Class A state track: Belgrade girls romp to championship

By MIKE KIEFER Chronicle Sports Writer

MISSOULA - Jill Hoblitt felt like she had let her team down.

Associated Press Belgrade's Kirsten Haas clears the last hurdle on her way to winning the Class A girls 300-meter hurdles at the state Class A and C track and field championships in Missoula on Saturday. After three fluky scratches at Central A Divisionals, Hoblitt didn't qualify in the long jump, where she had the best distance in Class A. She'd only been able to compete in six events, instead of the maximum seven - five individual and two relays.

So, as the State A-C Track and Field meet wound down at Missoula County Public Schools Stadium, she'd personally accounted for only 18 of the Belgrade girls' 78 points.

She'd only helped Belgrade win its second state team title in a row, the third in six years.

What a slacker.

“It's weird, though,” she said. “I totally felt better about my runs in the trials, yesterday. And that was after my 400.”

Which she won, by the way.

But as the point totals suggest, Hoblitt didn't need to work so hard. Outdoing the 2006 team, the Panthers cruised on their unprecedented 46-point Friday performance to the back-to-back titles, which seemed a foregone conclusion.

“Our coaches had no expectations but the best for us,” Hoblitt said.

Saturday, the Panther boys tried to match the girls' performance and ended up third, a relay and four points away from a title of their own. In the three-way photo finish, Libby's throwers and Laurel's distance team eked in front with 61 and 60 points, ahead of Belgrade's 57.

“We're tired. It's been a long week,” Belgrade track coach Scott Francis said. “But I'm proud of the way we came and competed.”

Belgrade rode senior star turns from Hoblitt and Brad Smith, who also did nearly everything. Winning both hurdles events, he came within one one-hundredth of a second of the 200-dash crown and helped the boys relays to two third places.

“Brad Smith,” Francis said. “I can't say enough about him.”

But Belgrade didn't rely on its most recognizable names.

The Panthers also earned key points throughout the weekend from specialists, like Kirsten Haas, whose school-record 300 hurdles time gave the girls team some comfortable distance on a hard-charging Whitefish and its superstar, Courtney Ferda.

Britney Harvey's win in the shot put and a second place behind Havre's Lena Suek in the discus secured the victory.

“It was really good to have that chance to contribute, especially in the shot put,” Harvey said. “I don't think that we had it in the bag. Whitefish has a lot of good runners.”

David Beery more than chipped in on the men's side, winning the long jump and finishing fifth amid a loaded field with a 42-foot, 51/2-inch jump.

The 1,600 relay was the final chance for the three frontrunning teams, who had vied for slimmest of advantages throughout the afternoon.

“All of us were cradling our heads in our hands right before the race,” Beery, the anchor of the 1,600, said.

Smith led Belgrade to an early lead which they maintained, fending off Laurel until the last stretch of the third leg.

After his fifth event of the day, Smith collapsed in front of the water cooler and let his teammates pour cups of ice water of his head.

Away from the talent-laden Belgrade squad, Livingston got three second-place finishes from distance runner Heather Haug and defending-champion sprinter Olivia Rider.

Haug's 1,600 run was decided by two one-hundredths of a second when Glendive's Nacona Frame snuck up behind Haug in the final 20 meters.

“I'm so mad. I was trying to finish strong,” Haug said. “That's my technique, but my problem is that I never expect anyone else to do it.”

With a fifth place from discus-thrower Kelsey Joronen, Livingston's girls finished seventh with 34 points.

BOYS

Team scores - Libby 61, Laurel 60, Belgrade 57, Columbia Falls 44, Lewistown 41, Whitefish 36, Ronan-St. Ignatius 34, Polson 29, Hardin 28, Miles City 18, Browning 17, Corvallis 17, Glendive 16, Hamilton 15, Stevensville 14, Bigfork 10, Dillon 8, Anaconda 6, Butte Central 6, Billings Central 5, Havre 4, Eureka 1.

100 - 1, Andrew Whittaker, Bfk, 11.26; 2, Derek Ohs, Gle, 11.27; 3, Scott Palmer, CF, 11.36; 4, Dustin Hanson, Ana, 11.46; 5, Tylar Espinosa, RSI, 11.53;

200 - 1, Tylar Espinosa, RSI, 22.95; 2, Brad Smith, Bel, 22.96; 3, Scott Palmer, CF, 23.14; 4, Derek Ohs, Gle, 23.23; 5, Bryce Picard, Pol, 23.23; 6, Jesse Potter, Ste, 23.25.

800 - 1, Zach Condon, Lau, 1:54.09; 2, Jesse Potter, Ste, 1:55.49; 3, Nigel Neaves, Ham, 1:56.03; 4, Patrick Casey, Lau, 1:56.39; 5, Chris Ogle, Pol, 1:56.76; 6, Logan Mossey, Lew, 1:57.46.

3,200 - 1, Patrick Casey, Lau, 9:45.65; 2, Marlin Blackwolf, Brw, 9:46.14; 3, Caleb Bentley, Lew, 9:51.60; 4, Andy Keim, Hav, 9:56.44; 5, Ryan Cevnar, Gle, 9:57.46; 6, Luke Montgomery, BiC, 10:02.32.

110 hurdles - 1, Brad Smith, Bel, 14.55; 2, Evan Stokken, Lew, 14.60; 3, Josh Ewalt, MC, 15.06; 4, Brett Kamrud, BuC, 15.27; 5, Cort Rogers, Wfh, 15.37; 6, Slater Powell, Cor, 15.38.

400 relay - 1, Columbia Falls (Jason Sternad, Brian Merseal, Kyle Jangula, Scott Palmer) 44.34; 2, Whitefish 44.39; 3, Belgrade 44.50; 4, Hamilton 44.56; 5, Polson 44.63; 6, Dillon 44.65.

