foster in 1988.


 

State Track

Friday

Legends Stadium, Kalispell

Class AA

Boys

Team scores — Helena 40, Flathead 37, Billings Senior 30, Billings West 22, Hellgate 21, Glacier 18, Capital 18, Sentinel 12, Butte 8, Skyview 5, Bozeman 5, Big Sky 1.

400 — 1, Connor Matthews, Helena, 49.16. 2, Dalton Daum, Butte, 49.54. 3, Jeremiah Coon, Helena, 49.94. 4, Brendan Atchison, Skyview, 50.40. 5, Josh Barrows, Helena, 50.42. 6, Donaldson, Levi, Capital, 50.50.

800 — 1, Jeremiah Coon, Helena, 1:54.22. 2, Levi Donaldson, Capital, 1:54.58. 3, Dawson Larance, Senior, 1:54.87. 4, Isaac Petsch, West, 1:55.35. 5, Josh Barrows, Helena, 1:55.82. 6, Simon Petsch, West, 1:56.60.

3,200 — 1, Marshall Beatty, Sentinel, 9:22.92. 2, Jake Perrin, Flathead, 9:30.67. 3, Sylas Schutt, Flathead, 9:43.06. 4, Chase Equall, Bozeman, 9:46.00. 5, Brock Sandry, Glacier, 9:50.07. 6, Riley Collins, Bozeman, 9:53.88.

High Jump — 1, Chade Gonter, Flathead, J6-3. 2, Keaton Anderson, Senior, J6-3. 3, Conner Schenk, Hellgate, J6-3. 4, Tristan Gray, Hellgate, J6-3. 4, Ethan Garrett, West, J6-3. 6, Trey Haidle, Skyview, J6-1.

Pole Vault — 1, Chase Smith, Helena, 16-4.* (All-class record: 15-9, Todd Foster, Helena, 1988) 2, Charles Barron, Senior, J14-0. 3, Jake Bradford, West, J14-0. 4, Tobias Barton, Flathead, 13-6. 5, Tristan Gray, Hellgate, J13-0. 6, Kyle Hayter, Capital, J13-0.

Long Jump — 1, Austin Cook, Glacier, 22-1.75. 2, Keaton Anderson, Senior, 21-6.25. 3, Keaton Krantz, Flathead, 21-3.75. 4, Jory Abelman, West, 21-1. 5, Jess Beaman, Flathead, 20-11.75. 6, Marcus Lindquist, Big Sky, 20-10.50.

Shot Put — 1, Zayne Babbitt, Hellgate, 62-9.50. 2, Michael Smith, Capital, 52-6. 3, Harrison Kauffman, Glacier, 52-3. 4, Bryson Deming, West, 49-9. 5, Colin Hammock, Sentinel, 48-1. 6, Jess Beaman, Flathead, 47-11.25.

GIRLS
Team Scores — Glacier 33, Sentinel 32, Billings Senior 29.5, Bozeman 22, Skyview 21, Helena 16.5, Big Sky 12, Flathead 12, Capital 10, C.M. Russell 10, Hellgate 9.5, Billings West 8, Butte 1.5.

400 — 1, Christina Aragon, Senior, 55.87.* (Class AA record, Carlee Clark, Bozeman, 56.54, 2002 and Chantelle Gray, Sentinel, 56.54, 2009) 2, Carly Smiedala, Helena, 56.13. 3, Annie Hill, Glacier, 57.73. 4, Anna Beck, Skyview, 58.21. 5, Olivia Burgad, Sentinel, 58.91. 6, Jordan Gilcrist, Senior, 58.92.

1,600 — 1, Christina Aragon, Senior, 4:46.34. (All-class record: Bryn Morley, 4:47.76, 2015; Class AA record: Heidi Lane, CMR, 4:55.18, 2002) 2, Annie Hill, Glacier, 4:48.11. 3, Ellen Brooks, Sentinel, 5:03.00. 4, Gillian Maness, Flathead, 5:03.08. 5, Kaitlin Wride, Flathead, 5:03.82. 6, Piper Meuwissen, Bozeman, 5:04.21.

High Jump — 1, Camille Landon, Bozeman, 5-5. 2, Jordyn Schweyen, Sentinel, 5-3. 2, Hailey Copinga, Skyview, 5-3. 4, Chiara Morelli, Capital, J5-1. 5, Kaci Paffhausen, Hellgate, J5-1. 5, Abby Dodge, Butte, J5-1.

Pole Vault — 1, Shayla Palmer, Sentinel, 12-0. 2, Ashling Slevin, Bozeman, 11-9. 3, Mikayla Bloyder, West, 11-6. 4, Chiara Morelli, Capital, 11-0. 5, Katrina Terry, West, 10-6. 6, Kamden Hilborn, Helena, J10-0. 6, Tiffani Finley, Senior, J10-0.

Long Jump — 1, Hailey Copinga, Skyview, 17-1. 2, Hannah Porch, Big Sky, 17-0.25. 3, Megan Russell, Flathead, 16-6.75. 4, Hannah Kearns, Big Sky, 16-5. 5, Alexa Linebarger, Bozeman, 16-3.75. 6, Brielle Bumgarner Glacier, 16-3.50.

Shot Put — 1, Ashleigh Lehotsky, Charles M Ru, 41-10.50. 2, Shanna Florschinger, Helena, 39-3. 3, Nikki Krueger, Glacier, 38-9.75. 4, Hannah Nessan, Senior, 38-8.25. 5, Tessa Krueger, Glacier, 38-0. 6, Emerald Toth, Bozeman, 37-7.75.

