Manhattan, Choteau claim Class B crowns

No athletic competition would be complete without a few upsets, new records and a little drama. Saturday at Legends Stadium in Kalispell for the final events of the 2009 Montana State Class B track meet was no different.

When the dust settled, the Choteau girls claimed the overall team title with 45 points, followed by Florence-Carlton with 38 and Malta at 37.5. The Thompson Falls girls finished fifth with 34 points, while Eureka finished with eight points.

"I will tell you straight up that we didn't really come here expecting to win a state title," said head Choteau coach Blair Patton. "We thought it was' possible, and we peaked at the right time. We didn't have a single individual gold medal, so it was just a total team effort."

The Manhattan boys claimed their second consecutive team title with 64 points, followed by Glasgow with 43.33 and Troy at 32. The Plains boys finished fourth with 28 and Eureka came in ninth with 24.

"We knew we could have a chance if we had a real solid day," said Manhattan head coach Ed Royce just before his kids dumped a bucket of icy water on his back. "We took care of business."

The excitement started early as the Cut Bank girls 400-meter relay team broke the state Class B record by .03 seconds with a time of 49.89. The old record was set by Fort Benton in 2000.

Cut Bank sophomore Deni Fitzpatrick ran the third leg in that historic relay final, and she wasn't finished getting her hardware. A few hours later she won the state championship in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.51. She then claimed yet another title in the 200-meter dash with a blazing 25.16, only .35 seconds slower than the Class B record.

"I just came here to have fun," Fitzpatrick said with a grin. "It wasn't my best time because the wind was in my face, but I'm happy with how well our team is doing."

Meanwhile, an epic battle was heating up in the boys high-jump competition. Troy's Aaron Palmer was locked in a showdown with Dillon Fryxell of Plains.

Both athletes had managed to clear 6-6 and now the bar was at 6-7. Palmer knocked the bar off on his first two tries, and had to walk in circles to clear his head for his third and final try. Fryxell nailed his 6-7 jump on his first try.

Finally, Palmer let loose and heaved himself clear of the bar as the stadium went wild. Fryxell just stood with his hands on his hips and watched, shaking his head and grinning when Palmer cleared.

At 6-8, Palmer was already three inches past his personal best. He gave it his all, but barely rattled the pole just enough to knock it loose on all three tries. Fryxell summoned all his strength and cleared 6-8 on his second attempt, claiming the state championship. Fryxell attempted to tie the state record at 6-9, but couldn't quite muster enough height. He had to wait several minutes in nervous anticipation before he jumped while officials found the steel tape that is used to measure state records.

"I wasn't warmed up enough," Fryxell said. "I'm a little disappointed but I'll take the state title."

Palmer, however, wasn't done racking up points for his team. He came out of nowhere to claim the state championship in the triple jump with 42-5.75.

"That is my personal best," Palmer said after his winning jump. "Like I said, I've had a rough year, but I'm happy I'm doing better when it counts at the state meet."

Palmer's teammate Scotty Harper finished fifth in the triple jump with 40-6.5.

Chad Price of Eureka took third place in the 100 with 11.55, just behind Shade Theriault of Broadwater in second place (11.45) and state champion Josh Neumiller of Glasgow (11.33). Price also took fourth in the 200-meter dash (23.00).

Trent Thompson of Plains took fourth in the shot put (47-8.5).

On the girls side, Kellee Glaus of Whitehall set a new Class B record in the triple jump with a 37-5 mark. The old standard was set by Heather Tweet of Conrad in 1990 (36-5.25).

Another nice little story was senior Margaret Cobb of Cascade bringing home a state championship for her tiny school in the high jump (5-2).

"I'm just glad I could help my team bring home a trophy," she said. "I'm excited."

Maria Mora of Thompson Falls finished third in the 100 hurdles (16.70), just ahead of her teammate Rheanna Padden in fifth (16.93).

"She beat me once in the 100," Mora said with a grin. "We both drive each other to compete."

