Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
A changing of the guard may have taken place at the Ralph Halverson Northern C Divisional track meet on Thursday at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.
The Big Sandy boys captured their first team title in head coach Roy Lackner's tenure, ending Chester's two-year title run by a mere six points.
Going into the final event of the day, the two squads were tied at 56. Unfortunately for Chester, that final event might be Big Sandy's best - the 1,600-meter relay. The Pioneers hold the fastest time in the state in the long relay and it showed why on Thursday.
The team of Karl Osterman, Kyle Danreuther, Justin Willis and Ryan Pokorny ran a solid time of 3:34.85 to win the event by almost six seconds, earning the Pioneers 10 team points and securing the title. Chester's team of Zach Ramberg, Tyler Han, Patrick Wicks and Caleb Brown finished fourth, accumulating four team points, leaving the Coyotes six points short of their third straight title.
"I don't when the last time Big Sandy won a divisional title, but I'm going to look around and find out," Lackner said. "I think it may have been in 1972 or 73. I'm sure the trophy's got plenty of dust on it."
Lackner was somewhat peeved with what he felt was a slight in the Great Falls Tribune on the day of the meet and used it as a little motivation.
"It said that Big Sandy should be in the hunt for a piece of hardware," he said. "Well, we got a pretty big piece of hardware."
Unlike the District 9C meet, where the Pioneers ran roughshod on opponents in nearly every running event, Big Sandy only won one individual event besides the 1,600-meter relay.
Sophomore Kyle Danreuther continued his run to a state title in the 300 hurdles. Danreuther ran a 40.69, beating Ross Mosher of Augusta by more than two seconds.
"Danreuther just smoked people in the 300 hurdles," Lackner said. "He's going to be the favorite going into the state meet."
While Big Sandy didn't win any more individual titles, the Pioneers still scored plenty of points in other ways, particularly in the 400 meters where they racked up 18 points. Danreuther finished second, while Karl Osterman and Justin Willis finished third and fourth, respectively.
"Finishing 2-3-4 in the 400, that doesn't happen very often," Lackner said.
Big Sandy picked up a big second in the 400 relay as Pokorny, Danreuther, Willis and Lawrence Jappe teamed up to run a solid time of 45.54, just behind Power, which ran a 45.30.
The Pioneers also picked up key points in the 800 and 1,600. Talented freshman Darin Ray finished third with a 2:07.63. Blue Sky/J-I's Alex Frey defended his title in the event, edging Chester's Isaac VanDyke with a 2:04.50.
In the 1,600, Ray finished third, while teammate Jon Sheehy was sixth. Sheehy also added a sixth in the 3,200.
"Darin ran as good a time as he's ever run in the 800," Lackner said. "He battled them the whole way and came up short down the backstretch. Then he places in the 1,600. He did a nice job. We also get some points from Jon Sheehy that were big. He's never placed at a divisional."
And that was the big thing for the Pioneers, picking up points in every event that they had athletes in. Pokorny finished fourth in a very tough 100 meter field, while Lawrence Jappe added a fifth in the long jump with season best lead of 18-03.
"It really was a total team effort for us," Lackner said. "We just didn't have one or two kids dominate and the rest of the team sit back and watch. The boys were pretty excited with the win."
Lackner was more excited that all of his kids qualified for state in the events he hoped.
"I didn't even keep track of the team points all day," he said. "When they announced that we were tied going into the last event, I was pretty confident because we're pretty good in that event."
Perhaps the most exciting thing for Lackner is his prospects for next year, considering his team doesn't have a single senior on it.
"All these kids are going to be back next year, a year stronger and a year more experienced," he said. "And a lot of the kids that beat us in events are seniors. We might be getting another big piece of hardware next year."
Chester's title run didn't come to an end without a fight. As expected, distance standout Isaac VanDyke won both the 1,600 and 3,200 in dominant fashion. His time of 4:50.47 in the 1,600 was six seconds faster than runner-up Stephen Wall. VanDyke blew the field away in the 3,200, this time beating Wall by more than 15 seconds. Fellow distance runner Caleb Brown added a a fourth in the 800 and 1,600.
Chester also picked points in the 400 relay as Ramberg, Wicks, Thomas Kim and Casey Buffington finished third with a 46.35. Individually, Ramberg picked up fourths in the long and triple jumps and Buffington was fourth in the javelin.
Blue Sky/J-I finished seventh overall in the boys. Besides Frey's win in the 800, senior Craig Miller added a win in the discus with a toss of 152-05. Miller also finished fourth in the shot put, while teammate Conrad Wendland was third in the pole vault.
On the girls side, the Geraldine Tigers rode the performances of Toni Qunell, Rachel Clark and Alicia Burtchett to an easy team title, scoring 116 points. Chester was second with 69, while Blue Sky/J-I was third with 57.
The trio of Qunell, Clark and Burtchett were responsible for 96.50 of Geraldine's points, and racked up their fourth Northern C Divisional title.
