Bulldogs finally get chance to hit the track
The Whitefish track team finally got some competition under its belt last week, racing in Kalispell and Missoula to start the season.
Last Tuesday they took on some area teams at the Flathead Time Trials at Legends Field.
Head coach Derek Schulz said the weather wasn’t ideal for the Flathead meet, but at least they got to compete. The previous two scheduled meets were canceled due to lingering winter weather.
“Flathead went pretty well. The meet conditions were pretty poor, in terms of the temperature and kind of spitting some rain, but it was a good outing for us to get our season started,” he said. “We had some pretty good results, but times weren’t what we hoped for. We’re a little bit behind but that’s to be expected.”
Lauren Schulz led the way for the girls with a fourth place finish in the 100 meter dash (13.77) and a fifth in the 200 (28.10). Kennedy Grove took fourth in the 100 meter hurdles (17.73), with Anna Cook finishing one spot behind (17.84). Cook took fifth in the 300 hurdles as well (51.79).
The “B” 1600 meter relay team for Whitefish also took second place (4:23.94), and Alice Wilde notched a silver in the high jump (4-09).
On the boys side, Lee Walburn’s second place in the 300 hurdles (42.68) topped the list. Walburn also took sixth in the 110 high hurdles (17.06) and tied for fifth in high jump (5-07) alongside Alex Barker.
Dillon Botner took fourth in shot put (44-06) as well.
At the Missoula County Public Schools Invitational, Whitefish got to compete against some of the best in the state, including Class AA teams.
Schulz said his team wasn’t as prepared for the meet as in years past.
“It was a good meet, highly competitive. Ordinarily when we go down there it’s about our fourth meet. This time it’s our second,” he said. “We did well, the kids competed very hard but we’re still kind of in that conditioning phase of the season. We’re doing a little bit of catch up.”
Walburn was the only Bulldog to place on the boys side, taking fourth in the 300 hurdles (42.27).
For the girls, Schulz and Mikenna Els were the two placers. Schulz took sixth in the 200 (28.07) while Els took second in the 400 (1:02.68).
This week the team heads down the road to the Columbia Falls Invitational on Saturday. That will start at 10 a.m.
Schulz said he’s hoping some hard conditioning early on and some rest late in the week will have his runners ready to go on Saturday.
“The focus is kind of a solid week of practice. We don’t have a midweek meet, so that allows us to kind of gather ourselves. This week, we want to work on our conditioning early this week and kind of taper ourselves back so our energy levels are high going into the meet in Columbia Falls,” Schulz said.
Kalispell Mini-Invitational
Tuesday
Legends Stadium
100 Meter Dash
4, Schulz, Lauren, Whitefish, 13.77.
200 Meter Dash
5, Schulz, Lauren, Whitefish, 28.10.
400 Meter Dash
6, Els, Mikenna, Whitefish, 1:05.84.
800 Meter Run
6, Greenberg, Ella, Whitefish, 2:36.28.
100 Meter Hurdles
4, Grove, Kennedy, Whitefish, 17.73. 5, Cook, Anna, Whitefish, 17.84.
300 Meter Hurdles
5, Cook, Anna, Whitefish, 51.79. 8, Grove, Kennedy, Whitefish, 53.41.
4x100 Meter Relay
5, Whitefish ‘A’ (Kryshak, Lydia , Gunlikson, Emily , Buckmaster, Emily , Schulz, Lauren ), 54.32. 7, Whitefish ‘C’ (Cook, Anna , Hobson, Braya , Moore, Kaiah , Robertson, Annie ), 54.82.
4x400 Meter Relay
2, Whitefish ‘B’ 4:23.94. 14, Whitefish ‘A’ 5:04.33.
High Jump
2, Wilde, Alice, Whitefish, 4-09. 4, Els, Mikenna, Whitefish, 4-07.
Pole Vault
6, Gunlikson, Emily, Whitefish, J7-00. 7, Hemmingson, Serena, Whitefish, J6-00. 7, Herrick, Gabby, Whitefish, J6-00.
Javelin
5, Brown, Annisa, Whitefish, 88-09.
Boys
3200 Meter Run
8, Vrentas, Miles, Whitefish, 10:38.39.
110 Meter Hurdles
6, Walburn, Lee, Whitefish, 17.06.
300 Meter Hurdles
2, Walburn, Lee, Whitefish, 42.68.
4x100 Meter Relay
8, Whitefish ‘A’ (Schwaiger, Jack , Walburn, Lee , Burger, Xander , Botner, Dillon ), 46.37.
High Jump
5, Barker, Alex, Whitefish, 5-07. 5, Walburn, Lee, Whitefish, 5-07.
Pole Vault
7, Eisenbarth, Jack, Whitefish, J10-06.
Shot Put
4, Botner, Dillon, Whitefish, 44-06.
MCPS Invitational
Saturday
Boys
300 High Hurdles
4. Lee Walburn (WHITE), 42.27
Girls
Individual results
200 Meter Dash
6. Lauren Schulz (WHITE), 28.07.
400 Meter Dash
2. Mikenna Els (WHITE), 1:02.68