Superior’s Allen Ryan claims 3,200 win at Mid-Week meet

With district championships getting underway this weekend, last week was the final chance for several rained out or delayed events to do their thing in the world of Montana high school track and field.

One such event was the Frenchtown Mid-Week Invitational meet last Wednesday.

Just four schools attended the mini-meet, but for those schools and athletes it was an important last ditch tune-up opportunity as track’s version of the playoffs begins this weekend.

Host Frenchtown, a Class A school, dominated the competition that also attracted Superior, St. Regis and Darby.

The Frenchtown men and women both won team titles, with the men beating second place Superior 243.5 to 141.5.

In the women’s competition, the Lady Broncs racked up 303.5 points while runner up Superior had 192.5

Darby was third in both categories, and St. Regis finished fourth.

But despite the lopsided team totals, the meet was a good chance for every athlete involved to get one final chance to measure where they stand as the regular season comes to an end. The Bronc men dominated the running events, with top two finishes in all but the distance runs.

Superior’s Allen Ryan interrupted the Frenchtown stampede with his victory in the 3,200 meter distance test. Frenchtown’s Bentley McGraw was second and Superior teammates Conrad Talbot and Henry Hansen, both eighth graders, were third and fourth. The Bobcats also got third and fourth place finishes in the 100 meter sprint, as senior Decker Milender posted a personal best time of 12.14 to finish third, just ahead of teammate Trizten Avila, who was fourth with a time of 12.16.

Avila also placed sixth in the 200 meter run with a PR time of 24.99 seconds.

Frenchtown swept the first five places in the men’s 400 meter event, with Superior eighth grader Gannon Quinlan coming in sixth. The Bobcats also got third place finishes in the 800 and 1600 meter runs, as freshman Tucker Donaldson was third in the 1600 and junior Micah Acker was third in the 800 event.

St. Regis hurdler Nathan Bohn, a freshman, was fourth in the 300 meter hurdles as part of a solid showing by the Tigers.

Superior won the men’s 4X400 relay race, and Jaxon Green took home first in the shot put with a personal best throw of 46-02, more than five feet better than Frenchtown’s Turner Waldron who was second with a heave of 40-09. Green also finished fourth in the discus, while teammate Wathen Reese won the javelin with a personal record throw of 131-01.50. Teammate Jason Merrill was third.

St. Regis javelin thrower Hunter Stolla finished seventh with a throw of 104-02, also a PR. Stolla added an eleventh place throw in the shot put to his day’s work for the Tigers.

St. Regis high jumpers also had a good day, as two freshmen finished in the top four in the event won by Frenchtown’s Cody Lamoreux who cleared the bar at 5-10. Tigers jumper Barrett Bassette was second with a leap of 5-2, while teammate Conner Lulis took fourth after clearing 4-08.

Superior dominated the men’s pole vault event, as junior Lucas Kovalsky finished first at 12 feet even. Milender was second with a vault of 11 feet, while vaulters Hanson, Quinlan and Ryan tied for third at 9 feet.

Frenchtown swept the top three places in the long jump, which was won by Carter White following his leap of 22-02. The Bobcats Landon Richards was fourth with a personal best jump of 18-03, while teammate Turner Milender was sixth. St. Regis freshman Lulis took fifth.

Avila was third in the triple jump for Superior, while Frenchtown swept the top two spots.

In the women’s 100 meters, St. Regis freshman Jamie Kearby continued her promising season by finishing second in the race at 13.92, less than half a second behind race winner Alexis Daigle of Frenchtown. Kearby then won the women’s 200 meter sprint with a time of 28.60, while Lady Tigers teammate Kyla Bush was fifth. Bush also finished second in the women’s 400 meter run.

Superior sophomore Braelynn Mangold captured second in the 800 meter run, just behind first place Lily Adair from Darby. Adair also won the 1600 meter and 3200 meter events for Darby, while Superior runners Akasha Azure and Haley Kruger finished second and third in the 3200 event.

Darby hurdlers took the top two spots in the women’s 100 meter hurdles, with third place going to Alysha Ryan of Superior, who also finished second in the 300 meter hurdles.

In the women’s field events, Superior’s Eddy Betts was second in the shot put, just ahead of St. Regis thrower Brooke Filek, who was also third in the discus with a personal best throw of 84-06.50. Betts was fourth in the discus with a toss of 82-07, also a personal best.

Lady Bobcat javelin throwers took the top two spots in that event, which was won by freshman Mayisa Swope, who unleashed a personal best throw of 104-04. Teammate Makenzie Reum was second with a throw of 90-05.50.

Frenchtown swept the top three spots in the women’s pole vault event, while Superior’s Molly Patko was fourth and Payton Milender took fifth.

St. Regis’ Kearbey added a second in the long jump to her daily total, while Mangold topped the list of triple jumpers with a personal best hop, skip and jump of 31-06.50.

Next up for St. Regis and Superior athletes is the District finals this weekened in Missoula.