Track teams do well in first meet of season

by TERESA BYRD
Staff Writer | April 14, 2021 9:55 AM

Columbia Falls track and field athletes had a good showing at the season opener time-trial triangular meet between the Wildcats, Eureka and AA Glacier at the Wolfpack’s field in Kalispell last Tuesday.

Columbia Falls topped the podium in seven events and took second place in 10 others, showing a competitiveness that, coupled with the team’s playfulness, heartened head coach Jamie Heinz.

“After having a year off and not doing track for a year, I love seeing the things that I tried to instill in our program; the kids competed hard and pushed themselves, and we’re having fun and enjoying being out there,” he said “...So that meant more to me than our marks, per se, for this time of year.”

The boys team was led by Allec Knapton who took first in both the discus and shot put. The girls team was led by Alexis Green who took first in the 400 meters, and by Lara and Siri Erikson who took first in the 1600 meters and 800 meters, respectively. The Lady Wildcats also took first place in the 1600 meters relay, run by the Erikson sisters and Hannah and Ally Sempf.

Columbia Falls opted out of Frenchtown’s Saturday invite, which was moved to Friday, due to what would have been a large gathering of schools that, according to guidelines, not only would have limited the number of athletes able to compete in each event, but would have increased exposure to the coronavirus.

“If we get one case of COVID-19 on our team, I don’t think we’ll ever get rid of it,” Heinz said. “And I don’t want to lose a season because we went to a meet that contained 20 schools.”

The Wildcats are scheduled to compete at the Flathead Invite on Tuesday after presstime followed by the Libby Invite at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 17.

Boys

200

1, Connor Sullivan, Glacier, 24.56. 2, Malaki Simpson, C.Falls, 24.81. 3, Isaiah Roth, C, Falls,25.39. 4, Wyatt Thomason, Glacier, 25.65.

400

1, Xavier Stout, Glacier, 53.03. 2, Jace Duval, C.Falls, 53.85. 3, Kole Johnson, Glacier, 56.33. 4, Ronnie Dalton, Glacier, 56.86.

800

1, Sam Ells, Glacier, 2:06.32. 2, Tyler Avery, Glacier, 2:12.75. 3, Bailey Sjostrom, C.Falls, 2:13.51. 4, Keaton Cassidy, Glacier, 2:19.84.

1600

1, Sam Ells, Glacier, 4:47.98. 2, Keaton Cassidy, Glacier, 5:17.38. 3, Ethan Strand, Glacier, 5:17.42. 4, Eli Mildren, Glacier, 5:22.36.

3200

1, Henry Cooke, Eureka, 11:04.95. 2, James Petersen, C.Falls, 12:37.72. 3, David Slama, C.Falls, 15:42.94.

110 hurdles

1, Caleb Bernhardt, Glacier, 17.02. 2, Richard Babcock, C.Falls, 19.54. 3, Stephen Crowder, Glacier, 19.60. 4, Levi Bachteler, C.Falls, 20.22.

300 hurdles

1, Caleb Bernhardt, Glacier, 42.98. 2, Stephen Crowder, Glacier, 47.15. 3, Bryce Dunham, C.Falls, 47.83. 4, Alex Hausmann, Glacier, 48.58.

400 relay

1, Glacier 44.79. 2, Glacier B 45.14. 3, Eureka 48.57.

1600 relay

1, Glacier 3:45.78. 2, Columbia Falls 3:55.86. 3, Glacier B 3:58.94. 4, Glacier C 3:59.32. 5, Eureka 4:01.54.

Discus

1, Allec Knapton, C.Falls, 140-8. 2, Aiden Krause, Glacier, 118-11. 3, Brock Fisher, C.Falls, 115-0. 4, Tyler Vanorny, Glacier, 107-11.

Javelin

1, Joseph Kindel, Eureka, 150-8. 2, Erik Junk, Glacier, 141-10. 3, Brock Fisher, C.Falls, 127-5. 4, Aiden Williams, Glacier, 113-2.

Shot put

1, Allec Knapton, C.Falls, 39-5. 2, Brock Fisher, C.Falls, 36-11.5. 3, Aiden Krause, Glacier, 36-1.5. 4, Henry Sellards, Glacier, 35-9.

High jump

1, Xavier Stout, Glacier, 5-8. 2, Caleb Utter, Eureka, 5-8. 3, Tate Kauffman, Glacier, 5-0. 4, Stephen Crowder, Glacier, 5-0.