As expected, Qunell repeated her feat of winning five individual events, taking home titles in the 100, 200, 400 and 100 and 300 hurdles. Clark finished second in the 200 and the triple jump, third in the 400, fourth in the long jump and anchored the Tigers' winning 1,600 relay squad. Burtchett won the discus and finished second in the shot put.
Chester got a solid day from senior Jill Johnson. Johnson won the 1,600 and 3,200, finished fourth in the 800, sixth in the pole vault for 25 team points for the Coyotes. Johnson held off Michelle Melton of Denton and Big Sandy's Morgan Darlington in the mile with a time of 5:57.42. In the 3,200, Johnson was also in a dogfight, edging Dutton-Brady's Bryana Gondeiro of Belt by a second with a 12:47.06.
Brittany Kolstad also had a solid day for the Coyotes, finishing third in the 100 and 300 hurdles, third in the 200 and fourth in the 400. Kolstad, Johnson, Brianne Wolfe and Keyla Briese finished second in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:27.62. Wolfe picked up a big second-place finish in the 400, while Leisa Kolstad was fourth in the triple jump.
Blue Sky/J-I finished a solid third led by Hannah Pimley's repeat title in the high jump. Pimley easily won the event with a leap of 5-03. Teammate Deserie O'Neil finished tied for second with a leap of 4-10. KG's Kate Vosen was sixth in the event.
Senior Kaila Warren placed fourth in the 100 and 300 hurdles, while Kile Patrick added a third in the 3,200 and fifth-place finishes in the 1,600 and 3,200. Courtney Wendland and Tia Pester added a third-place finishes in the javelin and pole vault, respectively.
Big Sandy's Morgan Darlington had a solid day. The freshman won the 800 with a time of 2:33.75, edging Erin Econom of Winifred. Darlington added a third in the 1,600.
Ralph Halverson Northern C Divisional
GIRLS
Team scores
1. Geraldine 116; 2. Chester 69; 3. Blue Sky/Joplin-Inverness 57; 4. Belt 29; 5. Grass Range 28; 6. Highwood 28; 7. Centerville 26; 8. Stanford 26; 9. Denton 23; 10. Geyser 21; 11. Big Sandy 18; 11. Power 18; 13. Judith Gap 16; 14. Dutton-Brady 13; 15. Sunburst 10; 16. Hobson 9; 17. Winifred 8; 18. Augusta 4; 19. Winnett 3; 20. Valier 2; 21; Kremlin-Gildford 1; 21. Moore 1; 21. Turner 1.
Individual Results
100 - 1. Toni Qunell, Geraldine, 13.12; 2. Brittany Olson, Grass Range, 13.70; 3. Durbin Watson, Geyser, 14.08; 4. Mandy Dutton, Dutton-Brady, 14.10; 5. Jacque Mellinger, Power, 14.11; 6. Malori Woodford, Winnett, 14.33.
200 - Toni Qunell, Geraldine, 26.54; 2. Rachel Clark, Geraldine, 27.50; 3. Brittney Kolstad, Chester, 27.82; 4. Brittany Olson, Grass Range, 27.94; 5. Durbin Watson, Geyser, 28.25; 6. Deserie O'Neil, Blue Sky/J-I, 28.37.
400 - Toni Qunell, Geraldine, 60.11; 2. Brianne Wolfe, Chester, 61.09; 3. Rachel Clark, Geraldine, 61.43; 4. Brittney Kolstad, Chester, 61.57; 5. Shersteen Cline, Big Sandy, 63.10; 6. Malori Woodford, Winnett, 63.20.
800 - Morgan Darlington, Big Sandy, 2:33.75; 2. Erin Econom, Winifred, 2:34.37; 3. Shelby Goettemoeller, Denton, 2:37.25; 4. Jill Johnson, Chester, 2:38.14; 5. Kile Patrick, Blue Sky/J-I 2:39.61; 6. Tia Best, Moore, 2:40.38.
1,600 - 1. Jill Johnson, Chester, 5:57.42; 2. Michelle Melton, Denton, 5:59.06; 3. Morgan Darlington, Big Sandy, 6:02.52; 4. Samantha Halko, Centerville, 6:04.33; 5. Kile Patrick, Blue Sky/J-I, 6:07.44; 6. Lacey Beerman, Power, 6:08.73.
3,200 - 1. Jill Johnson, Chester, 12:47.06; 2. Bryana Gondeiro, Belt, 12:48.50; 3. Kile Patrick, Blue Sky/J-I, 12:50.27; 4. Samantha Halko, Centerville, 12:59.53; 5. Tanna Von Bergen, Hobson, 13:13.20; 6. Cassie Kiehl, Winnett, 13:38.27,
100 hurdles - 1. Toni Qunell, Geraldine, 16.07; 2. Brittany Olson, Grass Range, 16.10; 3. Brittney Kolstad, Chester, 16.81; 4. Kaila Warren, Blue Sky/J-I, 17.09; 5. Kallie Merrill, Judith Gap, 17.17; 6. Kari Taylor, Stanford, 17.49.
