Bulldogs feeling good going into divisionals
Morgan Adams twists to launch the discus in Thursday’s dual against Flathead at Whitefish High School.
Jenny Patten releases in the shot put in Thursday’s dual against Flathead at Whitefish High School.
Port Nugent and Marvin Kimera race through the rain in the 100 meter dash in Thursday’s dual against Flathead at Whitefish High School. (Daniel McKay photos/Whitefish Pilot)
The Whitefish track and field is now in the final stretch, with the postseason starting this week in Polson.
Last week the team hosted Flathead in a rainy dual before competing in the Polson ABC Invitational on Saturday.
As a team, the girls took second in Polson while the boys took fifth.
Head coach Derek Schulz said his team is in a good position moving forward after last week.
“The kids had a really good day,” he said. “The conditions were terrific. I think we’ve got ourselves in a really good spot going into our postseason and that’s exciting. Kids have improved, they’re still improving, and in our vision, that’s where you want to be.”
A number of performances stand out from the Polson meet.
For the girls, Lauren Schulz continued her stellar year with a first in the 200 (26.89) and the 400 (1:00.19). She was also the anchor in two first-place relays, the 400 and 1,600 relay.
Schulz pre-qualified for state in the 200 and the 400 relay and earned Female Athlete of the Meet honors in Polson.
Emily Buckmaster also took fourth in the 100 (13.91), Lydia Kryshak fourth in the 200 (27.60), Mikenna Els third in the 400 (1:00.56) and Kennedy Grove notched a fourth in the 100 hurdles (17.17) and a fifth in the 300 hurdles (52.61).
In the field, Emily Gunlikson took fifth in pole vault (8-06).
On the boys side, Lee Walburn grabbed a first in the 300 hurdles (40.52) and a second in the 110 hurdles (15.80). Jack Schwaiger earned silver in the 400 (52.77), Josh Weller took third in the 800 (2:06.52), Jack Eisenbarth took second in pole vault (13-00) and Sam Menicke took second in triple jump (41-05.75).
Eisenbarth’s pole vault performance pre-qualified him for state, along with Alex Barker’s 6-00 high jump.
Looking ahead to divisionals and state, Schulz said these meets are what his team has been shooting for up all along.
“We gear for this all year,” he said. “May is the most important month, and these next two meets are our most important meets. We kind of feel like we’re in a position now to improve on anything we’ve done so far this year, and if we do that, that’ll make us competitive. The same goes for next week, we expect to improve between divisional and state. We’re not holding on for dear life, we’re expecting to continue improving.”
The divisionals track meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Polson High School.
Girls
Team Score
Flathead 130, Whitefish 67
Events
100— 1, Helen Abramchuk, Wfsh, 11.73.
200 — 2, Lauren Schulz, Wfsh, 27.47.
400 — 2, Lydia Kryshak, Wfsh, 1:03.16. 4, Ella Greenberg, Wfsh, 1:04.82. 6, Mikenna Els, Wfsh, 1:05.28.
800 — 1, Jessica Henson, Wfsh, 2:30.40. 3, Mikenna Els, Wfsh, 2:34.66. 4, Josephine Vardell, Wfsh, 2:53.77. 5, Amber Wilmot, Wfsh, 2:58.05. 6, Ava Benedikt, Wfsh, 3:14.67.
1,600 — 5, Josephine Vardell, Wfsh, 6:22.32. 6, Amber Wilmot, Wfsh, 6:32.30.
100 Hurdles — 2, Kennedy Grove, Wfsh, 16.95. 3, Anna Cook, Wfsh, 17.11. 4, Natasha Abramchuk, Wfsh, 17.53.
300 Hurdles — 1, Anna Cook, Wfsh, 49.40.
400 Relay — 1, Flathead C, 50.83. 2, Whitefish A, 52.20. 3, Flathead A, 54.24.
1,600 Relay — 1, Whitefish A, 4:22.82. 2, Flathead A, 4:23.11. 3, Flathead B, 4:32.21.
Pole Vault — 2, Emily Gunlikson, Wfsh, 8-0. 5, Kaiah Moore, Wfsh, 7-0. 6, Gabby Herrick, Wfsh, 5-0.
High Jump — Rained out
Triple Jump — 2, Natasha Abramchuk, Wfsh, 30-2.5, Helen Abramchuk, Wfsh, 27-10.5.
Shot Put — 2, Marlee Bender, Wfsh, 31-9.5.
Discus — 2, Payton Reisinger, Wfsh, 84-4. 4, Jennifer Patten, Wfsh, 78-10.6, Marlee Bender, Wfsh, 68-4.
