Whitefish rolls at ARM

Whitefish senior Anto Daoud continued his reign as one of the top sprinters in Western Montana at the ARM track meet in Whitefish on Saturday by winning the 200 and setting a meet record in the 400. He also ran legs on the Bulldog's winning relay teams to help Whitefish earn 68 points and fourth place among 16 teams at the meet.

On the girls side, the Lady Bulldogs used an all-around consistent performance to snag third place in the meet with 80 points. They finished behind Glacier and Polson, which posted 128.5 points and 111.5 points respectively.

"We put our best foot forward for the community," Bulldog coach Derek Schulz said. "We ran great and I'm really pleased with the times. I think we gained some confidence as a team as a whole."

Through gusts of wind and intermittent rain showers, Daoud put down a 50.16 in the 400 to break the previous meet record of 22.45 set by Whitefish's Cody Henning in 2004. He edged Patric Jessat of Columbia Falls by nearly half a second to take the race. Bulldog sprinter Iaian Cameron was strong in the race, too, finishing fourth with a 52.61.

In the 200, Daoud blew away the competition with a 22.45, which was 0.70 faster than Kody Berget of Libby.

The Whitefish boys dominated both of the relays, besting Bigfork in the 400 and upsetting meet-favorite Columbia Falls in the 1,600. The Bulldogs team of Daniel Simmons, Derek Crittenden, Cameron and Daoud posted a 44.64 in the 400, while Kalin Hale, Logan Harwood, Cameron and Daoud won the 1,600 with a 3:30.11 — two seconds faster than the Wildcats.

"The relays went really well," Schulz said. "It's kind of a trademark for our team. Our 1,600 time is starting to come down, and we expect it to drop more."

The Bulldogs put two sprinters in the finals of the 110 hurdles, with Crittenden taking first place and John Joern coming in fifth. Crittenden posted a 15.46, just ahead of Reiley Winnebrenner of Hot Springs.

The long-distance runners anchored the girls team again, with Carly Schwickert taking the 800 ahead of teammate Jessica Sagen. Schwickert won with a 2:29.15, while Sagen crossed the finish line about three seconds later for second place.

Sagen came in third in the 1,600 against a tough field that featured Polson's Mesa Starkey, who won with a 5:36. Sagen tallied a 5:43, with teammate Bailey Eaton on her heels, finishing a second back in fourth place.

Loni Hanson was strong in the 3,200 as usual, taking fourth with a 12:44.

In the hurdles, Megan Apple went up against a stacked field featuring Polson's Breanne Kelly and managed to come away with two second-place finishes. Apple posted a 16.89 in the 110 hurdles and a 49.28 in the 300 hurdles to cap off an impressive meet for the senior.

Whitefish sophomore Amanda Foley has proven to be one of the fastest sprinters in the league, as she took third in the 100 and fourth in the 200.

"Amanda is a high-quality sprinter," Schulz said. "When you look at the field on Saturday, she was running against girls with some of the fastest times in the state. She is right in there and is really competing. She'll be ready to go late in the season."

Cut Bank's Deni Fitzpatrick won both of the sprint events and set meet records in the process. She beat her own record in the 100 and broke the record set by former Lady Bulldog Courtney Ferda in the 200.

In a scheduling note, the Ken Good Invitational meet in Whitefish was canceled because of weather and will not be rescheduled. Whitefish travels to Flathead for the Archie Roe meet on Saturday.