Track and field healthy, performance-ready rolling into divisionals

Over the weekend Whitefish was back to competing in warm weather again after enduring the frigid Columbia Falls Invite.

The Bulldogs headed to the Nelson-Thomas ABC meet in Polson on Saturday and prior to that hosted a small dual with Flathead High School on Thursday.

“A cool thing is we are healthy right now, we don’t have any injuries,” Whitefish boys track coach Willie Roche said. “We’re very healthy in comparison to talking with other schools… That’s one of the reasons why we say May matters — we want to peak right now, we want to have everyone healthy right now.”

Mikenna Ells lowered her state-best time in the 400 meter race to 57.46 seconds which was enough to squeeze past Helena’s Odessa Zentz as the fastest time in that event this spring across all classes. She also edged teammate Brooke Zetooney for first in the 100 meter dash and finished first in the 200.

Hailey Ells improved to a personal record of 46.76 seconds in the 300 meter hurdles for second place, finishing only 0.02 of a second behind Corvallis’ Olivia Lewis; those two now sit 2-3 in Class A. Hailey Ells also won the 100 meter hurdles.

Whitefish’s relays continued to dominate, coming in first for both the long and short relays.

The girls took second place in the team scores with 105.5 points to Corvallis with 113.5

Highlights from earlier in the week at the home dual with Flathead included Erin Wilde’s PR of 27.48 in the 200 meter for first place and Hailey Ells, Brooke Zetooney and Isabelle Cooke went 1-2-3 in the 400 meter.

Also Whitefish’s Maeve Ingelfinger recorded two personal bests in both of the hurdles, taking first in the 300 meter hurdles and second to teammate Kristina Shestack in the 100 meter hurdles. Jenny Patten took second place in discus, throwing 99 feet, 6 inches. Whitefish’s Norah Schmidt hit a PR in the pole vault for third place with an exciting 8-foot mark.

The Whitefish boys came in fifth at the Polson ABC meet with 49 points, Frenchtown took the team title with 115 points.

The Bulldog boys’ got a win from Bodie Smith in the 300 hurdles. He recorded a personal record time of 42.38 and is now No. 4 in Class A. Smith also had a personal best in the long jump with a mark of 20 feet, 6 and ½ inches which qualified him for state and currently places him No. 6 in Class A.

Gabe Lund ran a personal best of 2:05.66 in the 800 meter for fourth place and teammate Barrett Garcia also had his best time in the event in fifth place. Bulldog junior Talon Holmquist continued his strength in the shot put coming in second with a mark of 48-2.5. A few days earlier at the Whitefish home dual he threw 49-3 in the shot put which gave him first place. He also took first in discus at that dual.

Other highlights from the dual with Flathead include Bulldog Gabe Menicke’s PR in the 400 meter with a time of 53.03 and Nate Ingelfinger winning the mile in personal record fashion of 4:55.69. The boys 4X100 relay team also qualified for state in 44.63, taking some pressure off of divisionals.

“It was really cool to see those kids step up, they’ve been working really hard in practice on handoffs which are a key part of the 4x100,” Roche said. “Things just clicked on Thursday for all four athletes and all three handoffs.”

Roche also said the last few meets of the season, he’s not worried about his team winning in the team scores. It’s all about getting the last minute qualifiers and prepping for divisionals and state.

Whitefish now looks to divisionals to get any last qualifying times needed and prepare for the state championship. The Western A Divisional tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Columbia Falls.

Polson ABC

BOYS

Team scores — Frenchtown 115, Hamilton 92, Corvallis 60.5, Columbia Falls 51, Whitefish 49, Ronan 48, Polson 38.5, Stevensville 34, Libby 23, Browning 14.

800 — 1, Jeremy Bockus, Brw, 1:59.33; 2, Brinson Wyche, Cor, 2:03.03; 3, Michael Irvine, Ron, 2:05.24; 4, Gabe Lund, Wfh, 2:05.66; 5, Barrett Garcia, Wfh, 2:06.,02; 6, Jakob Hansen, Ftn, 2:06.52.

1600 — 1, Colter Kirkland, Ham, 4:26.97; 2, Colter Purcell, Ham, 4:27.81; 3, Michael Irvine, Ron, 4:40.21; 4, Brant Heiner, Ron, 4:40.22; 5, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 4:42.22; 6, Richards Role, CF, 4:43.69.

3200 — 1, Lane Cole, Ham, 9:54.74; 2, Brant Heiner, Ron, 10:03.95; 3, Gavin Hagberg, Cor, 10:25.83; 4, Harrison Silverio, Ham, 10:40.14.; 5, Deneb Linton, Wfh, 10:40.20; 6, Mason Sloan, Pol, 10:52.66.

