Hemsley, Walburn help Carroll win Frontier men’s track

GREAT FALLS — Carroll College ran away with the Frontier Conference men’s track and field title Wednesday, and a host of athletes from around the Flathead Valley led the way.

Flathead High product Chad Hemsley, a junior for the Saints, won the 400 hurdles in 56.44 seconds for starters. He was fourth in the 100 and ran on Carroll’s victorious 400- and 1,600-meter relays.

The short relay won in 42.74 while the long relay, which had Whitefish’s Lee Walburn on the first leg, clocked 3:19.92.

By the end of the two-day meet Carroll had 250 points to 143 for Rocky Mountain College and 105 for Providence. Montana Tech, in its first year with a women’s program, won the women’s title with 226 ponts to 206 for Carroll.

Walburn, the defending NAIA outdoor decathlon champion, won the Frontier title in his signature event with 6,783 points. He piled on the individual points for Carroll by winning the javelin with a heave of 16 feet, 1 inch. He was also second in the pole vault after clearing 14-5 ¼ (he lost to teammate Josh Smalley, who cleared 15-0), second in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.88 and third in the open 40.0

Columbia Falls product Aidan Jarvis, a freshman, helped the Saints with a fifth in the 800 and ran on the winning 4-by-800 relay, as did sophomore James Normandeau out of Ronan.

Bigfork’s Cormac Benn, a freshman, was third in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump.

Montana Tech’s Cody Burk, a freshman out of Thompson Falls, was second in the shot put, teammate and fellow Blue Hawk Justin Morgan won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and also took third in both the 5,000 and 10,000.

Jackson Duffey, a senior from Ronan, swept the 5,000 and 10,000 and was second in the 1,500 for Rocky. The Bears took second in the 4-by-800 with a team that included Polson’s Quinlan Stewart and Glacier High product Joseph Vanden Bos.

Vanden Bos was also fourth in the 400 and the 800.

Joe Lamb, a freshman out of Columbia Falls, took third in the 1,500 for Montana Western; he was also sixth in the 5,000.

Providence, the host team, had sophomore Nash Grafe out of Glacier take sixth in the 1,500 and run on the Argonauts’ two long relays, both of which took third.

Montana Tech’s women got a boost from sophomore Carlin Manning, who took second in the steeplechase and sixth in the 400 hurdles. The Flathead product also anchored the Orediggers’ 4-by-800 relay, which took second.

Carroll saw senior Nikki Krueger out of Glacier win the shot put with a throw of 44-4 ½; Krueger also took second in the discus.

Junior Madde Boles out of Flathead finished second in the high jump, took sixth in the 200 and anchored the Saints’ 400 relay team that placed second.

Bigfork’s Rakiah Grende, a freshman, helped Carroll with a fourth in the high jump and fifth in both the open 400 and the triple jump.

Full results can be found at: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/74694/m/2022_Frontier_Conference_Championship/