Girls roll past competition at divisional

Simply put, the Lady Bulldogs track

team handed the rest of the conference an old fashioned beat down

last weekend at the divisional meet in Polson. Whitefish tallied

237 points — more than doubling second-place Polson’s total — and

qualified for the state Class A meet at least one girl in every

event.

“I’ve seen teams score more than 200

points, but this was a remarkable win,” Whitefish coach Derek

Schulz said. “We qualified someone in every event and I don’t know

if there’s a team in the state that did that.

“This is one of the top girls teams

I’ve ever had. We’ve had good teams, but not with this kind of

depth.”

Marlow Schulz and Amanda Foley led the

way with first- and second-place finishes respectively in the 100,

200 and 400. Schulz added a win in the 800.

“Marlow’s times are right in the hunt

[for a state title],” Schulz said. “She likes to get out there and

run. Amanda was amazing, too. She had a great meet for us.”

The senior distance girls anchored the

team with steady performances all around. Carly Schwickert was

second in the 800 and 1,600, and fourth in the 3,200.

Jessica Sagen won the 1,600, was second

in the 3,200 and fourth in the 800. Bailey Eaton was third in the

3,200 and fourth in the 1,600.

“They are all so well coached and are

team players,” Schulz said. “All three are exemplary students and

competitors. They lay it on the line and put us in good

positions.”

In the field, Abby Strellnauer won at

discus with a 112-2 1/2 toss.

It’s tough to call a track team that

wins their divisional meet with 237 points an underdog, but that’s

what the Lady Bulldogs will be going into the state Class A meet

this weekend in Missoula.

Corvallis is the outright favorite to

bring home the title, but Schulz thinks Whitefish is a formidable

opponent.

“Corvallis has a very, very good team,

they’re picked to win and we’re the underdog,” he said. “But we

have a lot of girls under the radar.

“At the state track meet, it’s usually

all about elite points and depth doesn’t matter. But this year I

hope depth does matter. We have depth, most other teams don’t.”

He pointed to Abby Strellnauer, Heather

Bailey, Phoebe Guercio, Torrey Coe and each of the girls who placed

for providing valuable points.

The team’s depth is also evident in the

relays. Whitefish won both the 400 and 1,600 relay

convincingly.

On the boys side, Whitefish finished

with 75 points overall.

Logan Harwood had a strong meet with an

individual win in the 400 and a third-place in the 800.

“Logan ran a terrific 400,” Schulz

said. “It was amazing, then he went out and ran a terrific 800,

which he’s only run a few times.”

Gage Vasquez grabbed fifth in the

800.

Drew Galbraith was second in the high

jump at 6-4, second in the 100 hurdles, and third in the 300

hurdles.

“With Drew, you don’t always know

exactly what you’re going to get, but he’ll lay it out there for us

every time,” Schulz said.

Fischer Gangemi was third in the 3,200

and Keaton Nicholson was fifth in the 100 hurdles.

Freshmen Sean Foley made state in pole

vault and Koler Kanistanaux made state in discus.

Both teams will have relaxed practices

this week as they prepare for the state meet.

“The vast majority of our tough

workouts are done and the coaching is done,” Schulz said. “Now,

it’s all about getting mentally, physically and emotionally

prepared. That’s where the real talented kids show up. But we have

excellent event coaches to prepare them.”