The last time a team other than the Corvallis girls stood atop the podium at the state Class A track meet with a first place trophy was 2010. The Blue Devils kept that streak going this year, claiming one more first place trophy as they outdistanced second place Columbia Falls by 34 points. Hamilton finished third with 59 points. Stevensville finished with 15 points.
Katelyn Frost powered the Blue Devils with four first place finishes. The speedster claimed first in the 100, 200, 400 and then went flying in the pole vault. She also ran the anchor in the winning 400 relay. Frost beat Jaree Mane of Lewistown in all three races: the 100, 200 and 400. Frost’s time in the 100 was 12.55 compared to Mane’s time of 12.65. In the 200, Frost clocked a 25.75 narrowly edging Mane who had a 12.65. Frost’s time in the 400 was 58:64 while Mane had 58:99. Frost cleared 11’3” to win the pole vault.
Two other girls from Corvallis also won gold. Jane Booth repeated as the high jump champion. She cleared the bar at 5’1” to repeat as champion. Teammate Mary Royce finished sixth in that event, clearing the bar at 4’10”. Booth also finished second in the discus with a throw of 118’10”. Brookelyn Palin was fifth with a throw of 115’. Lauren Emter of Livingston won the discus with a throw of 129’2”. Zena Smith was the final Blue Devil to claim the top spot on a podium. She threw the javelin 135’1”, just under seven feet farther than second place.
The Blue Devils had several other athletes who earned placed in the top six places in different events. Penny Jessop was sixth in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 12:94. She was also sixth in the 200 with a time of 26.73. Hannah Gale was fifth in the 100 with a time of 12.93. Gale, Penny Jessop, Hayley Jessop and Frost made up the winning 400-relay team. They clocked a 50.08 to win the event. The 1,600 Blue Devil relay team finished sixth behind Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Belgrade, Laurel and Dillon. In the distance events, Amelia Gardner was third in the 800 with 2:22.15, sixth in the 1,600 with a time of 5:27.56, and fifth in the 3,200 with a time of 11:53.32. (The 800 and the 3,200 are run on the same day so it’s quite an accomplishment.) Joining Gardner on the podium for the 3,200 were Isabella Pape who finished fourth with a time of 11:48.06 and Albany Jessop who was sixth with a time of 12.05.74.
The Corvallis boys edged out Whitefish for the state championship. Corvallis finished with 74 points and Whitefish had 70. Stevensville was fifth with 31 points and Hamilton finished in 10th place with 24 points.
Taylor Sylvester won the 200 with a time of 22.03. The Blue Devil was fourth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.26. Keaton Grove of Whitefish won with a time of 14.99. Sylvester finished second in the 400 behind Stevensville’s Jadin Casey. Casey clocked a 49.37. Sylvester’s time was 49.88.
Jesse Sims won the shot put with a throw of 53’10 ½”. Jayce Gilder finished third with a throw of 51’ ¼”. Sims was second in the discus. He tossed the discus 153’6”. Marcus Ferriter of Butte Central won with a distance of 157’3”.
In the javelin, Tyler Olsen finished in second place with a throw of 189’11”. Luke May of Whitefish won with 194’9”. Ronald Venema was fourth in the 3,200 with a time of 10:05.8. Jonathan of Belgrade won with a fast time of 9:48.56. Caleb Koerner finished second in the pole vault with a vault of 13’6”. Anaconda’s Ethan Blume won with 14’8”. Corvallis’ 1,600-relay team was nipped at the line by Whitefish and finished second.
The Hamilton girls finished in third place. Annika Moore won the long jump with a leap of 16’10 ¾”. Riley Rostad was third in that event with 16’5 ¼”. Moore was second in the triple jump with a leap of 36’10”, just five inches shy of Columbia Falls’ Carla Nicosia’s effort. Jaycie Schmalz led the Bronc distance runners with a second place in the 1,600 and in the 3,200. Her time in the 1,600 was 5:20.02 and her time in the 3,200 was 11:39.04. Kaitlin Stromberg was right behind her with a fourth place in the 1,600 (5:24.26), and a third place in the 3,200 (11:45.04). Lyric Derives finished sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:24.08. Kacia Guisinger jumped 4’10” to take fourth in the high jump. Ceci Collins vaulted 10’ to claim fifth in the pole vault. Taylor Bess was sixth in that event with a vault of 9’6”.
Hamilton’s boys finished tenth. Kyle Crossman was second in the 100 with a time of 11.20. Jed Nagler of Whitefish won with a time of 11.15. Karill Apedaile was third in the 800 with a time of 1:58.23. Cameron Meikle was fifth in the 1,600 with 4:32.85. He was third in the 3,200 with 10:02.56. Aiden Carmody took sixth in the pole vault with a vault of 13’.
Stevensville’s Jadin Casey was a double winner. He won the 400 with a time of 49.37. He also edged out teammate and defending state champion Daniel Pendergast in the 300 hurdles. Casey’s time was 39.43 while Pendergast’s time was 40.27. The 1,600-relay team finished sixth. John Diepstraten threw the javelin a personal best of 170’11” and finished fifth.
The Stevensville girls finished with 14 points. Mariah Hinson was third in the triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 34’ 3 ¼”. She was also sixth in the shot put with a throw of 119’6”. Megan Pendergast finished second in the 300 hurdles. She had a time of 47.49. Holly Andersen of Dillon won the event with a time of 45.49.