Bulldog state qualifying times, PRs keep on coming

May matters — that’s the motto that the Whitefish track and field team has carried with them all season and now the month is here.

The Bulldogs are pushing into the second half of the season and individually looking for personal bests every time they hit the track or step up to the field events. According to Whitefish boys head track coach Willie Roche the kids brought their A game last week starting off with the triangular meet held at WHS on April 27 and then Saturday’s Whitefish ARM meet.

The biggest moment of the week for Roche and the Whitefish boys team was recording a new season record in the 4X400 relay. The team of Colter Gaertner, Marvin Kimera, Bodie Smith and Gabe Menicke shaved seven seconds off their time at the Whitefish ARM on Saturday. The relay team was just looking for a state qualifying time, and smashed that by three seconds running the 1600 meters in 3:32.52.

“Relays are something we’ve always strived to be the best in the state at just because statistically most teams that win the 4X400 and the 4X100 go on to score a lot of points at state,” Roche said.

The same four athletes run both relays for Whitefish this year and Roche explained it's been a competition at practice to see who gets to run on the “A” relay. On Saturday the coach recalls his relay team expressing they were feeling tired before the event, but Roche reminded them that the time to push is now.

“I said 'guys give me your 50 best seconds of your day and that’s all I’m asking for,'” he recalled, and then he said he watched each one of them run their leg in about 52 seconds and was shocked. “All of a sudden we put together this time where we were just trying to qualify for state at a 3:35 and we run a 3:32 and almost set a new meet record…”

“Just to see those kids compete, to give every last bit of energy they could possibly have to leave it out on the track; to understand that May totally matters is so cool. It was just a totally special event,” he added.

Another standout moment for the Whitefish boys was Gabe Menicke’s time of 11.52 in the 100 which was his personal best and ranks eighth in Class A. He also took first in the 200 and second in the high jump at the ARM. Menicke has emerged on the Bulldog team as a top athlete this season in the sprinting events and the high jump.

“I didn’t really even have him on my radar… It was like who are we going to find this year that’s going to be that athlete that totally shocks the coaching staff, and we didn’t know who it was going to be,” Roche said. “Gabe just totally is that student athlete now that is outkicking all expectations and not just within our team but around the conference and around the state. He’s starting to make some noise and he’s excited about it. I think he’s shocking himself a little bit.”

Bulldog Colter Gaernter is No. 7 in the 400 rankings in Class A after winning in 52.54 at the ARM. Menicke, Gaertner and Kimera all went 1-2-3 in the 200 meter at the ARM as well. Roche says that camaraderie he sees in his team is sometimes a rarity but the boys team has it this year.

“It’s fun to watch our 800 kids compete against each other, it’s fun to watch the 200… They’re able to be that perfect teammate where you’re not complacent, you’re pushing that person next to you, but at the same time you’re pumped when they succeed,” he said.

On the girls side at the ARM, Whitefish senior Mikenna Ells edged standout freshman sprinter Booke Zetooney in the 100 meter dash with a time of 12.79; Erin Wilde came in third for Whitefish to take places one through three.

Zetooney won the 200 meter and Mikenna Ells won the 400 meter with a season best time of 59:15. Hailey Ells came in first in the 100 meter hurdles with teammate Kristina Shestack right on her tail in second place, both recording PRs. Hailey Ells also took the 300 hurdles.

In the high jump Mikenna Ells, Hailey Ells and Sophia Zohrer took places first through third. Lady Bulldog Bailey Smith recorded a personal best in the triple jump for first place while Tommye Kelly jumped to a new personal record in the long jump taking second place.

“At the ARM it was like every kid on our team took it to heart,” Roche said. “And every student on both boys and girls came to compete. It was such a cool thing to see.”

The Whitefish teams won both the girls and boys team titles for the ARM.

At the triangular earlier in the week, the Whitefish girls team took the team title over Columbia Falls and Libby after both girls’ relays won their races and several other individual standout performances.

