George Ferguson
Havre Daily News Sports
gferguson@havredailynews.com
Going into Friday's opening day of the 2005 Class A state track meet in Great Falls, Havre High School head coach Mark West knew just about where both his boys and girls team stood in the team competition. What he was unsure of is how his star athletes would do individually.
The Ponies had mixed results at the two-day state meet at Memorial Stadium. Havre had one individual gold medal overall, and the HHS teams finished in the middle of the pack to close out the 2005 campaign.
As expected, the HHS girls were paced by sophomore stars Carmen Neuens and Lena Suek. The Ponies jumped out on Friday and scored 23 points behind the state championship long jump of Neuens and a second-place finish by Suek in the javelin.
However, Havre's fortunes were not as good on Saturday as the Ponies struggled to keep pace and wound up finishing in a tie for 10th place with Frenchtown at 26.5 points. The meet was won by Anaconda with 64 points. The Copperheads just edged out Central A champion Belgrade. The Panthers finished with 60 points and Columbia Falls finished third with 53 points.
"I was very happy with our girls team this weekend," West said. "We had a really solid Friday and the kids still had personal bests all over the place on Saturday. We just didn't have the depth that other teams had."
But the Ponies did have Neuens. The sophomore capped off a brilliant sophomore season by winning the long jump championship on Friday with a meet best leap of 16-6. Neuens beat out Courtney Austin of Anaconda for her first state gold medal. On Saturday Neuens picked up her second medal of the meet when she finished a very solid sixth in the triple jump.
"Having Carmen win a state championship in the long jump was really neat to watch," West said. "She is a great competitor. She had a great season and performed really well this weekend."
Neuens was determined this season to improve on her second-place finish in the long jump a year ago and she said that consistency was the key to her success.
"Last year, I was pretty inconsistent hitting my marks," she said. "But this year I've been more consistent. I was perfect all day.
I wanted to win it after finishing second last year, but I didn't really come in worrying about where I would place. I just wanted to get a good jump and the rest would take of care itself."
Suek also got Havre off on the right foot on Friday. She captured the silver medal in the javelin with a throw of 128-1, which was just three feet behind Columbia Falls standout Bekka Stoltz. Unfortunately, Suek did not have the meet she was looking for in the discuss or the shot put as she finished out of the medals in both events.
The first day was also good to Blue Pony distance runner Darci Briere. Briere surprised the 3,200 meter field by capturing the bronze medal with a time of 12:11.55. Briere then continued her fine running on Saturday when she finished sixth in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:33.48. Casea Pollington rounded out the scoring for HHS with a sixth-place finish in the high jump.
"It was a very good season for our girls team," West said. "We accomplished a lot with the depth that we had. I think that the girls we have coming back will make us a very strong team at the beginning of next season. I am just really proud of the way our girls competed this weekend and all season."
Friday was also the best of the two days for the Havre High boys team. The short-handed Ponies scored most of their points on the first day led by senior Rick Hoium.
Hoium came out and threw a personal best 52-10 in the shot put to capture the silver medal. A mere two inches is all that separated Hoium and a state championship in his only year competing on the HHS track team. He was barely beaten by Butte Central's Matt Crow who threw 53-3.
"Watching Ricky do so well this weekend was very special," West said. "To think that he only came out this year and what he has accomplished it is just amazing. He has been great all season and he came up with a great throw on Friday."
Despite Hoium's heroics in the shot put, Havre did not have nearly enough depth at the meet to compete for a trophy. The Ponies finished in 13th place with 16 total points. The Colstrip Colts shocked the Class A field by winning the state title with a commanding 68 points. Columbia Falls was a distant second with 45 points and Whitefish was third with 43 points.
Beside's Hoium's silver medal, the Ponies were only able to put two more athletes on the medal stand on Saturday. Junior Cody McLean finished a very solid third in the pole vault as he beat his career best vault by over a foot. And senior Scott Robinson wrapped up a great HHS career with a fifth place finish in the 400 meters.
"Cody McLean's performance in the pole vault was spectacular," West said. "It was great to see him finally getting his pole to work for him and he will be a force in that even next season.
"And I think Scotty ran really well this weekend," he added. "He has been a great competitor and a great athlete the last four years."