Long jump

1, Jake Turner, Glacier, 20-3. 2, Wyatt Thomason, Glacier, 18-1. 3, Aiden Krause, Glacier, 17-4.5. 4, Benjamin Khodyrev, C.Falls, 17-0. .

Triple jump

1, Connor Sullivan, Glacier, 38-8. 2, Kale Mayhue, Glacier, 38-0.75. 3, Kaid Buls, Glacier, 38-0.50. 4, Bryce Dunham, C.Falls, 36-11.

Pole vault

1, Colter Casazza, Eureka, 12-10. 2, Joe Limberis, Glacier, 11-0. 3, Jackson Barney, Glacier, 11-0. 4, Finnian Coleman, C.Falls, 10-6.

GIRLS

100

1, Kiera Sullivan, Glacier, 13.85. 2, Noah Fincher, Glacier, 13.92. 3, Sidney Gulick, Glacier, 13.99. 4, Cheyanne Johnston-Heinz, C.Falls, 14.29. Auge, Columbia

200

1, Noah Fincher, Glacier, 28.84. 2, Ally Sempf, C.Falls, 28.87. 3, Maya Carvey, Eureka, 29.86. 4, Taylor Lancaster, Eureka, 31.15.

400

1, Alexis Green, C.Falls, 1:03.22. 2, Noah Fincher, Glacier, 1:04.00. 3, Ally Sempf, C.Falls, 1:04.15. 4, Lauren Wilson, Glacier, 1:08.18.

800 — 1, Siri Erickson, C.Falls, 2:38.60. 2, Taylor Lancaster, Eureka, 2:41.46. 3, Zephy Hanson, Glacier, 2:45.80. 3, Isabella Lane, Glacier, 2:45.80.

1600

1, Lara Erickson, C.Falls, 5:38.12. 2, Hannah Deck, Glacier, 6:21.37. 3, Isabella Lane, Glacier, 6:22.75. 4, Courtney Hoerner, C.Falls, 6:23.71.

100 hurdles

1, Taylor Brisendine, Glacier, 17.37. 2, Sidney Gulick, Glacier, 17.88. 3, Reagan Brisendine, Glacier, 19.52. 4, Julia Hagemeier, Glacier, 19.54.

300 hurdles

1, Sidney Gulick, Glacier, 49.65. 2, Taylor Brisendine, Glacier, 50.01. 3, Bailey Gable, Glacier, 52.76. 4, Reagan Brisendine, Glacier, 55.86.

400 relay

1, Eureka (Maya Carvey, Dana Melton , Remmi Stanger , Bella Webb), 58.62.

1600 relay

1, Columbia Falls (Lara Erickson, Siri Erickson, Hannah Sempf, Ally Sempf), 4:33.56. 2, Glacier 4:40.18. 3, Glacier 4:43.03.

Discus

1, Cameron Gilman, Glacier, 93-0.50. 2, Delanie Schultz, Glacier, 92-5.5.

3, McKenzie Mitchell, Glacier, 86-11.50. 4, Jenisha Green, Glacier, 83-3.

Javelin

1, Kenzie Williams, Glacier, 116-4. 2, Madysen Hoerner, C.Falls, 112-04. 3, Noah Fincher, Glacier, 91-8. 4, Bethany Sorensen, Glacier, 83-5.

Shot put

1, Cameron Gilman, Glacier, 33-5.5. 2, Emma Ritter, Glacier, 31-4. 3, Kenzie Williams, Glacier, 30-8. 4, Delanie Schultz, Glacier, 29-6.

High jump

1, Staisha Thomas, Glacier, 4-2. 2, Charlize Stafford, Glacier, 4-0.

Long jump

1, Taylor Brisendine, Glacier, 16-3. 2, Bethany Sorensen, Glacier, 14-1.25. 3, Stella Claridge, Glacier, n/a. 4, Carrie Gable, Glacier, 14-0.50.

Triple jump

1, Reagan Brisendine, Glacier, 31-10.75. 2, Alexis Green, C.Falls, 30-9.25. 3, Julia Martin, C.Falls, 30-6. 4, Karys Camp, Glacier, 30-5.25.

Pole vault

1, Bailey Auge, C.Falls, 7-6. 2 (tie), Gracie Mee, C.Falls, and Julia Martin, C.Falls, 6-6. 4, Kate Hatfield, C.Falls, 6-6.