Hailey Ells recorded a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles and Mikenna Ells again took first place in the 200 meter dash. Freshman Isabelle Cooke ran a personal best in the 800 meter, taking first place in 2:28.04.

In the field events Jennifer Patten was the top thrower of the day for Whitefish, taking first in discus and second in both javelin and shot put.

On the boys side, Whitefish took second as a team to Columbia Falls at the triangular. Marvin Kimera continued his fast pace, taking second in the 100 meter dash. Jacob Henson ran a personal best time in the 3200 meter in 10:37.75 to take first place as the Bulldog distance runners took places 1-5 in that event.

This week the Bulldogs compete at the Top 10 meet in Hamilton on Tuesday and at the Columbia Falls Invite on Saturday.

Whitefish Triangular

GIRLS

Team scores — Whitefish 87, Columbia Falls 71, Libby 20.

100 — 4, Ava Mendoza, Whitefish, 13.80.

200 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Whitefish, 26.77. 2, Tommye Kelly, Whitefish, 28.20. 4, Erin Wilde, Whitefish, 28.68.

400 — 2, Margaret Pulsifer, Whitefish, 1:06.99. 3, Adrienne Healy, Whitefish, 1:07.16. 4, Maya Lacey, Whitefish, 1:07.50.

800 — 1, Isabelle Cooke, Whitefish, 2:28.04. 2, Olivia Genovese, Whitefish, 2:32.55. 3, Paetra Cooke, Whitefish, 2:38.50. 4, Raiya McCutcheon, Whitefish, 2:47.00.

1600 — 3, Raiya McCutcheon, Whitefish, 6:20.57. 4, Hazel Gawe, Whitefish, 6:28.07.

3,200 — 2, Morgan Grube, Whitefish, 12:55.52.

100 hurdles — 1, Hailey Ells, Whitefish, 16.98. 2, Kristina Shestak, Whitefish, 17.88. 3, Maeve Ingelfinger, Whitefish, 18.30. 4, Bailey Smith, Whitefish, 19.48.

300 hurdles — 3, Katya Abramchuk, Whitefish, 59.99. 4, Piper Belski, Whitefish, 1:00.86.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 51.25. 2, Columbia Falls 54.03.

1600 relay — 1, Whitefish 4:09.72. 2, Columbia Falls 4:59.00.

High jump — 2 (tie), Maeve Ingelfinger, Whitefish, and Sophia Zohrer, Whitefish, 4-6. 4, Sydney Buckmaster, Whitefish, 4-4.

Long jump — 2, Bailey Smith, Whitefish, 15-3.5.

Triple jump — 2, Katya Abramchuk, Whitefish, 27-1.

Shot put — 2, Jennifer Patten, Whitefish, 29-0.75.

Discus — 1, Jennifer Patten, Whitefish, 87-11. 2, Brooklyn Smith, Whitefish, 79-11.

Javelin — 2, Jennifer Patten, Whitefish, 84-8. 4, Kristina Shestak, Whitefish, 80-0.

BOYS

Team scores — Columbia Falls 72, Whitefish 64.5, Libby 44.5

100 — 2, Marvin Kimera, Whitefish, 11.75. 4, Jaxsen Schlauch, Whitefish, 12.41.

200 — 2, Marvin Kimera, Whitefish, 23.77. 4, Colter Gaertner, Whitefish, 24.10.

400 — 3, Zack Dunnagan, Whitefish, 1:00.53. 4, Rylee Creasey, Whitefish, 1:00.74.

800 — 1, Gabe Lund, Whitefish, 2:09.36. 2, Mason Genovese, Whitefish, 2:09.52. 3, Barrett Garcia, Whitefish, 2:11.27. 4, Reudi Steiner, Whitefish, 2:16.75.

1600 — 3, Reudi Steiner, Whitefish, 5:14.69.

3200 — 1, Jacob Henson, Whitefish, 10:37.75. 2, Deneb Linton, Whitefish, 10:47.84. 3, Nate Ingelfinger, Whitefish, 10:59.79. 4, William Hyatt, Whitefish, 11:02.04.

