State qualifiers at Western Division B-C

On a weekend when intermittent rain and sunshine, wind and cold played a factor in athletic performance, Twin Bridges’ girls and the Manhattan Christian boys found a path to victory in the Western Division B-C track and field meet in Missoula.

The Twin Bridges women dominated the team title pursuit, amassing 108 points, well ahead of runner up Drummond, (68.5) to capture the team trophy.

The Manhattan Christian boys, meanwhile were able to scrape out a 96-90 team win over second place Drummond, which was also second in the girls’ team standings.

Other than an eighth place finish by the Hot Springs boys (19), it was not a strong performance by District 14C teams.

The Hot Springs girls placed 15th in the team race, one point behind the 5 points picked up by Sheridan.

Noxon, with standout junior Ricky Williams leading the way, placed twelfth in the boys' team chase (16 points) while Alberton was fourteenth with 10 points. Alberton got a big chunk of their points from junior javelin thrower Colton Baughman, who placed third in the Class C men’s javelin with a throw of 151-9. 

The event was won by Lima’s Garet Lessley won the javelin event with a throw of 177-7, while Derrick Brovold of Seeley-Swan was second at 157-5.

Fourth place went to District 14C winner Jacob Tomlin of Charlo, while St. Regis’ John Pruitt was fourth with a throw of143-3. Noxon junior Shane Murray was sixth with a throw of 136-3.

In the boys’ sprint events, Valley Christian’s Nathan Tuinstra was first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.38, while Hot Springs junior David Chapman finished fifth, 11.82. VC’s Braden McCoy was third in the 100, captured first in the 200 meter .01 second ahead of Tuinstra, who crossed the line in 23.11.

Chapman qualified for state in the 200 also, with a sixth place time of 23.52.

In the men’s 1600 meter run, Alberton’s Shea Fredette placed eighth with a time of 4:54.96, while Owen Arthur of Manhattan Christian was first at 4:27.42

In the 3200 meter run, Hot Springs senior Elijah Campbell qualified for the State meet in Great Falls with a time of 11:32.03. Drummond freshman Dawson Parker won the event with a time of 10:06.65.

Tuinstra won his second event of the tournament with a win in the 110 meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 14.73. Second place went to Chapman, who had a time of 15.16. Noxon’s Ricky Williams, who won the triple jump, was fifth in the hurdles with a time of 16.42. Chapman also had a third in the 300 meter hurdles and Williams was sixth.

Pruitt picked up a few more points for St. Regis with his fifth place finish in the shot put event (44-5) Tomlin of Charlo won the shot put with a throw of 47-4.

Williams, who has been battling a leg injury for most of the past year, placed sixth in the high jump with a height of 5-8. Earlier this year he cleared 6-4 in the event. Williams also placed sixth in the long jump (19-6). His winning leap in the triple jump was 41-10, while Fredette was fourth with a hop, skip and jump of 40 feet even.

In the Class C women’s events, Kara Christensen was eighth in both hurdles events and fourth in the javelin, with a throw of 103-7.

Christensen was the only District 14C qualifier from the weekend’s meet.

    Hot Springs hurdler Kara Christensen clears the final hurdle in the women's 110 meter hurdles event this past Saturday at the Western Division B-C track and field meet in Missoula. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)