By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
If there was any doubt about the strength of the Geraldine girls track team coming into the 2004 track and field season, it was quickly erased on Wednesday at the Havre Middle School track.
The defending Class C champs dominated the girls field, scoring a whopping 126 team points to easily outdistance second place Centerville to take the girls team title of the annual KG/Cal Wearley Memorial Invitational track meet.
"We expected them to be tough," Blue Sky head coach Bill Mulvaney said of Geraldine. "They're the defending state champs and they're going to be tough to beat this year because they didn't lose much."
Senior Toni Qunell dominated the meet, scoring 50 individual points and winning all five events - 100, 200, 400, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles - she competed in.
"She's unbelievable," Mulvaney said. But the Tigers are far from a one-woman show as Rachel Clark and Kalyn Fairbanks scored 23 and 21 points respectively. Clark and Fairbanks teamed with Jill Schmidt and Leslie Engellant to win the 400- and 1,600-meter relays, while Fairbanks also won the pole vault.
The highest finishing local team was the Havre junior varsity, which finished fourth with 55 points. Chester and Blue Sky were right behind the Ponies with 52 and 46 team points.
Havre got a good showing from freshman Darci Briere, who won the 1,600 and finished second in the 800. Also scoring points for Havre was Carmen Neuens, who finished second in the long and high jumps, and Lena Suek, who won the javelin and finished second in the discus.
Chester got a win from Jillien Johnson in the 800 and second in the 1,600. Shawnee Norick won the high jump title, while Brittany Kolstad and Kelsey Schweitzer placed in two events each.
Blue Sky was led by junior Kaila Warren, who scored 21 points with three third-place finishes in both hurdle events and the triple jump. The Eagles also had Kile Patrick and Lindsay Anderson place in two individual events apiece. The Eagles, who now co-op with J-I, got additional points from Hannah Pimley, who finished third in the high jump.
"I really believe we can close the gap on those top teams," Mulvaney said. "It's still very early in the season and we're not conditioned yet. We need to work on our technique. We also have some very good young athletes who did well in the JV meet. Hopefully, they will continue to improve and contribute."
On the boys side, the Chester Coyotes used superior depth and a pair of individual wins from Patrick Walstad and a win in the 1,600 meter relay to take the boys title with 83 points, edging Geraldine, which finished with 71 points.
Walstad, who is the defending state champ in the 800-meter run, cruised to a win in his specialty event with a time of 2:04.80. He added another win in the 1,600 with a time of 4:55.20. Chester is also the defending state champ in the 1,600 meter relay and the team of Travis VanDyke, John Tranberg, Walstad and Patrick Wicks, ran a decent time of 3:50.70 to win the event on Wednesday.
Wicks scored 18 points with a third and a second in the 100 and 200, while VanDyke added 12 points with a second in the javelin and placing in both hurdle events.
Despite limited numbers, KG finished third with 69 points. Luke Antonich was impressive in winning the 110 hurdles with teammate Cody Donoven finishing second. Donoven picked up a win in the javelin with a throw 155-5, while Richie Melby won the high jump with Antonich finishing second. The KouGars also had a 1-2 finish in the shot put as Forrest LeTang took the event with a toss of 43 feet, while teammate Jerrad Gomke was second with a toss of 42-9.
Big Sandy finished fifth in the meet, paced by strong showings from seniors Adam Butler and Mason Ophus. Butler won the 3,200-meter run and long jump and finished second in the 800. Ophus looked like he should defend his state title in the discus. His toss of 167-3 was more than 25 feet farther than the nearest competitor.
In the grand scheme of things, it is still the first meet of the season and much can change when the district, divisional and state track meets roll around in May.
"We use this meet for a measuring stick and try to build from there," Mulvaney said. "It's an indicator of where we're at and what we need to work on."
GIRLS
TEAM SCORES
1. Geraldine 126, Centerville 80, Belt 60.5, Havre JV 55, Chester 52, Blue Sky 46, Dutton/Brady 24, Roy 19.5, Valier 18, KG 13, Power 12, Stanford 12, Winifred 4, Rocky Boy 2, Sunburst 1.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
100 - 1. Toni Qunell, GER 12.4; 2. Mandy Dutton, DB 13.10; 3. Danielle Larocque, CEN 13.8; 4. Jill Schmidt, GER 13.9; 5. Jacque Mellinger, POW 13.9; 6. Carmen Neuens, HAV 14.00.
100 HURDLES - 1. Toni Qunell, GER 15.40; 2. Jalyn Kapp, CEN 16.00; 3. Kaila Warren, SKY 17.30; 4. Leah Smith, STAN 18.20; 5. Stephanie Beckham, DB 18.70; 6. Amy Marshall, HAV 18.70.
200 - 1. Toni Qunell, GER 26.30; 2. Rachel Clark, GER 26.80; 3. Mandy Dutton, DB 27.90; 4 Brittany Kolstad, CHE 28.20; 5. Danielle Larocque, CENT 28.40; 6. Lindsay Anderson, SKY 28.50.
