The Darby girls brought home the second place plaque from the Western C Divisional Track Meet on Saturday. They powered through in the final event of the meet, the 1,600 relay, to claim second behind Seeley-Swan in not only the race but also the team scoring. The relay team had to place well in the final two events if they were going to bring home some hardware and they did.
Distance runner Lily Lang came through in the 3,200, placing fourth with a time of 11:57.20 behind the record setting pace of West Yellowstone’s Bailey Parker who clocked an 11:25.03 to win the event. Meanwhile, in the field events, Tori Johnston broke her own personal record in the long jump with a leap of 15’6 ½ inches to place fifth and give Darby some more points.
Then it all came down to the long relay. Johnston and Lang had to dig deep as they had the first two laps. They did their job and kept the Tigers in striking distance of the Seeley team. Speedster Keely Ehmann had the third leg. She had already competed in the 100 and 200 finals. Ehmann’s 400-meter lap put Darby in second and then it was up to Sarai McCollaum to finish the race. McCollaum too, had competed earlier, in the grueling 300-meter hurdles where she placed fourth. McCollaum kept the pace Ehmann had set and gutted her way to the finish line. Darby finished with a time of 4:18.1, just ahead of Charlo and in second place. Seeley won the event with a record setting time of 4:08.06.
On Friday, the 400-relay team finished second, behind Charlo (51.57). Darby clocked a 51.99. Ehmann finished second in the 400 with a time of 60.20. Paige Holmes of Seeley-Swan won with a 59.28. Lang was third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:31.77. Parker also won that event with a record setting time of 5:10.84.Mia Pederson was third in the high jump with 4’10”.
Joe Caicedo will also be advancing to the state track meet this weekend in Great Falls. Caicedo won the javelin with a throw of 158 feet even. He was second in the shot put with a put of 47’9 3/4”.
Victor’s Zac Agee was also an event winner. He won the long jump with a leap of 20’10”, the second longest leap by a Class C athlete this year according to montanatrack.com. Agee was second in the triple jump with 43’6 ½”, just four and a half inches short of first place. Nate Bishop will advance to state in three events. He was third in the javelin with a throw of 152’5”, fourth in the 300 hurdles, and sixth in the long jump with 20’ ½”. Greg Charlton was sixth in the javelin with a throw of 142-4. Carlyjean Conley was second in the discus with a throw of 113’1”. Hanley of Alberton won with a throw of 120’9”.
The top five finishers in the track meet will advance to Great Falls for the state Class C meet.
Florence will be sending athletes to the State Class B meet in Butte this weekend. Connor Thorn was the only boy to qualify. He placed fifth in the high jump with 5’10”. Sandry of Bigfork won with 6’4”.
Tess Porch will advance in the 100 and the 200. She was fourth in the 100 and fifth in the 200. Alexis Taulbee was fourth in the 100 hurdles and sixth in the 300 hurdles. (Class B sends the top six finishers on to state.) Autumn Round was sixth in the long jump. The 400-relay team will also advance. They finished fourth.