BOYS

Team Scores - Manhattan (MAN) 64, Glasgow (GLA) 43, Troy (TRO) 32, Huntley Project (HUN) 29, Plains (PLA) 28, Colstrip (COLS) 26, Broadwater (BRO) 25, Fairfield (FAI) 24, Lincoln County (LIN) 24, Columbus (COLUM) 23, Red Lodge (RED) 22, Powell County (POW) 21, Three Forks (THR) 20.33, Fort Benton (FORT) 18.33, Baker (BAK) 16, Powder River County (PRC) 16, Thompson Falls (THO) 15, Darby (DAR) 14, Forsyth (FORS) 12, Loyola Sacred Heart (LOY) 10, Shelby (SHEL) 10, Shepherd (SHEP) 8, Florence-Carlton (FLO) 7, Cascade (CAS) 6, Cut Bank (CUT) 6, Malta (MAL) 3, Plentywood (PLE) 2, Sweet Grass County (SWE) 2.

Individual

100 - 1, Josh Neumiller, GLA, 11.33; 2, Shade Theriault, BRO, 11.45; 3, Chad Price, LIN, 11.55; 4, Justin Smith, PRC, 11.61; 5, Eric Buer, HUN, 11.739; 6, Matthew Brookie, MAL, 11.74;

200 - 1, Casey Nickol, SHE, 22.33; 2, Josh Neumiller, GLA, 22.53; 3, Shade Theriault, BRO, 22.72; 4, Chad Price, LIN, 23.00; 5, Justin Smith, PRC, 23.15; 6, Nate Debruycker, COLUM, 23.19.

800 - 1, Chris Jones, FORT, 1:56.19; 2, Tanner Johnson, SHE, 1:56.72; 3, Chase Robinson, COLS, 1:57.86; 4, Matt Swan, MAN, 1:58.81; 5, Stephen Block, THO, 1:59.84; 6, Pres Harris, PLE, 2:00.32.

3200 - 1, Mike Asay, MAN, 9:45.36; 2, Todd Blythe, COLS, 9:52.39; 3, Jager Warner, BRO, 10:07.91; 4, Kyle Loewen, GLA, 10:14.51; 5, Ryan Blomback, MAN, 10:17.05; 6, Mike Evans, LOY, 10:17.51.

110 hurdles - 1, Mick Miller, FAI, 15.18; 2, Jeff Mohl, RED, 15.30; 3, Tanner Varner, BAK, 15.79; 4, Michael Moore, COLUM, 15.92; 5, Ehtan Shevela, COLUM, 15.92; 6, Brendan King, POW, 15.94.

400 relay - 1, MAN, 43.96; 2, GLA, 44.14; 3, BAK, 44.18; 4, THR, 44.41; 5, FORS, 44.42; 6, BRO, 44.68.

1,600 relay - 1, COLUM, 3:28.92; 2, MAN, 3:29.59; 3, HUN, 3:30.87; 4, GLA, 3:32.36; 5, FORT, 3:33.47; 6, MAL, 3:33.88.

High Jump - 1, Dillon Fryxell, PLA, 6-8; 2, Aaron Palmer, TRO, 6-7; 3, Alex Mitchell, FLO, 6-2; 4, Jeff Mohl, RED, 6-2; 5, Mick Miller, FAI, 6-2; 6, Lars Sorensen, GLA, 6-0; 6, Chris Jones, FORT, 6-0; 6, Mike Camarillo, THR, 6-0.

Shot Put - 1, Trevor Gilreath, HUN, 52-11.5; 2, Zach Balcom, LOY, 51-6; 3, Andy Walters, DAR, 48-2; 4, Trent Thompson, PLA, 47-8.5; 5, Kyland Santos, BRO, 47-1; 6, Brandon Arlian, SWE, 45- 10.25.

Triple Jump - 1, Aaron Palmer, TRO, 42-5.75; 2, Mike Camarillo, THR, 42-5.25; 3, Slade Allen, FAI, 41-8; 4, Tanner Varner, BAK, 41-2; 5, Scotty Harper, TRO, 40-6.5; 6, Reed Jenkins, FLO, 40-3.5.

