The state track meets wrapped up Saturday with several local athletes achieving standout — and even historic — results. Below is a roundup of the top performances.
Class AA
Todd Ogden completed the four-peat in record fashion. At the Class AA state track meet in Great Falls, the Glacier senior won the javelin with a throw of 210-10, breaking his record from a year ago by two inches. The victory gave Ogden his fourth consecutive state title and making him only the second javelin thrower in the state to accomplish the task, according to the Montana High School Association. Craig Stiles of Malta won four straight from 1968-71. Ogden is also only the sixth four-time state champion in track, according to the MHSA.
Flathead’s Matt Quist won the high jump with a leap of 6-7. Teammate Jess Beaman won the triple jump – 44-9 – and placed fifth in the long jump.
The Glacier boys earned fourth place as a team with 49 points. Flathead tied for fifth with 48 points. Missoula Big Sky edged Helena by one point to win the state title. The Eagles tallied 59 points. Missoula Hellgate was a close third with 54 points.
Glacier’s Zach Dennehy was second in the discus. Evan Epperly was third in the 200 and fifth in the 400. Nathan Connell finished third in the 800 and fourth in the 1,600. Kade McCutcheon placed fifth in the 3,200. Lonnie Sherman earned fourth in the pole vault. The Glacier 1,600 relay team earned third.
Flathead’s Sylas Schutt was third in the 1,600 and sixth in the 3,200. Chade Gonter earned third in the 110 hurdles and Dillon Thomas was sixth. Gonter also earned sixth in both the 300 hurdles and high jump. Keaton Krantz was third in the long jump. Caleb McCracken was fifth in the discus and Jonathon Centner was sixth in the javelin.
On the girls side, Keyawna Larson defended her state title and won the javelin with a throw of 141-7. The Wolfpack girls finished eighth as a team with 28 points. Flathead scored 20 points and finished 11th.
Glacier’s Shauna Williams placed second in the discus, Brielle Bumgarner was third in the long jump and the 1,600 relay team took fourth.
Flathead’s Rhiannon Sturgess earned third in both hurdle races. Mattie Mazur was sixth in the 100 hurdles. Janae Moon was fourth in the triple jump. Jenessa Heine was fourth in the shot put.
Class A
Marlow Schulz did it again. The Whitefish senior swept the sprint events in record style, winning the 100, 200 and 400 at the Class A state track meet in Butte Friday and Saturday.
Schulz’s winning time in the 200 — 24.69 — was a new Class A state record. The previous best was 24.83, set by Paige Squire of Corvallis in 2011. Schulz barely missed the all-class state record of 24.40 set in 1975 by Vicky Sturn of Billings West.
Her winning 400 time – 55.06 – broke her own Class A state record set a year ago, 56.13. She almost captured Lonnie Perkins’ all-class mark of 54.62, set in 2003.
Her time in the 100 — 12.40 — barely missed the Class A and all-class state record of 12.24, set by Stacey Rehbein in 1998. Rehbein’s record actually fell later that day in Great Falls when Morgan Sulser of Billings Senior ran 12.19.
Schulz also placed second in the long jump.
Behind Schulz’s remarkable lead, the Whitefish girls earned third as a team, tallying 63 points. Corvallis won with 129.5 and Belgrade was runner-up with 80.
Whitefish’s 400 relay team won a state title and set a new Class A record, clocking 48.54. The previous class record was 49.12, set by Billings Central in 1994. The all-class record is 48.30 set by Great Falls C.M. Russell in 1979.
The 1,600 relay team – Schulz, Phoebe Guercio, Haley Nicholson and Grace Kurtz — earned fifth.
Guercio placed fourth in the 300 hurdles and fifth in both the triple jump and long jump. Kate Doorn was fifth in the high jump. Kurtz placed sixth in the 400.
Columbia Falls senior Samantha Mundel won the 3,200 on Saturday in 11:43. She placed third in the 1,600 on Friday. Carla Nicosia placed fourth in the triple jump and fifth in the 300 hurdles. Haley Belgarde was fourth in the shot put. The Wildkats 400 relay team placed sixth.
The Columbia Falls girls finished in seventh place as a team with 28 points.
Claudia Hewston of Polson earned fourth in the 800 and teammate Madison Wheeler placed sixth in the 300 hurdles. The Lady Pirates 1,600 relay team – Hewston, Lydia Bowman, Chadelle Smith and Tiara Duford – finished sixth. Mariah Corrigan earned fourth in the javelin.
The Polson girls tallied 10 points and finished in 11th place.
The Whitefish boys brought home third place, barely falling short of winning their second consecutive state championship. The Bulldogs had 58 points. Hamilton won with 64 and Corvallis had 62.
Luke May won the javelin with a throw of 206-7. Keaton Grove earned second in the both hurdle events. He ran 15.23 in the 110 and 40.16 in the 300. Alex Wilson placed fifth in the 110 with a time of 15.89.
Jed Nagler was runner-up in the high jump and sixth in both the 100 and 200. Sean Foley earned third in the pole vault and fifth in the long jump. Luke Cardon was sixth in the 400. EJ Havens was sixth in the pole vault. The Bulldogs 400 relay team placed second, 43.91.
Nakia Alexander of Columbia Falls placed second in the triple jump. The Wildcats 1,600 relay team – Mike Sandefer, James Ratzlaff, Ty Morgan and Trever Haverkorn – placed sixth.
Andrew Weltz of Polson won the triple jump with a leap of 43-3.5. Jacob Clairmont of Polson placed fourth in the long jump and sixth in both hurdle races. Austin Corrigan placed sixth in the discus. The Pirates scored 17 points and finished in 11th place.
Class B
Makena Morley reclaimed her three distance titles and the Bigfork girls placed second as a team.
The Bigfork junior won the 800 in 2:12.62. She was only two seconds off the Class B state record set a year ago by Chiara Warner. Morley won the 1,600 in 4:53.83 and the 3,200 in 10:58.
The Bigfork girls earned runner-up with 58.5 points. Plains won with 83. Manhattan and Red Lodge tied for third with 38.
Morley picked up another gold as a member of the Valkyries 400 relay team. Morley, Emily Cheroske, Mattison McAnally and Marissa Hiza won in 4:08.18.
Cheroske was second in the 400 and second in the 800. Hiza placed fifth in the high jump. Tessa Robertson earned sixth in the shot put.
On the boys side, Bigfork placed fourth as a team with 44 points. Manhattan won with 66.5. Glasgow and Troy tied with 61 apiece.
Logan Morley won the 1,600 in 4:34.58. He also placed second in the 3,200 and third in the 800. Josh Sandry won the high jump with a leap of 6-2. He also earned fifth in the javelin. Tyler Iverson was fifth in the discus. Carson Cantrell was sixth in the 300 hurdles. The Bigfork 400 relay team picked up fourth and the 1,600 relay team finished sixth.