Despite managing just 16 points at the state meet, West said that his boys team came a long way this season and he has no disappointments when it comes to the year that his team had.
"Coming into this season, we really weren't sure what kind of a team we had," West said. "But we had a really good season. We had a group of boys that really worked hard to improve. It showed this weekend because our boys competed really well and had personal bests all over the place."
Sports Editor Ryan Divish contributed to this story.
State A Track at Great Falls
BOYS
Final team scores
1. Colstrip 68; 2. Columbia Falls 45; 3. Whitefish 43; 4. Stevensville 42; 5. Libby 36; 6. Glendive 33; 7. (tie) Anaconda 32; (tie) Sidney 32; 9. Hardin 30; 10. Dillon 26; 11. Belgrade 24; 12. Frenchtown 22; 13. Havre 16; 14. Butte Central 15; 15. (tie) Corvallis 12; (tie) Polson 12; 17. Hamilton 9; 18. Ronan/St. Igantius 8; 19. Miles City 6; 20. Laurel 5; 21. Billings Central 3; 22. (tie) Browning 2; (tie) Lewistown 2; (tie) Livingston 2; 25. Bigfork 1.
Friday
Shot put - 1. Matt Crowe, BC, 53-3. 2. Ricky Houim, HAV, 52-10. 3. Blaine Baker, LIB, 51-10. 4. Chris Dyk, DIL, 49-11. 5. George Lehman, GLE, 49-5. 6. Todd Hartman, WHI, 49-2.
1,600 - 1. MacKenzie Bloom, STE, 4:22.32. 2. Brian Ohs, GLE, 4:24.80. 3. T.J. Strangeowl, COL, 4:24.93. 4. Brian Vallie, HAR, 4:26.22. 5. Nigel Neaves, HAM, 4:29.66. 6. Marlin Blackwolf, BRO, 4:30.33.
High jump - 1. Chris Hicks, WHI, 6-6. 2. Kyle Baker, LIB, 6-3. 3. Kyle Carlson, STE, 6-2. 4. Cameron Barber, RON, 6-0. 5. (tie) Kevin OLeary, BC, 5-10, (tie) Kyle Begger, MC, 5-10.
Long jump - 1. Chris Hicks, WHI, 21-2. 2. Bo Talalotu, FRE, 20-8. 3. Andrew Orr, LIB, 20-5. 4. Travis Browne, STE, 19-11. 5. Mike Benvenga, LIV, 19-10. 6. Aaron LaSalle, HAM, 19-10.
Saturday
400 relay - 1. Sidney 43.97; 2. Anaconda 44.62; 3. Dillon 45.01; 4. Frenchtown 45.07; 5. Hardin 45.24; 6. Miles City 45.25.
300 hurdles - 1. Steve Berry, BEL, 39.83; 2. Jack Scherman, CF, 40.00; 3. Blaine Berg, GLE, 40.23; 4. Chris Hicks, WF, 40.66; 5. Blake Jessop, COR, 40.99; 6. Eric Wehrman, Big, 42.21.
110 hurdles - 1. Johnny Marks, BEL, 15.70; 2. Blake Jessop, COR, 15.77; 3. Blaine Berg, GLE, 15.98; 4. Josh Ewalt, MC, 16.04; 5. Kenny Jessop, COR, 16.08; 6. Andy Nelson, POL, 16.29.
100 - 1. Zack Gill, COL, 11.40; 2. Colby Staudohar, ANA, 11.42; 3. Kyle Welnel, SID, 11:45; 4. Taylor Straudohar, ANA, 11.60; 5. Travis Browne, STE, 11.61; 6. Isaac Frank, LAU, 11.66.
800 - 1. Devin Schmit, CF, 1:54.31; 2. Colton Reid, COL, 1:54.97; 3. Nigel Neaves, HAM, 1:55.81; 4. Mason Giem, DIL, 1:56.16; 5. Brian Vallie, HAR, 1:56.82; 6. Brian Ohs, GLE, 1:56.90.
Javelin - 1. Blaine Baker, LIB, 212-1; 2. Steven Pfahler, FRE, 210-11; 3. Kyle Baker, LIB, 183-5; 4. Cotton Real Bird, HAR, 181-4; 5. Mike Hodges, BiC, 181-1; 6. Isaiah Thomas, POL, 177-5.