110 hurdles — 4, Gavin Carmichael, Whitefish, 21.44.

400 relay — 1, Columbia Falls 45.07. 2, Whitefish 45.53.

1600 relay — 1, Whitefish 3:39.41. 2, Columbia Falls 3:46.86.

High jump — 1, Gabe Menicke, Whitefish, 5-10. 4, Jack Sears, Whitefish, 5-0.

Pole vault — 3, Vadim Abramchuk, Whitefish, 9-0.

Long jump — 3, Azure Stolte, Whitefish, 16-7.75.

Triple jump — 1, Bodie Smith, Whitefish, 40-4. 4, Morgan Kyle, Whitefish, 36-3.5.

Discus — 3 (tie), Bode Wold, Whitefish, and Trey Andersen, Libby, 112-04.

Javelin — 2, Jaxsen Schlauch, Whitefish, 139-2.

Whitefish A.R.M Invite

GIRLS

Team scores — Whitefish 177, Bigfork 120, Columbia Falls 116, Frenchtown 62, Polson 35.

100 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 12.79. 2, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 12.83. 3 (tie), Audrey Buenz, Bfk, and Erin Wilde, Wfh, 13.60

200 — 1, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 27.11. 2, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 28.20.

400 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 59.15. 5, Margaret Pulsifer, Wfh, 1:06.73.

800 — 2, Paetra Cooke, Wfh, 2:38.41. 3, Morgan Grube, Wfh, 2:40.70.

1600 — 5, Morgan Grube, Wfh, 5:52.50. 6, Paetra Cooke, Wfh, 5:55.25.

100 hurdles — 1, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 16.92. 2, Kristina Shestak, Wfh, 17.28.

300 hurdles — 1, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 48.95. 4, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 56.30.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 50.60. 2, Bigfork 52.32. 3, Frenchtown 53.98.

1600 relay — 1, Columbia Falls 4:21.60. 2, Whitefish 4:39.63. 3, Polson 4:41.79.

Discus — 3, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 97-2.

Javelin — 4, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 88-0.

Shot put — 4, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 31-5.

High jump — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 5-0. 2, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 5-0. 3, Sophia Zohrer, Wfh, 4-8.

Long jump — 2, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 15-6.

Triple jump — 1, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 334.5. 6, Maddie Young, Wfh, 27-7.5.

BOYS

Team scores — Whitefish 150, Frenchtown 122, Bigfork 110, Columbia Falls 81, Polson 50

100 — 1, Gabe Menicke, Wfh, 11.52. 4, Marvin Kimera, Wfh, 11.69.

200 — 1, Gabe Menicke, Wfh, 23.52. 2, Marvin Kimera, Wfh, 23.74. 3, Colter Gaertner, Wfh, 24.05.

400 — 1, Colter Gaertner, Wfh, 52.54.

800 — 2, Gabe Lund, Wfh, 2:09.01. 3, Mason Genovese, Wfh, 2:09.25.

1600 — 4, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 4:53.60. 6, Jacob Henson, Wfh, 4:58.97.

3200 — 1, William Hyatt, Wfh, 11:03.69.

110 hurdles — 3, Bowdrie Krack, Wfh, 18.97.

300 hurdles — 2, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 43.92.

400 relay — 1, Frenchtown 44.34. 2, Bigfork 45.45. 3, Whitefish 45.49.

1600 relay — 1, Whitefish 3:32.52. 2, Columbia Falls 3:39.30. 3, Polson 3:40.15.

Discus — 3, Talon Holmquist, Wfh, 120-5. 5, Bode Wold, Wfh, 112-8.

Shot put — 3, Talon Holmquist, Wfh, 48-2.5.

High jump — 2, Gabe Menicke, Wfh, 5-10.

Long jump — 3, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 19-6.

Triple jump — 4, Barrett Garcia, Wfh, 38-6.