Track teams off and running at Frenchtown meet

In the early hours of the Frenchtown Invitational track and field meet this past Saturday, clouds and temperatures in the low to mid 30s kept non-competitors in layers of clothing and blankets.

By noon the stadium at Frenchtown High was bathed in spring sunshine as hundreds of competitors from 25 schools from throughout western Montana took part in the area’s first major track meet of the 2025 season. 

The girls’ team competition was captured by Beaverhead County (Dillon High), which amassed 92 points. Corvallis took home the boys’ team championship with 81 points. 

Among teams from Sanders and Mineral counties, Plains boys and girls had a sunny season debut, with the girls finishing seventh in the team chase and the boys placing eighth. 

Other Sanders/Mineral counties team scores for the boys were Superior (twelfth), Hot Springs (16), and T Falls (22).  Local girls’ teams, in addition to Plains, were Superior (15), Thompson Falls (15) and Hot Springs (17). 

Leading the way for the Trotters was senior weight thrower Alexis Deming, who began her quest for a third consecutive Class B discus state championship with a first-place medal in Frenchtown with a throw of 124-feet, 13-feet better than second-place Isabella Regan of Dillon. 

The two ladies switched places in the shot put, with Regan putting the iron ball 40-10.5 while Deming took second with a throw of 37.5. 

Superior junior Juliette Evans was third in the discus (107-7) and Hot Springs junior Kara Christensen placed sixth (104-1).   Alberton senior Georgia Fredette was fourteenth with a throw of 90-1. Christensen also came in fourteenth in the 100-meter hurdles for Hot Springs. 

Evans also had a twelfth place in the shot put, while Fredette was thirteenth with a toss of 26-11.5. 

Christensen added a seventh-place finish in the javelin (88-6) to her day’s work, while Lady Heat teammate Lanet Jakabosky placed ninth (84-9). 

Thompson Falls sophomore Addy Deal won the javelin, tossing the spear 110 feet.  Teammate Peighton Kenney was seventeenth with a throw of 73-11. 

Deal was also fifteenth in the long jump event with a leap of 14-6.  Broadwater (Townsend) junior Kaitlyn Noyes won the event with a jump of 17-8.5. 

Plains’ girls also got a team point total boost from junior Kali Tuma, who was second in the 400-meter run, behind event winner Annalise Lewis of Hamilton.  Tuma added a sixth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles for the Trotters. Plains also got fifth place in the 200-meter sprint by freshman Hadyn Rice (28.36) and fourteenth from junior Katelyn Subatch (31-03), who was thirteenth in the high jump event with a jump of 4-4. 

The Plains girls’ 4X400 relay team placed sixth, while the event was won by Havre. 

Superior’s Ava White claimed third place in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles, while Hot Springs’ Jakabosky was sixteenth. 

In the boys’ competition, there were no individual champions, but Hot Springs senior David Chapman finished second in a strong 110-meter field with a time of 16.11.  The event was won by Frenchtown’s Brody Hardy, who crossed the tape first with a time of 15.40.  Hot Springs sophomore Ben Aldridge was thirteenth for the Savage Heat with a time of 18.25. 

Superior sophomore Landon Richards also had a second-place medal among local competitors with a high jump leap of 6-feet.  Corvallis senior Ledge Conner won the event with a jump of 6-2. 

The Bobcats also finished 3-4 in the pole vault event, with sophomore Gannon Quinlan and junior George Hanson respectively.  Both Superior vaulters cleared 10 feet, but Quinlan was third based on fewer attempts at the height. Hardy won the event with a vault of 12-0. 

Plains, meanwhile, got a second-place medal in the boys’ 3200-meter run when cross-country standout John Owen Jermyn crossed the finish line at 10:12.28.  Three Forks senior Cass Violett won the race with a time of 9:33.05.  Jermyn’s teammate, freshman Cord Greer finished fifth with a time of 11:04.61.  Hot Springs’ Wyatt Campbell was eleventh (11:55.30). 

The Horsemen also had a fourth place showing from senior multi-sport standout Darren Standeford in the 400-meter run. The top four runners in the event were within one second of first, which was won by Darby freshman Gavin Miller. Hot Springs’ Aldridge was tenth. 

Alberton got a top 10 finish from junior Shea Fredette, who placed ninth in the men’s triple jump with a hop, skip and jump of 38-3.5.  Leighton Cyr of Frenchtown won the event with a jump of 43-8.5. 

Hot Springs sophomore Daniel Slonaker finished third in the 200-meter sprint, breaking the tape at 24.44.  Valley Christian senior Brayden McCoy won the race with a time of 23.83. 

Superior placed sixth in the 4X100 relay (won by Frenchtown) and eighth in the 4X400 meter relay (won by Hamilton).  Hot Springs was fourteenth in the 4X100, and Alberton came in seventeenth. 

The Superior 4X100 team consisted of Quinlan, Hanson, Richards and anchor Tritzen Avila.  Those four also made up the 4X400 relay.  Plains placed twelfth. 

Thompson Falls senior Braedon Ferris came in fourth in the boys’ discus with a throw of 138-0.5.  The event was won by Polson’s Astin Brown, who unleashed a monster throw of 159-0.  Astin also won the shot put event for the Pirates with a heave of 58-9. Standeford of Plains was 23rd. 

Ferris was ninth in the shot put, while Plains sophomore Greg Tatum was eleventh and Hot Springs’ Chapman placed fifteenth. 

Plains also got a third-place finish in the boys’ 100-meter sprint from Italian foreign exchange student with a time of 11.59.  The sprint was won by Frenchtown’s Billy Corette who broke the tape at 11.48. Hot Springs’ Slonaker was thirteenth with a time of 11.93. 

The Horsemen also had a fifth place showing in the 300-meter hurdles, with sophomore Cody West recording a time of 45.60.  Chapman was thirteenth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.60.  And Mike Reistroffer was tenth in the 800-meter run for Plains. 

Thompson Falls got two top 12 finishes from Ian Myers, who finished sixth in the javelin (140-9) and twelfth in the long jump (18-6.75). 

Hot Springs, Plains, Thompson Falls, St Regis and Superior will all take part in the Bigfork Invitational this Saturday (April 5), while Alberton will travel to Hamilton this Friday for the Hamilton Invitational. 

    Plains senior Darren Standeford spins and lets the disc fly during this past Saturday's Frenchtown Invitational track and field meet. (Chuck Bandel, VP-MI)
  

    Alberton shot putter Georgia Fredette heaves the iron ball during this past Saturday's Frenchtown Invitational meet. (Chuck Bandel, VP-MI)
  

    Hot Springs senior David Chapman (right) goes up and over a hurdle in the 110-meter event this past Saturday at the Frenchtown Invitational meet. (Chuck Bandel, VP-MI)