Bulldogs shine at A.R.M. track meet

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

Saturday was a beautiful day for a track meet, with comfortable, cool temperatures, no wind and plenty of sunshine to keep spectators happy.

Both the Whitefish boys and girls track and field teams took third place at the annual A.R.M. meet on Saturday, beating all in-conference opponents who showed up.

The Lady Bulldogs took third with 72 points. Glacier High came in first, with 107.14 points, while Malta was second with 77 points.

On the boys side, Havre took first with 100 points, Hamilton took second with 87.33, and the Bulldogs ended up with 70.5 points for third place.

Two meet records were broken, both by Bulldog distance runners.

Lauren Kuennen set the new A.R.M. record in the 3,200 with a time of 11:46.29. The old record belonged to Lauren Dalton of Bigfork (11:48.64).

Drew Coco set a new meet and Whitefish High School record in the 1,600 with a time of 4:25.44. The old record was set last year by Ian Mallams of Whitefish (4:32.7).

Both runners took first place in both the 3,200 and the 1,600.

"They were both double winners, and I was not amazed but just thrilled with how well they ran," head coach Derek Schulz said. "Each of those kids put in hundreds of miles in the off season. Their recovery time is amazing, and their competitiveness matches that. There wasn't really anybody challenging them, but they were able to push themselves nevertheless. They are almost in a class by themselves."

Aaron Tkachyk again took first place in the long jump with a 20-3/4. He also took fifth in the triple jump.

Kaleb Prestegaard of Whitefish took first in the pole vault with a 12-6 launch. Colt Idol placed second in the high jump with a 6-4 leap. Ashley Ferda took first in the 100 hurdles with a 15.73.

Dustin Beck took sixth in the javelin throw with a 151-9. The Bulldog boys took fifth in the 1,600 relay at 3:44.83.

Patrick McGunagle of Whitefish took sixth in the 3,200 with a time of 11:21.07. The Bulldogs took fourth in the 400 relay with a time of 45:59.

The Bulldogs will travel to Kali-spell on Saturday for the annual Archie Roe meet.