300 HURDLES - 1. Toni Qunell, GER 47.80; 2. Jayln Kapp, CEN 48.50; 3. Kaila Warren, SKY 50.70; 4. Brittany Kolstad, CHE 51.00; 5. Lindsay Anderson, SKY 52.20; 6. Becky Umphres, CEN 54.50.
400 - 1. Toni Qunell, GER 61.70; 2. Jayln Kapp, CEN 62.10; 3. Rachel Clark, GER 64.50; 4. Jill Schmidt, GER 67.70; 5. Kile Patrick, SKY 67.70; 6. Christina Armstrong, HAV 68.80.
400 RELAY - 1. GERALDINE (Kalyn Fairbanks, Rachel Clark, Leslie Engellant, Jill Schmidt) 53.70; 2. Centerville 54.90; 2. Blue Sky 54.90; 4. Belt 56.50; 5. Chester 56.90; 6. Stanford 57.00.
1,600 RELAY - 1. Geraldine (Leslie Engellant, Kalyn Fairbanks, Rachel Clark, Jill Schmidt) 4:33.10; 2. Blue Sky 4:33.20; 3. Centerville 4:37.50; 4. Belt 4:46.70; 5. Chester 4:47.00; 6. Stanford 4:55.00.
800 - 1. Jillien Johnson, CHE 2:40.10; 2. Darci Briere, HAV 2:41.10; 3. Amanda Rebman, ROY 2:42.50; 4. Cassie Gondeiro, BELT 2:45.10; 5. Kelsey Schweitzer, CHE 2:45.20; 6 Shawnee Norick, CHE 2:49.40.
1,600 - 1 Darci Briere, HAV 5:52.20; 2. Jillien Johnson, CHE 5:56.90; 3. Kalyn Fairbanks, GER 6:02.30; 4. Amanda Rebman, ROY 6:10.90; 5. Kile Patrick, SKY 6:12.00; 6. Kelsey Schweitzer, CHE 6:23.60.
3,200 - 1 Cassie Gondeiro, BELT 13:31.50; 2. Samantha Halko, CEN 14:05.90; 3. Cayla DeBoo, VAL 14:29.90; 4. Aliece Wichamn, BELT 14:37.60; 5. Rebecca Jarvey, RB 15:33.70; 6. Ashley Misquez, SUN 16:14.00.
SHOT PUT - 1. Megan Wichman, BELT 32.-04; 2. Teresa Turville, DB 32-03 ; Kelsey Bumgarner, BELT 31-11; 4. Jacque Mellinger, POW 30-11; 5. Kelsee Clark, GER 30-03 ; 6. Heather, Kirby, STAN 29-10.
DISCUS - 1. Megan Wichman, BELT 113-8 ; 2. Lena Suek, HAV 106-2 ; 3. Alicia Burtchett, GER 101-10; 4. Nikki Voegel, CENT 98-04 ; 5. Kelsey Bumgarner, BELT 89-03 ; 6. Heather Kirby, STAN 87-08 .
JAVELIN - 1. Lena Suek, HAV 96-10; 2. Pearl Ferguson, ROY 93-11; 3. Alicia Burtchett, GER 90-08; 4. Megan Wichman, BELT 89-05 ; 5T. Kelly Keller, ROY 89-04; 5T. Jesse Hansen, BELT 89-04.
LONG JUMP - 1. Cady Arifin, KG 15-02 ; 2. Carmen Neuens, HAV 14-11 ; 3. Heather Ingman, CENT 14-11; 4. Andi Wilham, CEN 14-06; 6. Aliece Wichman, BELT 14-05 .
TRIPLE JUMP - 1. Andi Wilham, CENT 31-09; 2. Shawnee Norick, CHE 31-01; 3. Kaila Warren, SKY 30-09; 4. Rachel Clark, GER 30-08 ; 5. Heather Ingman, CENT 30-05 ; 6. Cady Arifin, KG 30-05 .
HIGH JUMP - 1. Shawnee Norick, CHE 5-00; 2. Carmen Neuens, HAV 4-08; 3. Hannah Pimley, SKY 4-08; 4. Tara Mikkelsen, WIN 4-04; 5. Jordan Merrill, STAN 4-04.
POLE VAULT - 1. Kalyn Fairbanks, GER 8-00; 2. Emily Johnson, VAL 7-06; 3. Jacque Mellinger, POW 7-06; 4. Cayla DeBoo, VAL 7-00; 5. Danny Raprager, STAN 6-06.
BOYS
TEAM SCORES
1. Chester 83; Geraldine 71.50; KG 69; Valier 49; Big Sandy 38; Belt 36; Geyser 34; Power 32; Stanford 27; Roy 25; Havre JV 14; Blue Sky 11; Dutton/Brady 10; Denton 9.5; Centerville 8; Highwood 6, Sunburst 4.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
100 - 1. Logan Lewis, BELT 11.20; 2. Caleb Ridgeway, STAN 11.50; 3. Patrick Wicks, CHE 11.50; 4. Josh Black, POW 11.50; 5. Talon Allen, POW 11.60; 6. Greg Reid, GER 11.60
110 HURDLES - 1. Luke Antonich, KG 15.50; 2. Cody Donoven, KG 16.30; 3. Greg Reid, GER 16.60; 4. Brenton Melton, DEN 16.60; 5. Bret Bahnmiller, HWD 17.00; 6T. Dan Engellant, GER 17.80; 6T. Travis VanDyke, CHE 17.80.
