BHS track to send 20 athletes to State meet

Bigfork High School’s track and field team had 33 athletes compete in the Western B Divisionals in Corvallis on May 18 and 19 and 20 of them performed well enough to compete in the State track meet in Bozeman on May 25 and 26.

“We had kind of a slow start, the block slipped on our runner for the 4-by-1 relay and because of that he fell and we ended up fourth and the team that won it we beat all year,” Coach Sue Loeffler said. “But, at least we qualified and that’s what’s important. I don’t know if it’s sunk in with the young ones yet.”

The Vals were off to a solid start on Friday, finishing the day with 27 points and a second place position and the Vikes were in fifth with 25 points.

Makena Morley enjoyed a double victory on Friday with first place finishes in the 400-meter dash and 1,600-meter run. Morley finished the 400 with a time of 62.24, and she blew her competition away in the 1,600 with a 5:05.66, nearly 30 seconds ahead of the second place runner.

The Vikes and Vals were particularly strong in the shot put on Friday with two second and one third place scores thanks to Tessa Robertson, Austin Cantrell and Conner Coleman. Cantrell threw a 48-3 for second place and Coleman threw a 43-5 for third. Robertson threw a 32-1 for third in the girl’s division.

Alex Ruiz, Chris Landon, Ian Lorang, and Ryan Hayes took fourth in 400-meter relay on Friday with 45.47 and Hayes took fourth in the 400-meter dash with 52.62.

Dillon Charlebois placed fifth in the 800-meter run with 2:08.04 and Carson Cantrell placed sixth with 2:11.07.

Ellessa Henion, Marissa Hiza, Riley Coleman and Halie Nissen placed sixth in the 400-meter relay on Friday with a time of 54.63.

Saturday was a more successful day for the Vikes and Vals with multiple top-three scores. Unfortunately, the Vals lost their second place position and slid down to fourth by the end of the meet with a total score of 83. The Vikes were able to hold onto their fifth place position with a score of 70.

Ryan Hayes just narrowly won the 200-meter dash by fractions of a second with a time of 22.97; second place’s time was 23.01.

For the second day in a row Makena Morley raked in two first place times. Morley won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:17.33 and she absolutely destroyed her competition in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:55.66, nearly two full minutes ahead of her competition, second place’s time was 12:40.41.

Marissa Hiza just narrowly missed first in the 100-meter hurdles with 16.84; first place’s time was 16.82.

Chris Landon, Ian Lorang, Dillon Charlebois, and Ryan Hayes placed second in the 1,600-meter relay on Saturday with 3:35.97.

Taylor Peck placed second in the javelin with 114-2.5, well ahead of third place’s 106-8.

Mitchell Harsh placed third in two events on Saturday, the javelin and the discus. Harsh threw a 152-5 in the javelin and a 133-1 in the discus.

Cameron Nissen just barely missed second place in the triple jump with 41-6, second place’s distance was 41-8.75.

Megan Pancoast, Marissa Hiza, Riley Coleman, and Makena Morley placed third in the 1,600-meter relay with 4:25.2.

Melissa Vanderveer and Ellessa Henion were neck and neck in the triple jump. Vanderveer placed third with 32-11.25 and Henion placed fourth with 32-1.

Ryan Hayes placed fourth in the 100-meter dash with 11.74 and Austin Cantrell placed fifth in the discus on Saturday with 130-7.5.

Halie Nissen placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with 17.55 and Marissa Hiza placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with 50.87.

Austin Jordt placed high enough in two events to compete in State, the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Jordt placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with 17.73 and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles with 43.87.

The Vikes and Vals will be doing some fine-tuning and resting their legs this week as they prepare for the State track meet.