Boys
Team Score
Flathead 127, Whitefish 53
Events
200 — 3, Lee Walburn, Wfsh, 24.19. 4, Jack Schwaiger, Wfsh, 24.34.
400 — 1, Chad Hemsley, Fla, 53.38. 1, Lee Walburn, Wfsh, 53.38. 3, Casey Schneider, Wfsh, 2:12.43. 4, Sam Menicke, Wfsh, 2:13.34.
1,600 — 2, Miles Vrentas, Wfsh, 4:59.74. 3, Josh Weller, Wfsh, 5:04.76.
3,200 — 3, Christian Kyle, Wfsh, 12:28.54. 4, Turner Haugen, Wfsh, 13:58.72.
110 Hurdles — 3, Lee Walburn, Wfsh, 15.64. 4, Joseph Abramchuk, Wfsh, 19.52.
300 Hurdles — 2, Joseph Abramchuk, Wfsh, 45.50.
400 Relay — 1, Flathead B, 45.16. 2, Flathead C, 45.72. 3, Whitefish B, 46.11.
1,600 Relay — 1, Flathead A, 3:40.06. 2, Flathead B, 3:47.12. 3, Whitefish A, 3:53.22.
Pole Vault — 3, Jack Eisenbarth, Wfsh, 12-0. 5, Dillon Muth, Wfsh, 8-0. 6, Max Grimes, Wfsh, 8-0.
Long Jump — 3, Jack Eisenbarth, Wfsh, 18-7. 4, Marvin Kimera, Wfsh, 18-7.
Triple Jump — 1, Sam Menicke, Wfsh, 40-8.
Shot Put — 2, Dillon Botner, Wfsh, 44-0. 3, Cole Smith, Fla, 43-6. 4, Duncan Richardson, Wfsh, 39-3. 6, Keegan Wold, Wfsh, 30-4.5.
Discus — 1, Hunter Stephens-Parks, Wfsh, 94-5. 4, Morgan Adams, Wfsh, 89-5.
Javelin — 4, Chase Olson, Wfsh, 129-9. 5, Jon Paul Koch-Ford, Wfsh, 123-6.
Polson ABC Meet
Girls
Team Totals
1. Corvallis 279, 2. Whitefish 140, 3. Columbia Falls 124.5, 4. Frenchtown 113, 5. Hamilton 101.5, 6. Polson 98, 7. Libby 78, 8. Stevensville 50, 9. Ronan 26, 10. Browning 12.
Events
100 - 4. Emily Buckmaster, Whi, 13.91;
200 - 1. Lauren Schulz, Whi, 26.89; 4. Lydia Kryshak, Whi, 27.60; 6. Annie Robertson, Whi, 28.59.
400 - 1. Schulz, Whi, 1:00.19; 3. Mikenna Els, Whi, 1:00.56; 6. Kryshak, Whi, 1:02.09.
800 - 6. Jessica Henson, Whi, 2:30.39.
1,600 - 4. Ella Greenberg, Whi, 5:28.77;
100 hurdles - 4. Kennedy Grove, Whi, 17.17;
300 hurdles - 5. Grove, Whi, 52.61;
400 relay - 1. Whitefish 50.89 (Kryshak, Robertson, Buckmaster, Schulz);
1,600 relay - 1. Whitefish 4:09.52 (Robertson, Els, Kryshak, Schulz);
PV - 5. Emily Gunlikson, Whi, 8-06;
Boys
Team Totals
1. Corvallis 224; 2. Columbia Falls 217; 3. Frenchtown 193; 4. Polson 127; 5. Whitefish 83; 6. Hamilton 71; 7. Libby 68; 8. Ronan 28; 9. Stevensville 23; 10. Browning 20.
Events
400 - 2. Jack Schwaiger, Whi, 52.77;5. Sam Menicke, 54.28;
800 - 3. Josh Weller, Whi, 2:06.52;
3,200 - 6. Miles Vrentas, Whi, 10:33.05.
110H - 2. Lee Walburn, Whi, 15.80;
300H - 1. Lee Walburn, Whi, 40.52;
1,600 relay - 1. Corvallis 3:31.08 (Mason Murray, Jakob Dalbey, Joshua Wallace, Jake jessop); 2. Columbia Falls 3:31.92; 3. Whitefish 3:35.01;
HJ - 4. Alex Barker, Whi, 6-00;
PV - 2. Jack Eisenbarth, Whi, 13-00; 5. Josh Dudley, Whi, 12-00;
TJ - 2. Sam Menicke, Whi, 41-05.75;
SP -5. Dillon Botner, Whi, 44-02;
Dis - 5. Keegan Wold, Whi, 130-02; 6. Dillon Botner, Whi, 123-03.