Brennan, Stoltz lead thinclads to state meet

By JOE SOVA/Hungry Horse News

Fourteen boys and 11 girls on the Columbia Falls High School teams qualified for the Class A State Track and Field Championships this weekend in Bozeman by their performances at the divisional meet on Friday and Saturday in Whitefish.

Teamwise, the Wildcat boys finished in fourth place, as did the Wildkat girls.

Whitefish took the boys team title with 150 points. Polson was second with 96, followed by Libby with 88, Columbia Falls 84, Bigfork 72 and Ronan-St. Ignatius 37.

Polson was the girls favorite, but Whitefish came out on top for the divisional title with 151 points. Polson had 142, Bigfork 70, Columbia Falls 62, Ronan-St. Ignatius 54 and Libby 50.

The top five in each individual and relay event qualified for state.

CFHS coach Jamie Heinz said that nearly every athlete had a personal best at the divisional meet.

Steven Brennan was the Cats' lone event champion. He won the javelin with an effort of 169 feet, 3 inches. That was close to his PR of 172 feet he had the previous weekend in Polson.

Stephen Baumgartner earned second in the 100 with a time of 11.30 seconds.

"That was pretty impressive," Heinz said. "It was a great race for him."

Nathan Klug was second in the discus (149-7) and third in the shot put (44-0).

Shawn Whitman qualified for state in the three distance events. The sophomore was third in the 3,200-meter run (10:42.39), fourth in the 1,600 (4:50.00) and fifth in the 800 (2:06.70). He had personal bests in all three races.

"That's something that's not easily done," Heinz said of Whitman qualifying in all three events, and he said Whitman could be the first Cat to ever do so in the same year.

The Cats have three state qualifiers in the triple jump. Austin Robbins was third (40-9 1/2), Dean Phillips fourth (40-1 3/4) and Nate Thompson fifth (39-9 1/2). It was a PR by two feet for Thompson, who is just a freshman.

"That's a great accomplishment on their part," Heinz said.

Chase Fairbank cleared 6-2 to finish third in the high jump.

"He had three really good attempts at 6-4," Heinz said, and that Fairbank should get that height on Friday at the state meet.

Fairbank, Baumgartner, John Woody and Scott Palmer teamed for third in the 400 relay (44.70). Brennan, Michael Kruse, Woody and Kaleb Johnson were fourth in the 1,600 relay (3:36.65). Woody ran the race in place of Patric Jessat in that race, and Heinz said Jessat will be back in the group for state.

Palmer, the only returnee to state among the Cat boys, qualified in the 100 with a fourth-place finish (11.43). He was sixth in the 200 (23.46). Palmer, a senior, was third in the 100 and 200 at state last year.

Jessat was fourth in the 3,200 (10:44.03) to qualify, as did Brandon Calvert with a fifth in the pole vault (11-6). Justin Livingston was sixth at divisionals in the discus (126-9).

EMILY STOLTZ PLACED second at divisionals in the 100 hurdles in 15.90, a PR by two seconds. That gives her the second best time in the state in Class A in the event.

"It was outstanding," Heinz said of Stoltz's effort. "She was fast and on rhythm. She put speed with it."

Stoltz tied for fourth with teammate Ketti Wilhelm in the high jump (4-10). Wilhelm was second in the pole vault (9-0), but Stoltz was unable to qualify for state in that event. Stoltz was fifth at state in 2007 in the vault.

Alyssa Ladenburg was second in the long jump (15-1 1/2). Sam Ladenburg is off to state in two events, placing third in the shot put (33-6) and discus (95-6). Anna Downen was fourth in the discus (94-2). Back from a knee injury, Jylisa Fields was fourth in the long jump (14-9 1/4). Colyne Hislop was fifth in the triple jump (32-2 1/2).

Stoltz, Wilhelm, Alyssa Ladenburg and Sophia Lewis-Peterson were third in the 400 relay in 51.70, a season's best by two seconds. The 1,600 relay quartet of Nikki Elek, Ashli Fairbank, Tianna Burns and Stoltz placed fifth to qualify. Burns filled in for Hislop, who sprained an ankle on her last attempt in the long jump. Their time of 4:15.82 was a season's best by eight seconds, according to Heinz.

"Those were pretty outstanding marks for us," Heinz said.

Ashli Fairbank placed sixth in 800 (2:27.07) and 1,600 (5:49.15).

The state meet begins at 9 a.m. Friday at Van Winkle Stadium in Bozeman. The meet concludes with the 1,600 relay, which begins at 3:50 p.m.

Heinz expects considerable individual success at the state meet.

"We have a lot of individuals who can do some things," he said. "We're still young. I want them to go and have the experience of state track and build on that, to have a hunger to be there in the future. That desire is what I'm hoping for out of that track meet."