Javelin — 1, Keyawna Larson, Glacier, 144-7. (Class AA record: Aly Wardell, West, 143-7, 2009) 2, Darby Henthorn, Hellgate, 129-4. 3, Emily Malone, Sentinel, 128-7. 4, Madison Cicierski, Senior, 128-4. 5, Savanna Bignell, Capital, 119-5. 6, Bailey Deyle, Sentinel, J119-0.

Class B

BOYS

Team scores (through seven events) – 1, Manhattan 46; 2, Bigfork 24; 3, Huntley Project 22; 4, Red Lodge 20; t-5, Thompson Falls 16; t-5, Troy 16; 7, Boulder 13; t-8, Glasgow 10; t-8, Forsyth 10; 10, Townsend 8; t-11, Baker 6; t-11, Colstrip 6; t-11, Shelby 6; 14, Plains 5; 15, Big Timber 4; 16, Deer Lodge 2; t-17, Conrad 1; t-17, Ronan 1; t-17, Eureka 1.

400 – 1, Caleb Neth, Man, 49.46; 2, Sean Opland, Troy, 49.49; 3, Rankei Eyer, Bou, 50.70; 4, Turner Stone, Man, 50.87; 5, Chase Fossum, Gla, 51.01; 6, Conner Cross, Man, 51.12.

800 – 1, Moritz Little, RL, 1:57.37; 2, Kenny Wilbur, Tow, 1:57.48; 3, Logan Morley, Big, 1:57.75; 4, Russell Kujala, Pla, 1:59.04; 5, Paul Bielawski, She, 1:59.72; 6, Rahkei Eyer, Bou, 1:59.77.

3200 – 1, Logan Morley, Big, 10:04.38; 2, Kryn Dykema, RL, 10:10.07; 3, AJ Eckmann, Bou, 10:12.18; 4, Paul Bielawski, She, 10:14.12; 5, Leonard McComas, Man, 10:14.35; 6, Tony Krogstad, Man, 10:17.44.

Discus – 1, Alex Nehring, Man, 172-10; 2, Tyler Iverson, Big, 161-0; 3, Tanner Miller, HP, 153-4; 4, McKenzie Holt, TF, 145-10; 5, Austin Forson, DL, 140-8; 6, Braden Thier, Eur, 139-2.

Javelin – 1, Casey Cole, For, 190-10; 2, Benji Phillips, Gla, 188-2; 3, Matt Packer, Bak, 183-7; 4, Thayne Hage, Col, 172-11; 5, Ronnie Hennelly, Col, 162-8; 6, Bransen Krebs, Pla, 162-5.

Pole vault – 1, Quincy Wittman, HP, 13-6; 2, Jake Gascon, TF, 13-0; 3, Shondel Connerton, Man, j13-0; 4, Joe Lundberg, TF, 12-0; 5, John Jacobsen, RL, j12-0; 6, Tyler Houle, Ron, j12-0.

Long jump – 1, Caleb Neth, Man, 21-10.75; 2, Pate Scott, Troy, 20-11.5; 3, Donte Wohlfeil, HP, 20-6.25; 4, Destan Miller, BT, 20-5; 5, Turner Stone, Man, 20-4; 6, Daylon Jay, Con, 20-3.5.

GIRLS
Team scores (through five events) – 1, Bigfork 43; 2, Plains 32; 3, Manhattan 22; t-4, Malta 10; t-4, Plentywood 10; 6, Red Lodge 9; 7, Thompson Falls 6; t-8, Baker 4; t-8, Columbus 4; t-8, Choteau 4; 11, Huntley Project 3; t-12, Townsend 2; t-12, Forsyth 2; t-12, Joliet 2; t-15, Roundup 1; t-15, Cut Bank 1.

400 – 1, Hailey Phillips, Pla, 57.69; 2, Haile Norred, Big, 58.95; 3, Bryn Morley, Big, 59.40; 4, Payton Durocher, Cho, 59.78; 5, Paige Harris, 59.97; 6, Daniella Russell, RL, 1:01.42.

1600 – 1, Bryn Morley, Big, 4:47.76* (Chiara Warner, Townsend, 4:48.24, 2013); 2, Makena Morley, Big, 5:01.69; 3, Kimberly Earhart, Pla, 5:21.22; 4, Anna Losasso, Man, 5:21.28; 5, Grace Wyse, Tow, 5:25.48; 6, Baylee Green, Rou, 5:26.19.

Discus – 1, Leah Thompson, Pla, 134-5; 2, Mariah Harvey, Man, 127-0; 3, Kayla Holmes, Pla, 116-2; 4, Brooke Jones, Man, 112-4; 5, Kaylee Zard, For, 110-0; 6, Riley Coleman, Big, 108-7.

Pole vault – 1, Gabby Eaton, Big, 9-6; 2, Paige Harris, Ple, j9-6; 3, Alexa Arthun, Man, j9-6; 4, Kyla Rouane, Col, j9-6; 5, Heidi Cranford, HP, j9-6; 6, Madison Dodson, CB, 9-0.

Long jump – 1, Sophia Stiles, Mal, 17-9; 2, Daniella Russell, RL, 17-2; 3, Autrey Hannum, TF, 16-10.5; 4, Solenn Jacobsen, Bak, 16-6.25; 5, Truanne Roginske, Jol, 16-5.25; 6, Leslie Roen, HP, 16-0.