110 hurdles — 1, Kellan Beller, Ste, 16.86; 2, Jarrett Wilson, Pol, 17.37; 3, Aiden Read, Cor, 17.43; 4, Richard Babcock, CF, 18.56; 5, Will Heitmann, Ham, 18.62; 6, Nate Davis, Cor, 19.03.

300 hurdles — 1, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 42.38; 2, Aiden Read, Cor, 43.77; 3, Levi Bachteler, CF, 45.04; 4, Noah Rausch, Ftn, 45.74; 5, TJ Brown, Ste, 46.05; 6, Thane Borgen, CF, 46.11.

1600 relay — 3, Whitefish 3:46.45.

Discus — 1, Orion Kutuey, Ham, 138-6; 2, Allec Knapton, CF, 136-6; 3, Jason Jessop, Cor, 134-10; 4, Talon Holmquist, Wfh, 131-6; 5, Tel Arthur, Ftn, 131-0; 6, Bridger Cole, Cor, 130-3.

Javelin — 1, Kellan Beller, Ste, 163-9; 2, Levi Reynoso, Cor, 149-0; 3, Jay Beagle, Lib, 144-5; 4, Landen Conner, Cor, 142-9; 5, Jason Jessop, Cor, 137-3; 6, Dennis Shestak, Wfh, 135-0.

Shot put — 1, Jake Houlihan, Ftn, 48-10; 2, Talon Holmquist, Wfh, 48-2.5; 3, Hunter Gum,. Ste, 46-8; 4, Tyler Burrows, Ham, 45-8; 5, Duncan Richardson, Ftn, 43-11; 6, Taetum Tresch, Cor, 42-11.

Long jump — 1, Bodie Smith, Wfh, 20-6.5; 2, Keilen Rausch, Lib, 20-4.5; 3, Zarec Couture, Ron, 20-0; 4, Sully Belcourt, Ftn, 19-8; 5, Cale White, Ftn, 19-4; 6, Drifter Skillicorn, Pol, 19-4.

GIRLS

Team scores — Corvallis 113.5, Whitefish 105.5, Hamilton 79, Columbia Falls 77, Stevensville 50, Frenchtown 37, Libby 27, Ronan 24, Polson 12.

100 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 12.83; 2, Brooke Zetooney, Wfh, 12.90; 3, Claire Hutchison, Ste, 13.07; 4, Ashton Lewis, Ste, 13.43; 5, Erin Wilde, Wfh, 13.60; 6, Michelle Dale, Pol, 13.68.

200 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 26.56; 2, Claire Hutchison, Ste, 26.76; 3, Brooke Zetonney, Wfh, 26.90; 4, Ally Sempf, CF, 26.94; 5, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 27.40; 6, Ashton Lewis, Ste, 27.61.

400 — 1, Mikenna Ells, Wfh, 57.46; 2, Ashton Lewis, Ste, 61.68; 2, Ally Sempf, CF, 62.76; 3, Tommye Kelly, Wfh, 64.63; 5, Madalyn Nelson, Ham, 65.35; 6, Margaret Pulsifer, Wfh, 65.85.

800 — 1, Brynnli Poulsen, Ham, 2:29.46; 2, Abigail Sherwood, Ftn, 2:30.20; 3, Amara Auch, Cor, 2:33.83; 4, Rylee Breackman, H am, 2:38.78; 5, Margaret Pulsifer, Wfh, 2:40.75.

100 hurdles — 1, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 17.24; 2, Olivia Lewis, Cor, 17.75; 3, Kristina Shestak, Wfh, 17.75; 4, Rylee Herbstritt, Cor, 18.13; 5, Elliana Davis, Cor, 18.49; 6, Julia Sefert, Ham, 18.55.

300 hurdles — 1, Olivia Lewis, Cor, 46.74; 2, Hailey Ells, Wfh, 46.76; 3, Rylee Herbstritt, Cor, 51.07; 4, Aurora Smith, Lib, 52.24; 5, Julia Sefert, Ham, 52.27; 6, Bailey Smith, Wfh, 52.54.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish (Hailey Ells, Brooke Zetooney, Erin Wilde, Mikenna Ells) 50.08.

1600 relay — 1, Whitefish (Hailey Ells, Tommye Kelly, Brooke Zetooney, Mikenna Ells 4:12.15).

High jump — 1, Claire Hutchison, Ste, 4-10; 2, Camas Crattey, Ham, 4-10; 3, Lindsey Brooks, Ron, 4-8; 4, Rylee Boltz, Lib, 4-8; 5 (tie), Sophia Zohrer, Wfh, and Laila Smith, Cor, 4-6.