GIRLS

Team Totals' Choteau (CHO) 45, Florence-Carlton (FLO) 38, Malta (MAL) 37.50, Loyola Sacred Heart (LOY) 36, Whitehall (WHI) 36, Thompson Falls (THO) 34, Darby (DAR) 32, Cut Bank (CUT) 30, Plentywood (PLE) 30, Three Forks (THR) 25.5, Columbus (COLUM) 20, Colstrip (COLS) 18, Broadwater (BRO) 17.5, Cascade (CAS) 16, Glasgow (GLA) 15, Shepherd (SHE) 14, Wolf Point (WOL) 12, Huntley Project (HUN) 9, Red Lodge (RED) 9, Roundup (ROU) 9, Manhattan Christian (MAN C) 8.5, Lincoln County (LIN) 8, Manhattan (MAN) 8, Fort Benton (FOR) 6, Sweet Grass County (SWE) 5, Harlem (HAR) 4, Powder River County (PRC) 2, Fairfield (FAI) 1, Troy (TRO) 1.

Individual

100 - 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, CUT, 12.51; 2, Haley Sobrero, COLUM, 12.9; 3, Haley Thompson, PLE, 12.95; 4, Ladean Richardson, THR, 13.08; 5, Kaitlyn Wurning, HUN, 13.16; 6, Kellee Glaus, WHI, 13.3;

200 - 1, Deni Fitzpatrick, CUT, 25.16; 2, Haley Sobrero, COLUM, 25.53; 3, Haley Thompson, PLE, 25.8; 4, Katie Niemeir, FLO, 25.84; 5, Ladean Richardson, THR, 25.91; 6, Kaitlyn Wurning, HUN, 26.06.

1,600 - 1, Heather Demorest, DAR, 5:15.20; 2, Chloe Palakovich, WHI, 5:20.82; 3, Jordan Audet, BRO, 5:28.20; 4, Mariah Renteria, CHO, 5:29.33; 5, Jami Johnson, GLA, 5:31.32; 6, Selene Johnson, SWE, 5:31.68.

100 hurdles - 1, Katie Niemeir, FLO, 15.13; 2, Emily Douma, MAN, 16.33; 3, Maria Mora, THO, 16.7; 4, Marissa McCormick, CHO, 16.82; 5, Lexi Daley, CHO, 16.83; 6, Rheanna Padden, THO, 16.93.

300 hurdles - 1, Katie Neimeir, FLO, 44.83; 2, Marissa McCormick, CHO, 47.91; 3, Maria Mora, THO, 48.05; 4, Rheanna Padden, THO, 48.19; 5, Kortnee Barrett, RED, 48.37; 6, Quinn Viara, GLA, 48.91.

400 relay - 1, CUT, 49.89; 2, MAL, 51.00; 3, HUN, 51.18; 4, THR, 51.67; 5, WOL, 51.84; 6, FLO, 51.98.

1,600 relay - 1, MAL, 4:07.96; 2, WOL, 4:11.91; 3, FORT, 4:16.19; 4, COLUM, 4:16.41; 5, PLE, 4:17.01; 6, THR, 4:18.13.

Javelin - 1, Trina West, COLS, 136-11; 2, Ashley Vandaloh, CHO, 136-9; 3, Kiernan Haggerty, LOY, 126-7; 4, Rheanna Padden, THO, 125-8; 5, Mandi Spoklie, PLE, 124-5; 6, Maria Cress, DAR, 122-10.

Triple Jump - 1, Kellee Glalus, WHI, 37-.5; 2, Ashley Vandolah, CHO, 34-7; 3, Jordan Pfau, LOY, 33-6.25; 4, Samantha Mellinger, CHO, 32-11.25; 5, Lynsie Williams, BRO, 32-6.5"; 6, Rachel Wetzsteon, DAR, 32-3.75;

High Jump - 1, Margaret Cobb, CAS, 5-2; 2, Hunter Borner, ROU, 5-0; 2, Kortnee Barrett, RED, 5-0; 4, Tiffany Wetzel, GLA, 5-0; 5, Jennifer Weaver, MAl, 4-10; 5, Delaware Hansen, BRO, 4-10.

Shot Put - 1, Christina Medeiros, LOY, 38-8.25; 2, Brook Berg, MAl, 38-7.5; 3, Ashley Medeiros, LOY, 34-1.5; 4, Amy Ostermiller, SHE, 36-4.25; 5, Maria Cress, DAR, 34-7.75; 6, Allison Stadstad, PLE, 34-.5;