1,600 relay - 1, Laurel (Chris Oistad, Kole Olsen, Patrick Casey, Zach Condon) 3:25.10; 2, Polson 3:25.21; 3, Belgrade 3:26.80; 4, Miles City 3:28.32; 5, Hamilton 3:28.58; 6, Corvallis 3:28.98.

Javelin - 1, Richard Brumbaugh, Lib, 187-0; 2, Kyle Baker, Lib, 180-3; 3, Scot McKinney, Lau, 174-1; 4, Christian Lehnert, Lib, 173-1; 5, Steve Antonich, Ana, 172-10; 6, Tanner Newell, Eur, 171-4.

Discus - 1, Alan Skogan, RSI, 160-9; 2, Kyle Baker, Lib, 158-7; 3, Chris Jessop, Cor, 147-11; 4, Caasey McMillian, BiC, 147-7; 5, Tyler Samuelson, Bel, 142-4; 6, Wes Running Crane, Brw, 141-2.

Triple jump - 1, Seth Wright, Lib, 43-8; 2, Evan Stokken, Lew, 42-10 1/2; 3, Taylor Fitzpatrick, Har, 42-10 1/4; 4, Kyle Jangula, CF, 42-9; 5, David Beery, Bel, 42-7 1/2; 6, Isaac Hunter, Ste, 42-4 1/2.

Pole vault - 1, Cort Rogers, Wfh, 15-6 (Class A record: old record 15-4, Otto Snajder, Belgrade, 1997); 2, Jake Bowman, Har, 14-6; 3, Tucker Vezina, Dil, 14-0; 4 (tie), Porter Nelson, Lib, and John Kassner, MC, 14-0; 6, James Armstrong, Bel, 13-6.

GIRLS

Team scores - Belgrade 78, Whitefish 61, Corvallis 55, Hamilton 41, Sidney 41, Lewistown 36, Livngston 34, Polson 34, Havre 20, Ronan-St. Ignatius 19 1/2, Columbia Falls 18, Glendive 15 1/2, Laurel 14, Butte Central 12, Miles City 10, Frenchtown 10, Stevensville 9, Dillon 7, Hardin 6, Billings Central 4, Anaconda 1, Eureka 1.

100 - 1, Ashlee DellaSilva, Cor, 12.56; 2, Olivia Rider, Liv, 12.61; 3, Courtney Ferda, Wfh, 12.80; 4, Briana Malmquist, RSI, 13.04; 5, Whitney Henderson, Cor, 13.08; 6, Justin Simons, Lau, 13.08.

200 - 1, Courtney Ferda, Wfh, 25.72; 2, Olivia Rider, Liv, 25.90; 3, Ashlee DellaSilva, Cor, 26.13; 4, Whitney Henderson, Cor, 26.44; 5, Jill Hoblitt, Bel, 26.46; 6, Brekka Johnson, Ste, 26.51.

1,600 - 1, Nacona Frame, Gle, 5:19.87; 2, Heather Haug, Liv, 5:19.89; 3, Misha Trotter, Ham, 5:21.74; 4, Brinna Boettger, Lew, 5:24.23; 5, Mykel Ler, Sid, 5:28.35; 6, Terinee McCready, RSI, 5:30.60.

100 hurdles - 1, Ashley Ferda, Whi, 15.54; 2, Ashley Cooper, Lau, 15.69; 3, Miranda Fehilly, Sid, 15.81; 4, Sadie McMillan, RSI, 15.97; 5, Emily Hager, Dil, 16.20; 6, Samantha Barkell, Ana, 16.28.

300 hurdles - 1, Kirsten Haas, Bel, 44.65; 2, Courtney Ferda, Wfh, 45.20; 3, Sarah Skipper, Lew, 45.98; 4, Miranda Fehilly, Sid, 46.64; 5, Christa Redcrow, Pol, 47.09; 6, Ashley Cooper, Lau, 47.26.

400 relay - 1, Corvallis (Sammi Berner, Whitney Henderson, Clarissa Boyer, Ashley DellaSilva) 49.57; 2, Whitefish 49.79; 3, Hamilton 50.68; 4, Billings Central 50.80; 5, Lewistown 51.07; 6, Ronan-St. Ignatius 51.21.

1,600 relay - 1, Polson (Nicole Davey, Tanna Bull, Christa Redcrow, Merilee Mowbray) 4:01.43; 2, Corvallis 4:02.35; 3, Belgrade 4:04.68; 4, Hamilton 4:06.49; 5, Whitefish 4:07.66; 6, Sidney 4:08.63.

Discus - 1, Lena Suek, Havre, 128-4; 2, Brittney Harvey, Bel, 123-1; 3, Alanya Three Irons, Har, 118-5; 4, Brittany Gardner, Pol, 118-3; 5, Kelsey Joronen, Liv, 115-11; 6, Paige Lennis, Cor, 114-1.

Triple jump - 1, Amber Lampman, CF, 35-8 1/2; 2, Brekka Johnson, Ste, 35-5 1/2; 3, Jill Hoblitt, Bel, 35-5; 4, Alicia Toews, Ham, 34-7 1/2; 5, Britney Brophy, BuC, 34-4 1/2; 6, Breanna Cameron, Wfh, 34-4.

Pole vault - 1, Miranda Fehilly, Sid, 10-0; 2, Makayla Fink, Sid, 10-0; 3, Whitney Satra, Sid, 9-6; 4, Melissa Cousins, Cor, 9-6; 5, Emily Stoltz, CF, 9-6; 6, Tara Johnson, Pol, 9-6.

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