200 - 1. Caleb Ridgeway, STAN 23.20; 2. Patrick Wicks, CHE 23.60; 3. Greg Reid, GER 23.60; 4. Richie Melby, KG 23.90; 5. Josh Black, POW 24.20; 6. Ryan Neumann, GEY 24.40
300 HURDLES - 1. Greg Reid, GER 44.00; 2. Tyson Parman, HAV 44.10; 3. Patch Wirtzberger, HAV 44.90; 4. Bret Bahnmiller, HWD 44.90; 5T. Brenton Melton, DEN 45.50; 5T. Travis VanDyke, CHE 45.50.
400 - 1. Ryne Nelson, VAL 55.30; 2. Stephen Wall, BELT 57.30; 3. Logan Manzanares, POW 5770; 4. Aric Clark, SUN 58.50; 5. Trevor Annala, GEY 59/60; 6. Matt Willmore, ROY 60.00.
400 RELAY - 1. Valier (Chris Widham, Jeff Trafelet, Neil Tatsey, Ryne Nelson) 46.20; 2. Power 46.80; 3. Chester 48.40; 4. Geraldine 48.80; 5. Centerville 48.90; Denton 50.00
1,600 RELAY - 1. Chester (Travis VanDyke, John Tranberg, Patrick Walstad, Patrick Wicks) 3:50.70; 2. Stanford 3:54.30; 3. Geraldine 3:55.00; 4. Geyser 4:03.40; 5. Belt 4:04.40; 6. Centerville 4:04.60.
800 - 1. Patrick Walstad, CHE 2:04.80; 2. Adam Butler, BS 2:10.30; 3. Casey Landru, ROY 2:14.00; 4. Jesse Logan, DB 2:15.50; 5. John Tranberg, CHE 2:15.80; 6. Brian Peterson, DEN 2:17.20.
1,600 - 1. Patrick Walstad, CHE 4:55.20; 2. Stephen Wall, BELT 5:02.10; 3. Jesse Logan, DB 5:07.90; 4. Cody Joyce, GER 5:08.70; 5. Isaac VanDyke, CHE 5:14.50; 6. Caleb Brown, CHE 5:16.60.
3,200 - 1. Adam Butler, BS 10:52.90; 2. Cody Joyce, GER 10:57.20; 3. Isaac VanDyke, CHE 11:10.30; 4. Caleb Brown, CHE 11:14.60; 5. Neil Tatsey, VAL 11:30.90; 6. Vern Kuka, VAL 11:49.70.
SHOT PUT - 1. Forest LeTang, KG 43-00; 2. Jerrad Gomke, KG 42-09 ; 3. Brock Hansen, GEY 42-01; 4. Craig Miller, SKY 41-10 ; 5. Mike Clark, GER 41-09; 6. Levi Wendland, SKY 40-04.
DISCUS - 1. Mason Ophus, BS 167-03; 2. Brock Hansen, GEY 140-02; 3. Andy Rice, GER 127-06 ; 4. Wes Leritz, BELT 127-01; 5. Levi Wendland, SKY 125-04; 6. Wacy Deegan, STAN 123-02 .
JAVELIN - 1. Cody Donoven, KG 155-05; 2. Travis VanDyke, CHE 154-06; 3. Casey Buffington, CHE 151-10; 4. Wes Leritz, BELT 149-01; 5. Brice Fenger, CHE 147-09; 6. Casey Clark, GER 144-05.
LONG JUMP - 1. Adam Butler, BS 19-06 ; 2. Justin Roudebush, GER 19-06 ; 3. Kyle Moseman, ROY 19-04 ; 4. Ryan Neumann, GEY 19-03 ; 5. Chris Widham, VAL 19-02 ; 6. Richie Melby, KG 19-01 .
TRIPLE JUMP - 1. Kyle Moseman, ROY 41-02; 2. Ryan Neumann, GEY 49-06 ; 3. Derek Sande, GER 39-02 ; 4. Talon Allen, POW 39-02 ; 5. Matt Whitmore, ROY 39-02 ; 6. Brian Guisti, CEN 38-08 .
HIGH JUMP - 1. Richie Melby, KG 5-10; 2. Luke Antonich, KG 5-10; 3. Talon Allen, POW 5-08; 4. Hunter Kerkes, CEN 5-08; 5. Lance Nemec, DEN 5-08; 6. Trevor Annala, GEY 5-06.
POLE VAULT - 1. Chris Widham, VAL 13-00; 2. Jeff Trafelet, VAL 11-00; 3. Neil Tatsey, VAL 10-06; 4. Alex Chvilicek, SKY 10-00; 5. Levi Clark, 9-06; 6. Joey Boso, GER 9-00
