Whitefish girls track wins Top Ten, CFalls Invite

As divisionals inch closer and closer, the Whitefish girls track and field team is rounding into top form.

Last week the girls took the team title in the Western A-B-C Top Ten Meet that featured top athletes from 20 schools across classes A, B and C; they scored 106 points to Dillon’s 58, and 52.5 for Corvallis in third.

“The Top Ten was really a fun experience for the kids,” Whitefish girls track head coach Kelliann Blackburn said. “The last few races and throwing (events) were done under the lights, so it was a unique experience for them. They went down there and did very well.”

Bulldog senior sprinter, and defending State A champ in the 400 meter run, Mikenna Ells led the Whitefish girls by winning the 200 and running the 400 in 57.79 — the fastest time in the state so far this spring.

The Bulldogs also got wins from freshman Brooke Zetooney in the 100 with a time of 12.69, only .01 off her Class A leading season record from earlier this spring. Another freshman Isabelle Cooke came in first for the 800 meter run, recording a PR of 2:24.31 which is almost 4 seconds faster than her previous best. Her sister Paetra Cooke set a new personal record of her own by running the 3200 meter in 12:34.41 to take third in the race.

“I’m really impressed with Paetra Cooke’s time in the 3200, she took third and shaved off about 30 seconds from her personal best,” Blackburn said.

Whitefish junior Erin Wilde took first in the high jump recording 5 feet, 2 inches and second in the long jump going 16 feet, 10 inches. Whitefish also won both the short and long relays.

Although the girls won the Columbia Falls Invitational on Saturday as well — Lady Bulldogs scored 175 points to 131 for Corvallis and 86 for the host Wildkats — the harsh weather made for tough conditions.

“As a track coach you enjoy those nice track weather days, but it’s always good throughout the season to have a couple of days where the kids are pushed a little and the weather isn’t so good…” Blackburn noted. “The kids did well on Saturday, it was non-stop rain all day.”

She explained that the girls started off strong, but she ended up pulling a lot of athletes from events later in the day as to not risk any injuries only two weeks from the postseason.

Isabelle Cooke ran to another outstanding first-place performance in both the 400 and 800, with teammates Olivia Genovese and Mikenna Ells just behind her in the 800 to take places 1-3. Another Whitefish freshman Maeve Ingelfinger charged in both hurdles events, taking first in the 100 and third in the 300 meter hurdles.

Wilde took first again in the high jump while teammate Bailey Smith nabbed the top spot in the long jump. Freshman Drew Steele took fifth in the shot put, throwing 28 feet, 10 inches.

“Another one I’m excited about is our freshman Drew Steele in the shot put, she’s really coming on strong at the end of the season and I’m excited to see where she can go,” Blackburn said.

The boys had a tougher week in the results column, but still had plenty of individual performances stand out.

At the Top Ten, Whitefish junior Gabe Menicke took second in the triple jump to Ronan’s Girma Detwiler; Menicke now sits in fourth in Class A in the triple jump and Detweiler holds the second spot in Class A. Menicke also took eighth in the 100 meter dash.

The boys 4X400 meter relay continues to be near the top of competition, taking third with a time of 3:33.07 at the large meet. Bulldog Talon Holmquist is still searching for the 50 mark in the shot put event, but 48 feet, 10 inches earned him second place in the meet.

On Saturday in Columbia Falls, the boys ran through pouring rain conditions to take fourth out of six teams at the invite. The boys won the short relay, the long relay was not contested, with a time of 46.46.

Whitefish took a series of third place finishes including Kilian Gustin in the 200, Bodie Smith in the 400, Barrett Garcia in the 800 and Jacob Henson in the mile.

In the final week before divisionals Whitefish will host a triangular meet on Thursday and then head to the Polson ABC on Saturday.

Western A-B-C Top 10

BOYS

Team scores — Hamilton 73.5, Boulder 61, Dillon 53, Bigfork 50, Frenchtown 48, Loyola-Sacred Heart 32, Corvallis 31, Libby 26, Ronan 25, Whitefish 25, Florence 21, Seeley-Swan 20, Townsend 14, Polson 12, Columbia Falls 11, Twin Bridges 8, St. Regis 8, East Helena 6, Stevensville 2.5.

100 — 8, Gabe Menicke, Wfh, 11.76.

200 — 6, Marvin Kimera, Wfh, 24.00.

400 — 7, Colter Gaertner, Wfh, 53.54.

800 — 5, Gabe Lund, Wfh, 2:06.13; 8, Mason Genovese, Wfh, 2:08.26.

1600 — 8, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 4:51.93.

3200 — 7, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 10:39.58; 8, Jacob Henson, Wfh, 10:42.52

1600 relay — 1, Hamilton 3:30.87; 2, Dillon 3:32.97; 3, Whitefish 3:33.07.