Pole vault - 1. Wyatt Hermanson, SID, 13-6; 2. Tim Ahler, WF, 13-2; 3. Cody McLean, HAV, 13-0; 4. Keyvin Walter, CF, 12-6; 5. Jaceson Stikken, Lew, 12-6; 6. Kevin Owen, POL, 12-6.
400 - 1. Colton Reid, COL, 50.33; 2. Devin Schmit, CF, 50.61; 3. Bruno Espinoza, COL, 51.48; 4. Mason Giem, DIL, 51.58; 5. Scott Robinson, HAV, 51.82; 6. Zach Condon, LAU, 51.84.
3,200 - 1. MacKenzie Bloom, STE, 9:37.37; 2. T.J. Strangeowl, COL, 9:45.49; 3. Brian Vallie, HAR, 9:53.19; 4. Zanen Pitts, RSI, 9:53.29; 5. Chris Bick, FRE, 9:55.73; 6. Marlin Blackwolf, Bro, 9:58.06.
200 - 1. Colby Staudohar, ANA, 22.60; 2. Zack Gill, COL, 22.68; 3. Kyle Welnel, SID, 22.73; 4. Travis Browne, STE, 22.84; 5. Taylor Staudohar, ANA, 23.24; 6. Chris Oistad, LAU, 23.27.
1,600 relay - 1. Colstrip 3:27.654; 2. CF, 3:27.74; 3. Stevensville 3:28.79; 4. hardin 3:29.39; 5. Laurel 3:29.69; 6. Polson 3:30.27.
Triple jump - 1. Chris Hicks, WF, 45-; 2, Tyson Fitzpatrick, HAR, 44-3; 3. Kyle Rosenbaum, CF, 43-7; 4. Derek ERickson, BEL, 42-7; 5. Zack Gills, COL, 42-6; 6. David Leslie, BiC, 42-5.
Discus - 1. Mike Person, GLE, 162-0; 2.Mac Gordon, POL, 158-10; 3. Chris Dyk, DIL, 152-0; 4. Matt Crowe, BuC, 148-8; 5. Harley Borjas, DIL, 147-11; 6. Jace Ladenburg, CF, 147-6.
GIRLS
Final team scores
1. Anaconda 64; 2. Belgrade 60; 3. Columbia Falls 52; 4. Bigfork 45; 5. Sidney 41 1/3; 6. Polson 30; 7. (tie) Corvallis 28; (tie) Livingston 28; (tie) Whitefish 28; 10. (tie) Frenchtown 26 1/3; (tie) Havre 26 1/3; 12. Miles City 25; 13. Glendive 23; 14. Dillon 21; 15. Laurel 8; 16. Butte Central 5; 17. (tie) Colstrip 4; (tie) Libby 4; 19. (tie) Browning 2; (tie) Lewistown 2; (tie) Hardin 2; (tie) Ronan/St. Igantius 2.
Friday
800 - 1. Brooke Andrus, BF, 2:16.07. 2. Meghan Kiegley, BEL, 2:19.11. 3. Christina Laslovich, ANA, 2:21.20. 4. Deni Scheffer, FRE, 2:21.22. 5. Diana Stanley, MC, 2:24.32. 6. Callie Gunderson, BF, 2:25.48.
Long jump - 1. Carmen Neuens, HAV, 16-6 . 2. Courtney Austin, ANA, 16-4. 3. Cassie Stoneman, CF, 16-2. 4. Sarah Hodel, LIB, 15-8. 5. Lindsey Thomas, COR, 15-8. 6. Brianna Ackerman, LIV, 15-6.
Javelin - 1. Bekan Stoltz, CF, 133-8, 2. Lena Suek, HAV, 128-1. 3. Hannah Hilley, BF, 119-8. 4. Tara Devers, GLE, 117-4. 5. Kaycee Mantooth, LEW, 116-9. 6. Nicole Jefferson, HAR, 115-1.
High jump - 1. Danielle Rowe, POL, 5-2. 2. Heidy Bouchard, Sidney, 5-2. 3. (tie) Kim Pearce, CF, 5-0. (tie) Jessie Greany, BEL, 5-0. 5. Hannah Hilley, BF, 5-0. 6. (tie) Deni Scheffer, FRE, 4-10. (tie) Bridget Farr, Sidney, 4-10. (tie) Casea Pollington, HAV, 4-10.
