Carlson, Tudahl lead the way in Whitefish

It seems as though it is all starting to click for the Bigfork High School track team. Last Saturday in Whitefish they had 14 top six finishes; eight for the girls, who placed fifth as a team among 13 schools, and six for the boys, who placed eighth among 15 schools.

The boys showed a great deal of improvement with more athletes placing in the top six than at any other meet this year.

Senior Donny Tudahl's discus throw of 152-07, which earned him first place, was nearly 11 feet farther than the previous meet and was his longest of the season. Senior Zac Bruer took second in the shot put with a distance of 44-05, an improvement of more than a foot from last week.

Senior Garrett Pewe finally cleared the bar at six-feet in the high jump, the height that he was unable to get at Tuesday's Top 10 meet in Missoula. In fact, he cleared it at 6-2 and placed fifth. That is one foot and four inches higher than he jumped at the previous weekend's meet in Frenchtown.

The Bigfork boys 400-meter relay team took fourth after completing the course in 44.97. Sophomore Travis Knoll earned his first individual points of the season, though he has consistently been a leader on the boys relay teams. His time of 11.31 in the 100-meter took fifth place. Senior Phil Sandry ran the 800-meter in 2:11.77 and placed sixth.

For the girls, junior Kayla Carlson continued to have success in the distance races and sophomore Mallery Knoll kept earning points for Bigfork in the sprints this week.

Carlson took first in the 800-meter and the 1600-meter. Her 800-meter time of 2:25.14 was nearly five seconds faster than any of her competitors and she won the 1600-meter in 5:25.47. Both victories were over Glacier's Heather Fraley, who wasn't quick enough to get out of second place.

Mallery Knoll placed in four individual events. With a time of 48.19, she was first in the 300-meter hurdles for the second week in a row. She was second in the 200-meter and the 100-meter hurdles in 27.12 and 15.71, respectively. Knoll has taken second in the 100-meter hurdles for three weeks in a row, and her time this meet was nearly a full second faster than it has been in previous weeks. Knoll's time of 12.93 in the 100-meter dash was just barely faster than last week when she won the event. However, the times this week were much faster, with winner Deni Fitzpatrick from Cut Bank setting a new meet record of 12.25. Whitefish's Courtney Ferda set the previous record in 12.5 in 2005. Knoll ended up with the same place her twin brother had in the boys event, fifth.

Senior Roxy Thurman, who is on the track team for the first time, had her first top six finish at the meet, placing sixth in the 200-meter with a time of 28.24.

Bigfork's girls 400-meter relay team took fourth with a time of 53.26. Their time was just .26 slower than last week's meet, which they won. However, Glacier's winning team set a meet record in the race of 50.09. The old meet record of 50.42 was set by Whitefish in 2004.

The Bigfork track team competed in another meet in Whitefish on Tuesday, the results of which will be in next week's Bigfork Eagle. On Saturday they will compete in a meet in Kalispell.