It came down to one race and one point for the last District 6B championship. Although Darby won the final race, the 4×400 relay, Florence came in second and that was enough to hold on to the championship. Next year, Darby will be competing in District 13 C, and with only nine Class B schools in the west, there will not be any districts for Florence to compete in.
Darby coach Steve Gideon was on pins and needles while waiting for the 4×400 relay, the final race of the meet.
“Yep, I’m nervous as heck. Our boys have to win and Florence has to take third. Loyola has to split (us). Our kids know that, they respond well to pressure. I’m not doing very well right now.”
Anchored by Aaron Johnston, the leading 400 sprinter in Class B in the state, the Darby team was solid. Colton Johnston ran the first leg. Florence had a lead of about 10 yards when Darby’s Doug Raymer took the baton. The junior quickly closed the gap and took the lead. However Florence came back in the third leg of the race to have a slight lead before Aaron Johnston took over and claimed the win for the Tigers. However, with Florence finishing in second, the Falcons had clinched the title.
“This is why track is such an awesome sport,” said Gideon. “People don’t spend enough time paying attention to these things. These kids work their hearts out.”
The Florence boys took the championship with only three first place finishers while Darby had nine first place winners. The difference was the number of Falcons that placed in the top six in each event. Coach Sam Baerlocher was pleased with the number of athletes who really stepped up in spite of some injuries.
“They are banged up and going out there and competing as hard as they can,” he said. The 300 hurdles, that was a really pleasant surprise with Jacob Kester going out there and getting third place, that was really big. Kids like Reed (Jenkins) and Ross (Mangun), both are hurting and they still finished second and fourth in the long jump today.”
Dylan Reynolds took both hurdle events for the Falcons. Mangun was the other first place winner with a win in the triple jump.
Aaron Johnston won the short sprints for Darby and also the long jump. Raymer set a meet record in the 800 and then came back in less than an hour and won the 3,200. On Saturday, Raymer won the 1,600. Jeremy Campbell won the high jump.
Coach Gideon said the 3,200-meter race was something of a surprise because Sean Abrahamsen, also of Darby, was expected to take that race. “Sean was just tired from the 800. He had a lifetime PR (personal record) in that and then he had to comeback for the 3,200. That’s just what we’re asking of our kids.”
The Florence girls finished in third place behind Loyola and Superior, which was somewhat of a surprise according to Baerlocher. He expected Superior to win the title.
Florence’s Tess Porch was a double winner. The freshman took first in 100-meter race and the high jump. The 4×100 relay team of Rosie O’Brien, Porch, Ava Killman and Hannah Sax took first in that event.
Darby’s Sarah Jakober was the only event winner for the Tigers. She won the triple jump with an effort of 33 feet, 11 ½ inches.
Friday
Girls
Team scores – Superior 59, Deer Lodge 49, Loyola Sacred Heart 48, Florence 40, Darby 13, Valley Christian 4.
1,600 – 1. Maggie Mitzel, LSH, 6:01.51; 2. Shari Leedom, Flo, 6:02.68; 6. Heidi Heiland, Dar, 7:30.80.
100 hurdles – 1. Nicole Stroot, Sup, 16.70; 6. Hannah Sax, Flo, 18.55.
400 relay – 1. Florence (Rosie O’Brien, Tess Porch, Ava Kollman, Hannah Sax) 52.83; 2. Superior 52.84; 3. Loyola Sacred Heart 53.15; 4. Deer Lodge 53.70; 5. Darby 57.48.
Discus – 1. Meghan Leathers, Flo, 127-9 ¾; 2. Jessica DesJarlais, Flo, 109-5 ¼; 6. Rosie O’Brien, Flo, 83-9.
Triple jump – 1. Sarah Jakober, Dar, 33-11 ½; 5. Callie Hunt, Flo, 31-5 ¼;
Boys
Team scores – 1. Florence 73, Darby 59, Deer Lodge 42, Loyola Sacred Heart 1, Superior 31, Valley Christian 1.
400 – 1. Aaron Johnston, Dar, 51.22; 2. Brady Blomquist, Flo, 51.59; 4. Dylan Reynolds, Flo, 52.27;
800 – 1. Doug Raymer, Dar, 1:57.89 (meet record: old record 1:58.20, Matt Julquist, Loyola, 1991); 2. Madison Bolton, Flo, 2:01.05; 3. Jeremy Campbell, Dar, 2:02.49; 4. Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 2:02.76;
3,200 – 1. Doug Raymer, Dar, 10:11.59; 3. Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 10:26.22; 5. Madison Bolton, Flo, 11:01.25; 6. Sean Hansen, Dar, 11:03.52.