Shot put - 1. Kara Walker, POL, 40-. 2. Liz Castro, DIL, 38-11. 3. Bekah Stoltz, CF, 36-6. 4. Annie Shaver, COL, 36-0. 5. Liana Galayda, FRE, 35-8. 6. Molly Klaboe, MC, 35-1.
3,200 - 1. Brooke Andrus, BF, 11:35.23. 2. Diana Stanley, MC, 12:00.44. 3. Darci Briere, HAV, 12:11.55. 4. Jonna Vandaveer, BC, 12:12.82. 5. Kira Crenshaw, RON, 12:14.66. 6. Alexis DiGiovine, BC, 12:18.40.
Saturday
400 relay - 1. Anaconda 50.76; 2. Whitefish 50.84; 3. Livingston 51.21; 4. Belgrade 51.49; 5. Sidney 51.53; 6. Dillon 51.69.
300 hurdles - 1. Brianne Schipman, GLE, 46.75; 2. Miranda Fehilly, SID, 47.05; 3. Sharon Peterson, COR, 47.18; 4. Bridget Farr, SID, 47.19; 5. Jessie Greany, BEL, 47.50; 6. Cara Laslovich, ANA, 47.88.
100 hurdles - 1. Bridget Farr, SID, 15.06; 2. Sharon Peterson, COR, 15.67; 3. Jessie Greany, BEL, 15.86; 4. Brianne Schipman, GLE, 16.20; 5. Emily Hager, DIL, 16.22; 6. Samantha Barkell, ANA, 16.60.
100 - 1. Ashley DellaSilva, COR, 12.90; 2. Olivia Rider, Liv, 12.92; 3. Autumn Domitrovich, ANA, 13.01; 4. Courtney Ferda, WF, 13.04; 5. Brianna Ackerman, Liv, 13.08; 6. Jillian Hoblitt, BEL, 13.15.
Triple jump - 1. Cassie Stoneman, CF, 34-11; 2. Allison Tolman, FRE, 34-5; 3. Jillian Hoblitt, BEL, 33-9; 4. Erin Greiner, WF, 33-9; 5. Marni Hale, WF, 33-4; 6. Carmen Neuens, HAV, 33-2.
400 - 1. Erin Clark, FRE, 58.58; 2. Autumn Domitrovich, ANA, 59.37; 3. Elizaberth Coughlin, BEL, 59.74; 4. Olivia Rider, Liv, 1:00.04; 5. Gio Ruffatto; SID, 1:01.80; 6. Lauren Kuennen, WF, 1;02.10.
1,600 - 1. Brooke Andrus, Big, 5:10.23; 2. Diana Stanley, MC, 5:28.64; 3. Cara Laslovich, ANA, 5:29.27; 4. Jessica Boyer, CF, 5:30.23; 5. Kathy RunningCrane, Bro, 5:31.09; 6. Darci Briere, HAV, 5:33.48.
Discus - 1. Bekah Stoltz, CF, 133-5; 2. Liz Castro, DIL, 127-9 3. Molly Klaboe, MC, 112-11; 4. Brittney Harvey, BEL, 110-5; 5. Ciera Bunch; 6. Cara Bull Shows, HAR, 105-2.
Pole vault - 1. Kari Mowbray, POL, 10-9; 2. Kayla Marton, 3. (tie)Katelyn Koch, SID, 9-6; (tie) Nicki Zimmerman, GLE, 9-6; 5. Miranda Fehilly, SID, 9-0; 6. Carmel Johnston, WF, 8-6.
200 - 1. Jillian Hoblitt, BEL, 26.13; 2. Autumn Domitrovich, ANA, 26.20; 3. Olivia Rider, Liv, 26.29; 4. Courtney Ferda, Liv, 26.29; 5. Ashley Della Silva, Corv, 26.59; 6. Brianna Ackerman, Liv, 26.72.
1,600 relay - 1. Anaconda 4:01.28; 2. BEL, 4:01.71; 3. Bigfork 4:11.35; 4. Whitefish 4:13.21; 5. Dillon 4:13.99; 6. CF, 4:14.66.
