Whitefish qualifies a conference-high 26 members for state

By DAVID ERICKSON/Whitefish Pilot

Although it was clear and sunny the whole time, both the Whitefish boys and girls track and field teams stormed to first place finishes while hosting the 2008 Northwestern A divisional meet over the weekend.

The Bulldog boys (151 points) battled back from an early deficit to upset last year's champs, the Polson Pirates (142 points) by a nose to claim the title. The Lady Bulldogs (150 points) also came from behind to easily out-distance the second-place Lady Pirates (96 points) to claim their fourth-straight divisional crown.

The Bulldogs will be sending 13 boys and 13 girls to the state meet in Bozeman this weekend, the most of any team in the conference. Many of them will be competing in multiple events.

Whitefish had seven individual event champions at the divisional meet. For the girls, Lauren Kuennen blew away the competition in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:22:49. Ashley Ferda took first in the 100 hurdles at 14:97, and she also took the title in the javelin throw with a 132-6.

For the boys, Colt Idol came out of nowhere to take first in the high jump with a 6-6, beating out Libby star Seth Wright. It was the first time he had ever cleared 6-6, and he had fewer misses than Wright. Drew Coco took first in the 3,200 with a time of 9:51:22, beating Logan Torgison of Polson.

Kuennen and Coco, who have dominated distance running in the conference all year, both broke Whitefish school records they already held in the 1,600 on Friday. Coco's time was a blazing 4:24.2, while Kuennen posted a 5:18.17..

"It's hot out here, but I felt pretty good. I just went all out," Coco said, dripping sweat after the race.

Seth Wiley took first in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.79, and Aaron Tkachyk took first in the long jump at 21-2, beating out teammate Willie Roche.

The Whitefish boys (Dalton Rice, Tkachyk, Tyler Mason and Anto Daoud) took first in the 400-meter relay

However, it wasn't just the outstanding performance of the usual stars that allowed the Bulldogs to dominate. It was numerous second, third and even fourth-place finishes that slowly built up the point-total for Whitefish, and head coach Derek Schulz is keenly aware of how his unheralded kids stepped up.

"The meet went great. We were up against some excellent competition," he said. "We had our boys qualify in 16 out of 17 events, and we had our girls qualify in 15 out of 17, so we were earning points all over the place."

To qualify for state, the kids had to place in the top-five in their individual events.

"Divisional track meets are always intense," Schulz said. "On the boys side, I thought there were three or four teams that could have won it if they had a great meet, and we did. We had a great meet. Guys like Anto Daoud and Willie Roche came on strong for us, to name a few."

The future looks good for Whitefish track, as several freshman girls stepped up big time for their team. Carly Schwickert, Bailey Eaton, Stella Holt and Olivia Nagler all qualified in multiple events, and all are in their first year of high school.

"These girls showed a lot of heart," Schulz said. "They were just stellar."

Schulz said that although Idol hadn't jumped 6-6 in a meet before, he wasn't exactly surprised when the junior pulled it off at the home meet to come through for the team.

"(Idol) is a competitor," Schulz said. "He's been put in those pressure situations before, and he came through."

Schulz said Coco, who is an early favorite for the state championship in the 3,200, will face some tough competition in Bozeman.

"He'll have great competition, like Torgison from Polson, but the good thing is he's been in tough races all year," Schulz said.

Schulz said he expects big things from his girls team, especially from Kuennen and Ferda.

"It's going to be good to bring a big crew down to the state meet, and we're excited," he said.

The 2008 Montana State Track and Field Meet begins Thursday in Bozeman.

Girls Team Results:

Whitefish 151, Polson 142, Bigfork 70, Columbia Falls 60, Ronan-St. Ignatius 54, Libby 50.

100 - 2, Ashley Ferda, 13.30; 3; 4, Carly Schwickert, 13.47

200 - 4, Heather Melcer, 27.57

800 - 1, Lauren Kuennen, 2:22.49; 2, Carly Schwickert, 2:25.26; 4, Stella Holt, 2:25.60

1,600 - 1, Lauren Kuennen (school record), 5:18.57; 3, Stella Hold, 5:34.20; 4, Bailey Eaton, 5:36.00; 5, Clare Miller, 5:42.43

3,200 - 2, Lauren Kuennen, 12:20.98; 3, Bailey Eaton, 12:22.77; 4, Clare Miller, 12:24.44; 5, Loni Hanson, 12:25.16; 6, Jackie Cassidy, 12:27.74

100 hurdles - 1, Ashley Ferda, 14.97; 6, Jade Hansen, 17.21

300 hurdles - 5, Ariel Ducote, 48.31

1,600 relay - 4, Whitefish, 4:15.18

Javelin - 1, Ashley Ferda, 132-6; 2, Olivia Nagler, 114-2

Discus - 2, Olivia Nagler, 100-4

Long jump - 3, Hailey Farmin, 15-0 3/4

Triple jump - 3, Heather Melcer, 32-6

Pole vault - 4, Alexa Day, 8-0

Boys Team Results:

Whitefish 150, Polson 96, Libby 88, Columbia Falls 84, Bigfork 72, Ronan-St. Ignatius 37

100 - 3, Anto Daoud, 11.38; 5, Tyler Mason, 11.54; 6, Aaron Tkachyk, 11.57

200 - 3, Anto Daoud, 22.99; 5, Aaron Tkachyk, 23.44

800 - 2, Drew Coco, 1:57.30; 3, Michael Samdahl, 2:04.70

1,600 - 1, Drew Coco, (school record) 4:22.77

3,200 - 1, Drew Coco, 9:51.22

110 hurdles - 4, Seth Wiley, 16.64

300 hurdles - 1, Seth Wiley, 41.79; 4, Tyler Mason, 42.71; 6, Willie Roche, 44.09

400 relay - 1, Whitefish (Dalton Rice, Aaron Tkachyk, Tyler Mason, Anto Daoud)

1,600 relay - 2, Whitefish, 3:34.18

High jump - 1, Colt Idol, 6-6; 5. Willie Roche, 5-10

Long jump - 1, Aaron Tkachyk, 21-2; 2, Willie Roche, 20-6 1/4

Shot put - 2, Kevin McDowell, 45-4

Discus - 4, Kevin McDowell, 132-6 1/2

Javelin - 5, Dustin Beck, 157-1; 6, Alex Elespuru, 148-5

Pole vault - 2, Kaleb Prestegaard, 12-0