Triple jump — 1, Leina Ulutoa, Ron, 33-10.5; 2, Savanna Sanderson, Lib, 32-1.5; 3, Madison Caruthers, Lib, 30-0.25; 4, Maddie Young, Wfh, 29-11.25; 5, McKinley Murray, Ham, 29-9; 6, Katherine Deschamps, Ftn, 29-5.5.

Whitefish-Flathead dual

BOYS

Flathead 103, Whitefish 48

400 — 1, Gabe Menicke, Whitefish, 53.03; 2, Robert Walker, Flathead, 53.35; 3, Bodie Smith, Whitefish, 53.55.

1600 — 1, Nate Inglefinger, Whitefish, 4:55.69; 2, Landon Brown, Whitefish, 4:57.03; 3, Seth Trumm, Flathead, 5:00.32.

3200 — 1, Gabe Felton, Flathead, 10:22.34; 2, Jacob Henson, Whitefish, 10:28.18; 3, Peter Wilson, Flathead, 11:42.96.

110 hurdles — 1, Miller Bushnell, Flathead, 18.05; 2, Bowdrie Krack, Whitefish, 18.76; 3, Jaden Williams, Flathead, 18.98.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 44.63.

1600 relay — 3, Whitefish 3:51.34.

Discus — 1, Talon Holmquist, Whitefish, 128-7; 2, Kayden Berkey, Flathead, 120-7.5; 3, Dylan Baker, Flathead, 112-9.

Javelin — 1, Cody Berry, Whitefish, 135-4; 2, Dennis Shestak, Whitefish, 133-7; 3, Dylan Baker, Flathead, 129-10.

Shot put — 1, Talon Holmquist, Whitefish, 49-3; 2, Ethan Aegerter, Flathead, 41-7; 3, Alec Thomas, Flathead, 38-8.

Long jump — 1, Nicolas Gustafson, Flathead, 19-7.5; 2, Dylan Zink, Flathead, 18-10.25; 3, Morgan Kyle, Whitefish, 17-5.5.

Triple jump — 1, Dylan Zink, Flathead, 41-2.5; 2, Bodie Smith, Whitefish, 40-2.5; 3, Nicolas Gustafson, Flathead, 38-3.

Pole vault — 1, Timothy Weymouth, Flathead, 13-0; 2, Noah Hannah, Flathead, 10-0; 3, Cole Cameron, Whitefish, 9-0.

GIRLS

Flathead 95.33, Whitefish 55.66.

200 — 1, Erin Wilde, Whitefish, 27.48; 2, Lily Tanko, Flathead, 27.59; 3, Akilah Kubi, Flathead, 27.91.

400 — 1, Hailey Ells, Whitefish, 60.95; 2, Brooke Zetooney, Whitefish, 61.06; 3, Isabella Cooke, Whitefish, 61.66.

800 — 1, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Flathead, 2:27.17; 2, Mikenna Ells, Whitefish, 2:30.15; 3, Neila Lyngholm, Flathead, 2:30.55.

1600 — 1, Lilli Rumsey Eash, Flathead, 5:22.54; 2, Madelaine Jellison, Flathead, 5:44.02; 3, Morgan Grube, Whitefish, 5:49.50.

100 hurdles — 1, Kristina Shestak, Whitefish, 17.89; 2, Maeve Inglefinger, Whitefish, 17.96;

300 hurdles — 1, Maeve Inglefinger, Whitefish, 49.11; 2, Cerise Lee, Flathead, 49.77; 3, Harlie Roth, Flathead, 50.68.

400 relay — 1, Whitefish 44.63; 2, Flathead, 44.92.

1600 relay — 1, Flathead 4:08.92; 2, Whitefish 4:23.09.

Discus — 1, Rebecca Eacker, Flathead, 115-8.5; 2, Jennifer Patten, Whitefish, 99-6.5; 3, Cyan Mooney, Flathead, 96-6.

High jump — 1, Tessa Smith, Flathead, 5-0; 2 (tie), Hailey Ells, Whitefish, Peyton Walker, Flathead, and Mikenna Ells, Whitefish, 4-10.

Long jump — 1 (tie), Akilah Kubi, Flathead, and Bailey Smith, Whitefish, 16-2; 3, Tommye Kelly, Whitefish, 15-2.75.

Triple jump — 1, Erin Wilde, Whitefish, 34-10; 2, Tessa Smith, Flathead, 34-4; 3, Mia Stephan, Flathead, 32-10.

Pole vault — 1, Hania Halverson, Flathead, 9-6; 2, Teagan Halloran, Flathead, 9-2; 3, Norah Schmidt, Whitefish, 8-5.