Local track teams flex strength at ARM meet

As the 2025 high school track and field season heads toward the inevitable collision with playoffs on the way, the Whitefish ARM Invitational provided an intriguing look at athletic issues to be settled.

And with a new face or two emerging in this waning stage of the regular meet season, it is getting more and more clear that this year’s championships will be a mixture of last year’s success stories and speculation about who among the young and talented will take their place on the medals stand at the state finals. 

Thirteen schools, mostly Class A in scope, vied for the team crowns in Whitefish this year, with the host Bulldogs claiming the men’s team title and Columbia Falls capturing the women’s crown. 

Along the way, a new team added their names to the state mix as the Hot Springs girls, one of the few Class C schools in the meet, finished seventh in the team chase behind a small but solid group of athletes. And not far behind the Lady Heat were the meet’s other C school, St. Regis, which unveiled a group of young sprinters and solid depth that produced a tenth place standing in the team title pursuit. 

Whitefish won the boys title with an impressive 101 points, while Columbia Falls was second with 88.  Plains, with a young core of talent, was fifth and the Hot Springs boys placed ninth, while Thompson Falls finished tied with Browning for eleventh. 

Columbia Falls’ girls racked up 98 team points to claim the women’s team crown, followed by Loyola, which was second with 86. 

Plains was also fifth in the women’s team competition, while Hot Springs was seventh and St. Regis finished tenth, one point ahead of eleventh-place Thompson Falls. 

Along the way, the Plains girls got a huge point contribution from senior Alexis Deming, the two-time defending state Class B discus champ and a regular double-victor at meets throughout the year with wins in the shot put. 

Deming won the women’s discus with a throw of 127-6.  That was the expected. 

The unexpected was the second-place discus medal collected by Hot Springs junior Kara Christensen, who uncorked a personal best throw of 118-6.  Teammate Georgia Uski was third for the Lady Heat with a personal best toss of 110-6. 

Deming completed the two-event sweep with a win in the shot put following her winning throw of 37-8.  Uski placed third with a career-best throw of 33-0. 

Thompson Falls all-around standout, sophomore Addyson Deal, won the women’s javelin event with a throw of 119-1.5.  Christensen was fourth with a throw of 102-11, and Plains’ Hayden Rice finished sixth at 97-10.5. 

Deal also placed ninth in the triple jump. 

Those names have appeared regularly in meets throughout the year, but an athlete who flew in under the radar had perhaps the most amazing meet of all contestants. 

St. Regis junior Jamie Cleveland, who sat out a year with a serious knee injury two years ago, place in the top 10 in three events, including a second-place medal efforts in the long jump.  Hot Springs’ Lanet Jakabosky was fifth in the long jump. 

Cleveland also finished fifth in the 200-meter sprint, and seventh in the 400-meter run.  Teammate Cielee Mitchell, an eighth grader, was seventh in the 200-meter event for the Lady Tigers. 

Plains girls also got a solid meet from one of their stars not named Deming, as junior Kali Tuma was third in the 300-meter hurdles and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Teammate Rice was fifth in the 100 hurdles, while Hot Springs’ Jakabosky was seventh and Christensen was sixth in the 100-meter hurdles. 

Another Trotter who contributed team points was distance standout Marina Tulloch, who was fourth in the 1600-meter run.  Plains teammate Annika Ercanbrack placed seventh eighth. 

The Plains men also got an expected win from Italian exchange student Luciano Ferranti in the 100-meter sprint with a time of 11.37.  Second in the event went to Loyola’s Jack Clevinger, while Daniel Slonaker of Hot Springs was tied for twelfth. 

Ferranti placed fourth in the men’s 200-meter sprint, which was won by Whitefish sophomore Colby Minton with a time of 22.90. Slonaker was tenth in the 200, while Plains senior Darren Standeford finished eleventh. 

Thompson Falls senior Braedon Ferris was second in the discus event with a record throw of 162-11.5.  Columbia Falls senior Lane Voermans won the discus with a throw of 181-2.  T Falls senior Zach Ames was eighth. 

Hot Springs’s got an individual win in the men’s 110-meter hurdles when senior David Chapman broke the tape at the 15.69 mark, just ahead of second-place Carson Gulick of Whitefish (15.76).  Plains’ Cooper Meredith was ninth in the event, while Hot Springs sophomore Ben Aldridge was tenth. 

Chapman also added a fifth-place medal in the men’s shot put with a throw of 43-7.5.  Polson’s Astin Brown won the shot put with a toss of 61-10.5. 

Plains senior Darren Standeford helped his team with third-place medals in the 400-meter run and the javelin.  Standeford’s javelin mark of 158-11 was a personal best, as was his 52.96 time in the 400. 

T Falls sophomore Brylon VanElswyk was sixth in the javelin with a throw of 140-3.  Tristan Andersen of Libby won the event with a toss of 165-4.5. 

The Horsemen also got a third place showing from Cord Greer in the men’s 3200-meter run, a fourth-place finish from John Jermyn in the 1600, and a fourth place in the 300-meter hurdles from sophomore Cody West. 

Plains teammates Mike Reistroffer was sixth in the 3200, while Jack Cockrell placed seventh.  Hot Springs senior Wesley Adams was ninth in the 1600-meter run. 

Hot Springs also got a fifth-place medal from their 4X100 relay team, Daniel Slonaker, Nick McAllister, Aldridge and Chapman.  Plains was fourth in the 4X100 (West, Meredith, Greg Tatum and Ferranti). 

Hot Springs finished eighth in the 4X400, while Plains was tenth. 

    Plains junior Italian exchange student Luciano Ferranti (center) won the men's 100-meter event and was fourth in the 200 at this past Saturday's ARM Invitational in Whitefish. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Plains senior Alexis Deming unleashed the winning throw at this past weekend's Archie Roe Memorial Invitational track and field meet in Whitefish.  (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Hot Springs junior Kara Christensen prepares to unleash a javelin throw during the ARM Invitational track and field meet this past weekend in Whitefish. (Photo by Sarah Naegeli)