Plains star Alexis Deming claims state discus title

Isabella Berry was a one-woman scoring machine.

And while not to the same degree, Dawson Sweat was a one-man scoring leader.

Only one Sanders or Mineral county athlete brought home the gold from the Montana State Class B Track and Field championships in Butte, and she may be a future scoring machine in the making if not already there.

Those, in a nutshell, are the top highlights from the Class B championship this past weekend in Butte at Bulldog Memorial Stadium.

For local track fans, there were several good performances by Sanders and Mineral county athletes, perhaps none bigger than the women’s discus title won by Plains High sophomore Alexis Deming.

The showdown between Deming and Bigfork senior Scout Nadeau went as anticipated with Deming unleashing the winning throw of 123 feet, one inch. Nadeau, who has battled back and forth with the Trotters’ talented sophomore in the discus and shot put events all season, was second with a toss of 117-01, a new personal record, while Huntley Project junior Harlie Murphy finished third at 108-07, also a new PR.

Deming, who placed at state last year as a freshman, capped off an unbeaten discus season with the state champion title. She also won the discus event at the District and Divisional tournaments this year.

Nadeau, who finished second to Deming in the discus at almost every area meet, was hoping for a bit of revenge in the shot put, where she has won every area meet, usually ahead of Deming’s runner up shot put efforts.

But that was not to be this year as the shot put title went to Colstrip junior Talen Rogers, who heaved the iron ball 39-09.75 to claim the top spot on the medals stand. Nadeau did finish second, just a fraction of an inch behind Rogers, with a put of 39.09.50

Deming grabbed the third place medal with her personal best throw of 37-02.00.

Loyola-Sacred Heart (Missoula) won the Class B team title, racking up 66 points, 10 better than second place Huntley Project. Bigfork was third in the women’s team standings with 36 points.

Loyola junior Isabella Perry was the undisputed top point getter of the meet, which this year was combined with the AA men’s and women’s championships. Perry won the 100 meter and 200 meter sprint events, and was tops in 100 meter and third in the 300 meter hurdles competitions.

Thompson Falls senior distance running standout Ellie Baxter, was the leading point collector for the Lady Hawks, who finished 15th in the team standings. After sweeping the middle and long distance runs at the Western Divisional meet two weekends ago in Missoula, Baxter faced tough competition from eastern Montana runners, but still had an outstanding overall state championship meet.

The Carroll College bound Baxter, who signed with the Helena school earlier this Spring to play basketball for the Lady Saints, was third in the grueling 3200 meter run, fourth at 1600 meters and sixth in the 800.

Huntley Project freshman Avery Gerdes won the 400 and 800 meter runs for the second place Huntley Project team.

Deming helped Plains to three-way tie for eleventh place in the team standings, with the Trotters, Shepherd and Broadwater all amassing 16 points.

Plains also got a solid outing from freshman Kali Tuma, who took 12th in the 400 meters, seventh in the long jump (personal best 16.71), seventh in the 100 meter hurdles and 12th in the 300 meter hurdles.

Trotters junior Peyton Wasson came home 16th in the 800 meter run and19th in the 1600.

Thompson Falls got an eleventh place finish in the 1600 meters run and a thirteenth placing in the 3200 from junior Faith Palmer. Lady Hawks senior Chesney Lowe was twelfth in the women’s javelin and 17th in the long jump.

T Falls junior Trinity Riffle tied for 15th place in the high jump event.

In the men’s competition, Jefferson High won the team title with 72 points, while second place went to Loyola Sacred-Heart and Florence-Carlton, who tied with 53 points.

Plains and Thompson Falls, meanwhile, tied for 22nd with two team points each.

Broadwater (Townsend) sprinter Dawson Sweat was the fastest man at the meet, winning both the 100 and 200 meter sprints in helping his team to a fifth place finish.

Plains senior Mason Elliot led the Horsemen with a fifth place medal in the 110 meter hurdles and a 16th place finish in the 400 meter run.

Thompson Falls got a fifth place medal from senior Breck Ferris in the men’s long jump with a leap of 19-10.25. His brother, Braedon, a sophomore finished 11th in the discus. The Blue Hawks also got an 18th place finish from junior Cael Thilmony in the 3200 meter run.

As was the case with all Montana state championship meets this past weekend, rain which was heavy at times, was a major nuisance if not factor.