In the race for “fastest girl in the state” honors, the Flathead Valley has three frontrunners: Glacier senior Maddey Frey, Flathead sophomore Tess Brenneman and Bigfork junior Mallery Knoll.
But they’re all chasing Cut Bank junior Deni Fitzpatrick, who has posted the fastest times in any class in the 100 and 200 meters. Fitzpatrick, the defending Class B champion in both sprint events, has clocked in at 12.4 in the 100 and 25.8 in the 200.
Frey, the defending Class AA champion in the 100-meter dash, turned in the fastest time of the year in Class AA in the 100 meters at the Great Falls Optimist Club over the weekend. Frey won the race in 12.64 seconds. She also won the 200 with a time of 26.94, narrowly missing out on her own Class AA best of 26.39, a mark she set at the Whitefish-Glacier Dual.
Brenneman posted the fastest time in Class AA in the 400 meters at the Great Falls Optimist Club Invitational , clocking in at 59.34. The top 400-meter mark in the state this year is held by Hamilton senior Misha Trotter, with 59.28. Brenneman is also just behind Frey in the Class AA standings for the 200, with a time of 26.41. Brenneman’s best time in 100 is 13.02.
Frey and Brenneman also hold the top all-class long jump marks in the state. Frey has the top mark with 18-0 1/2 and Brenneman’s farthest is 17-11 1/2.
Knoll’s specialty is the hurdles, but she is also one of Fitzpatrick’s closest competitors in Class B in the 100 meters. Knoll’s time of 12.85 places her among the three fastest sprinters in Class B. Knoll’s top time in the 100-meter hurdles is 16.43, behind Fitzpatrick’s 15.9. Knoll has the fastest mark in Class B in the 300 hurdles at 47.3 seconds.
Several other athletes from the Flathead Valley have posted top marks this spring. For boys, Flathead’s Zach Perrin has the best time in Class AA in the 3,200 meters at 9:40.91. Teammate Leif Castren has the best AA time in the 1,600 at 4:33.2. Derek Williams of Columbia Falls is among the state leaders in the 800 and 1,600.
Whitefish’s Anto Daoud has the quickest Class A mark in the 400 meters at 51.07 and the second-best time in Class A in the 200 at 22.79. Glacier’s Shane Freese is among the state’s best in the high jump and the long jump.
For girls, Amanda Foley is a Class A leader in the 100 and 200 meters. Bigfork senior Kayla Carlson has the second-fastest time in Class B in the 1,600 meters at 5:21.3 and the fastest time in the 3,200 meters at 11:38.49.
Defending Class AA high jump champion Lexy Boschee, a sophomore, is tied with Big Sandy’s Amber Amsbaugh for the highest jump in the state at 5-6. Boschee is also one of the Class AA’s leaders in the long jump and triple jump.
Stacey Pitt, also of Glacier, has pole vaulted 10 feet to place her among the best in the state. Glacier’s Katie Pilsch owns one of the longest distances in the javelin at 126 2/3. Flathead’s Rachel Byrne is a Class AA leader in the 400 at 60.37.
District meets for Class B and C are scheduled for the week of May 10-15. Divisionals for all classes will be held on May 17-22. The Class AA and C state meet will be held on May 28-29 in Great Falls, while the Class A and B state meet is on May 28-29 in Laurel.