Plains girls finish 3rd at ARM track meet

Host Whitefish swept the men’s and women’s team titles at last weekend’s ARM track meet, while the Plains women continued their impressive run in the women’s title chase.

Whitefish won the boys team crown with 126 total points, easily outdistancing second place Bigfork, which amassed 98 points. The Whitefish women compiled 167.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Columbia Falls.

The Plains women, meanwhile, led by another double weight event sweep by junior Alexis Demmng, placed third in the women’s team standings with 62 points, many of them via Demming’s first place showing in both the discus and shot put.

Demming is the defending Class B state discus champion and defeated a field of mostly Class A school participants in her twin triumphs.

Thompson Falls’ girls finished eighth in the team race, while Hot Springs was tenth.

T Falls boys were ninth in the team standings, Hot Springs was tenth and Plains boys came in eleventh.

A total of 12 schools participated in the event, which was held at Whitefish High School Saturday amid threatening weather conditions.

Demming, who won the discus event at the state B championships last year as a sophomore, uncorked a throw of 127-1, well ahead of second place Callie Gembala of Bigfork, who threw 103-11.

Two other area women, Hot Springs’ Kara Christensen and teammate Georgia Uski also finished in the top 10 in the discus event, with Christensen claiming sixth place with a throw of 98-2, while Uski was seventh at 94-5.

Demming moved over to the shot put pit and won that event with a heave of 35-4. Whitefish senior Brooke Zatooney was second with a throw of 31-11.5. Uski placed seventh with a toss of 28-11.

Thompson Falls’ girls got a first place finish from senior Trinity Riffle, who won the high jump with a leap of 4-10. Riffle also came in sixth in the 200 meter sprint (28.41) and eighth in the women’s 100 meter dash. Zetooney won the 200 meter event with a time of 25.23. She also won the 100 meter sprint, crossing the tape at 12.32.

Plains freshman Marina Tulloch picked up a pair of third place finishes in the 800 meter and 1600 meter runs. Trotters’ teammate Peyton Wasson was fourth in the 800, while T Falls freshman Aubrey Baxter was sixth. Baxter was also third in the 400 meter run.

Hot Springs’ Christensen, a sophomore, also placed in multiple events, placing third in the 300 meter hurdles, fifth in the javelin and eighth in the 200 meter run. She also added a fifth place medal in the women’s 100 meter hurdles to her haul.

Plains sophomore Kali Tuma was second in the 300 meter hurdles, while teammate Ashley Ferlan was sixth. Ferlan also placed thirteenth in the discus event.

Plains’ 4X400 relay team of Katelyn Subatch, Wasson, Ferlan and Tuma came in second in the relay event, which was won by Columbia Falls. T Falls 4X400 team (Addyson Deal, Peighton Kenney, Baxter and Riffle) was third.

Deal also picked up a ninth place finish in the triple jump.

In the men’s events, Whitefish won six individual titles on their way to the team victory.

Hot Springs junior David Chapman had a solid meet for the Savage Heat, finishing second in the shot put, third in the 110 meter hurdles and fifth in the 300 meter hurdles. T Falls, meanwhile, was paced by a junior Braedon Ferris’ second place showing (134-5)in the men’s discus event, finishing well behind event winner Lane Voerman’s throw of 158-10. Ferris’ teammate, Zach Ames was eighth in the event with a toss of 108.

Plains' javelin team had four throwers in the top 20, led by senior Joseph Martin’s eighth place throw of 122-8.5. Freshman teammate Greg Tatum was ninth (122-4), Brenden Vanderwall was eleventh (120-3) and freshman Cody West was 20th with a throw of 102-0. Vanderwall also had a seventeenth place finish in the discus.

Ferris added a ninth place showing in the 200 meter run to his total.

The Blue Hawks also had a fifth place finish by senior Braxton Dorscher in the long jump (19-6.5). Plains jumper Kalem Ercanbrack was thirteenth (17-2.5). Dorscher also finished eleventh in the 200 meter run, while Chapman added a 14th place finish in the 200.

T Falls senior distance runner Cael Thilmony was fourth in the 3200 meter run and twelfth in the 1600 meter run for the Blue Hawks.

Plains sprinter Nicholas Hill was seventh in the 100 meter sprint and Darren Sandeford was seventh in the 400 meter run for the Horsemen. Plains also got a seventh in the 800 meter run from Martin. Cooper Meredith was seventh in the high jump for Plains.

Next up for local tracksters is the Kim Haines Invitational in Missoula and/or the Archie Roe Memorial event in Kalispell, both on Saturday.