Shot put — 2, Talon Holmquist, Wfh, 48-10.

Long jump — 7, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 19-04.50

Triple jump — 2, Gabe Menicke, Wfh, 42-4.5.

GIRLS

Team scores — Whitefish 106, Dillon 58, Corvallis 52.5, Columbia Falls 46, Hamilton 41, Twin Bridges 27.5; Frenchtown 27, Townsend 26, Charlo 26, Butte Central 21, Stevensville 20, Boulder 19, Bigfork 15, Seeley-Swan 11, Whitehall 10, Libby 9, Victor 6, Darby 4, Ronan 1.5, Polson 1.

100 — 1, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 12.69.

200 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 26.61; 4, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 27.24; 8, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 28.04.

400 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 57.79; 5, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 63.11.

800 — 1, Isabelle Cooke, Wfh, 2:24.31; 4, Olivia Genovese, Wfh, 2:30.88.

1600 — 8, Morgan Grube, Wfh, 5:41.70.

3200 — 3, Paetra Cooke, Wfh, 12:34.41.

100 hurdles — 5, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 16.51.

300 hurdles — 3, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 47.55.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish (Hailey Ells, Mikenna ells, Erin Wilde, Brooke Zetooney) 50.81; 2, Dillon 51.85; 3, Bigfork 52.02.

1600 relay — 1, Whitefish (Hailey Ells, Mikenna Ells, Isabelle Cooke, Brooke Zetooney) 4:10.07; 2, Corvallis 4:13.66; 3, Bigfork 4:17.52.

High jump — 1, Erin Wilde, Wfh, 5-2.

Long jump — 2, Erin Wilde, Wfh, 16-10.

Triple jump — 4, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 33-9.

Columbia Falls Invite

BOYS

Team scores — Corvallis 126.5, Columbia Falls 119, Libby 75.5, Whitefish 56, Ronan 44, Eureka 27.

100 — 5, Ryder Barinowski, Wfh, 13.23.

200 — 3, Kilian Gustin, Wfh, 27.07

400 — 3, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 55.68; 4, Kilian Gustin, Wfh, 59.92.

800 — 3, Barrett Garcia, Wfh, 2:16.37; 4, Reudi Steiner, Wfh, 2:17.06; 5, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 2:17.15.

1600 — 3, Jacob Henson, Wfh, 4:59.28; 4, Mason Genovese, Wfh, 4:59.34; 5, William Hyatt, Wfh, 5:03.85.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 46.46; 2, Columbia Falls 47.76; 3, Libby 48.88.

1600 relay — not contested.

Discus — 7, Bode Wold, Wfh, 104-5.

Javelin — 8, Cody Berry, Wfh, 118-1.

Long jump — 7, Vadim Abramchuk, Wfh, 16-10.5.

GIRLS

Team scores — Whitefish 175, Corvallis 131, Columbia Falls 86, Ronan 40, Libby 33, Eureka 16.

100 — 1, Ava Mendoza, Wfh, 14.32; 2, Malea Pemberton, Wfh, 14.54; 5, Brooklyn Roberts, Wfh, 15.02.

200 — 1, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 9.27; 2, Adrienne Healy, Wfh, 30.94; 3, Madelyn Alexanders, Wfh, 31.92; 5, Madie Young, Wfh, 32.83.

400 — 1, Isabelle Cooke, Wfh, 63.04; 2, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 64.39; 3, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 67.30; 4, Margaret Pulsifer, Wfh, 69.41.

800 — 1, Isabelle Cooke, Wfh, 2:32.26; 2, Olivia Genovese, Wfh, 2:34.26; 3, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 2:34.63.

1600 — 3, Morgan Grube, Wfh, 5:58.45; 6, Hazel Gawe, Wfh, 6:24.15.

100 hurdles — 1, Maeve Ingelfinger, Wfh, 18.00

300 hurdles — 3, Maeve Ingelfinger, Wfh, 53.68.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 52.47; 2, Columbia Falls 54.05; 3, Ronan 54.74; 4, Corvallis 54.77.

1600 relay — Not contested.

Javelin — 5, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 79-1.5.

Shot put — 5, Drew Steele, Wfh, 28-10; 6, Jennifer Patten, Wfh, 28-0.

High jump — 1, Erin Wilde, Wfh, 5-0; 3, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 4-10; 4, Sophia Zohrer, Wfh, 4-6;

Long jump — 1, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 15-2.25; 3, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 14-1.5; 4, Nayvee Miller, Wfh, 13-11.5.

Triple jump — 5, Maddie Young, Wfh, 27-8.75; 6, Katya Abramchuk, Wfh, 26-9.75.