110 hurdles – 1. Dylan Reynolds, Flo, 16.97; 2. Tanner Cobbs, Flo, 17.10; 6. Tanner Lund, Flo, 19.28.
400 relay – 1. Superior 45.47; 2. Loyola Sacred Heart 45.48; 3. Deer Lodge 45.56; 4. Florence 46.39; 5. Darby 46.56.
Discus – 1. Brandon Forson, DL, 164- ¾; 2. Damon Ward, Flo, 141-7 4. Colton Johnston, Dar, 128-10 ½; 6. Chantz Hotsinpiller, Flo, 108-5.
Triple jump – 1. Ross Mangun, Flo, 42-1 ½; 2. Reed Jenkins, Flo, 41-11 ¾; 3. Dylan Knox, Dar, 38-11; 6. Aaron Ward, Flo, 37- ½.
Saturday
Girls
Team scores (after final 10 events of 17: Loyola Sacred Heart 134, Superior 124, Florence 118, Deer Lodge 111, Darby 21, Valley Christian 8.
100 – 1. Tess Porch, Flo, 13.13; 6. Hannah Sax, Flo, 13.63.
200 – 1. Tawnie Kerr, LSH, 27.46; 4. Tess Porch, Flo, 27.93; 5. Hannah Sax, Flo, 28.31;
800 – 1. Maggie Mitzel, LSH, 2:35.51; 2. Shari Leedom, Flo, 2:39.57;
3,200 – 1. Theresa Lombardi, DL, 13:30.93; 2. Shari Leedom, Flo, 13:38.18;
300 hurdles – 1. Nicole Stroot, Sup, 51.69; 3. Hannah Sax, Flo, 53.58; 5. McCall Sewell, Flo, 53.74; 6. Callie Hunt, Flo, 53.87.
1,600 relay – 1. Loyola 4. Florence, 4:44.82.
Javelin – 1. Kiernan Haggerty, LSH, 121-10; 3. Megan Leathers, Flo, 100-8; 4. Rosie O’Brien, Flo, 99-10;
Shot put – 1. Ashley Medeiros, LSH, 36-10 1/2; 2. Megan Leathers, Flo, 36-0 1/2; 3. Jessica DesJarlais, Flo, 27-6 1/2;
High jump – 1. Tess Porch, Flo, 4-8; 5. Callie Hunt, Flo, 4-4.
Long jump – 1. Nicole Stroot, Sup, 15-9 1/2; 2. Sarah Jakober, Dar, 15-0 3/4;
Boys
Team scores (after final 10 events of 17): Florence 149, Darby 148, Loyola Sacred Heart 95, Deer Lodge 73, Superior 52, Valley Christian 8.
100 – 1. Aaron Johnston, Dar, 11.41; 4. Brady Blomquist, Flo, 11.67;
200 – 1. Aaron Johnston, Dar, 23.14; 5. Brady Blomquist, Flo, 23.74;
1,600 – 1. Doug Raymer, Dar, 4:36.50; 2. Sean Abrahamsen, Dar, 4:37.38;; 4. Madison Bolton, Flo, 4:44.00
300 hurdles – 1. Dylan Reynolds, Flo, 41.40; 2. Tanner Cobbs, Flo, 43.07; 3. Jacob Kester, Flo, 44.52; 5. Matt Robbins, Dar, 46.71; 6. Tanner Lund, Flo, 46.83.
1,600 relay – 1. Darby (Aaron Johnston, Colton Johnston, Dylan Knox, Doug Raymer), 3:31.58; 2. Florence, 3:32.07; 3. Loyola, 3:34.33; 4. Superior, 3:57.70; 5. Deer Lodge, 4:00.26.
Javelin – 2. Sterling Kim, Darby, 3. Damon Ward, Flo, (no marks reported)
Shot put – 1, Brandon Forson, DL, 55-1 (meet record; old mark: 53-10, Zach Balcom, LSH, 2009); 3. Damon Ward, Flo, 44-7; 4. Sterling Kim, Dar, 39-10;
High jump – 1. Jeremy Campbell, Dar, 6-0; 3. Ross Mangun, Flo, 5-4;
Long jump – 1. Aaron Johnston, Dar, 19-8; 2. Ross Mangun, Flo, 19-1 1/2; 4. Reed Jenkins, Flo, 18-9; 6. Dylan Knox, Dar, 17-3.