300 hurdles - 1. Toni Qunell, Geraldine, 45.89; 2. Brittany Olson, Grass Range, 46.0; 3. Brittney Kolstad, Chester, 48.25; 4. Kaila Warren, Blue Sky/J-I, 50.08; 5. Kallie Merrill, Judith Gap, 50.54; 6. Michelle Melton, Denton, 51.29.
400 relay - Highwood (Whitney Baum, Jessica Birgenheir, Brittnee Dyk, Katie Schipf) 53.96; 2. Geyser 54.17; 3. Judith Gap 54.56; 4. Blue Sky/J-I 54.66; 5. Chester 54.8; 6. Power 54.98.
1,600 relay - Geraldine (Sande Jenae, Leslie Engellant, Shari Bronec, Rachel Clark), 4:23.19; 2. Chester 4:27.62; 3. Blue Sky/J-I 4:27.82; 4. Sunburst 4:28.99; 5. Denton 4:29.39; 6. Geyser 4:34.10;
Long jump - 1. Andi Wilhalm, Centerville, 16-10.75; 2. Whitney Baum, Highwood, 16-4.50; 3. Erica Warner, Judith Gap, 16-4.25; 4. Rachel Clark, Geraldine, 16-3; 5. Leslie Engellant, Geraldine, 15-11; 6. Aliece Wichman, Belt, 15-8.25.
Triple jump - 1. Whitney Baum, Highwood, 34-0.75; 2. Rachel Clark, Geraldine, 34.-0.75; 3. Andi Wilhalm, Centerville, 33-10.75; 4. Leisa Kolstad, Chester, 33-1.5; 5. Rachael Dammen, Centerville, 33-0; 6. Kari Taylor, Stanford, 32-8.75.
High jump - 1. Hannah Pimley, Blue Sky/J-I, 5-3; 2. Allison Linhart, Hobson, 4-10; 2. Deseirie O'Neil, Blue Sky/J-I, 4-10; 4. Madalyn Morris, 4-10; 5. Mandy Neumann, Geyser, 4-10; 6. Kate Vosen, KG, 4-10.
Pole vault - 1. Jordan Merrill, Stanford, 9-0; 2. Jacque Mellinger, Power, 8-6; 3. Lexa Loch, Power, 8-0; 3. Tia Pester, Blue Sky/J-I, 8-0; 5. Cayla Deboo, Valier, 8-0; 6. Jill Johnson, Chester, 8-0.
Shot put - 1. Abby Bumgarner, Belt, 33-11.25; 2. Alicia Burtchett, Geraldine, 33-6.25; 3. Raynee Pace, Sunburst, 32-7.25; 4. Kelsee Clark, Geraldine, 31-8.75; 5. Heather Kirby, Stanford, 31-7.75; 6. Jacque Mellinger, Power, 31-6.
Javelin - 1. Jessica Golden, Belt, 114-10; 2. Ashlee Johnson, Dutton-Brady, 112-10; 3. Courntey Wendland, Blu Sky-JI, 112-3; 4. Marissa Clark, Geraldine, 108-4; 5. Meghan McDonald, Geyser, 108-4; 6. Ashton Gondeiro, Dutton-Brady, 107-10.
Discus - 1. Alicia Burtchett, Geraldine, 118-2; 2. Jenna Dalla Mura, Stanford, 110-1; 3. Jenessa Todd, Denton, 109-1; 4. Heather Kirby, Stanford, 107-8; 5. Kelsee Clark, Geraldine, 98; Ashley Van Voast, Turner, 98-4.
BOYS
Team scores
1. Big Sandy 66; 2. Chester 60; 3. Belt 42; 4. Denton 41; 4. Power 41; 5. Power 38; 6. Geyser 38; 7. Blue Sky/J-I 30; 8. Augusta 29.5; 9. Centerville 20; 9. Judith Gap 20; 9. Judith Gap 20; 9. Valier 20. 13. Stanford 19; 14. Geraldine 16; 14. Grass Range 16; 14. Hobson 16; 17. Kremlin-Gildford 10.25; 18. Roy 10; 19. Highwood 4.25; 20. Great Falls Central/MSDB 4; 21. Heart Butte 2; 22. Winifred 2.
Individual Results
100 - 1. Talon Allen, Power, 11.39; 2. Calvin Walter, Judith Gap, 11.64; 3. Aric Clark, Sunburst, 11.70; 4. Ryan Pokorny, Big Sandy, 11.78; 5. Garath Stahl, Grass Range, 11.84; 6. Jeff Trafelet, Valier, 12.0.
200 - Talon Allen, Power, 22.98; 2. Calvin Walter, Judith Gap, 23.15; 3. Aric Clark, Sunburst, 23.79; 4. Garath Stahl, Grass Range, 24.0; 5. Ryan Neumann, Geyser, 24.31; 6. Trevor Daer, Belt, 24.64.
400 - Garath Stahl, Grass Range, 51.64; 2. Kyle Danreuther, Big Sandy, 52.23; 3. Karl Osterman, Big Sandy, 52.53; 4. Justin Willis, Big Sandy, 52.97; 5. Ryne Nelson, Valier, 53.0; 6. Chris Magnuson, Centerville, 53.05.
800 - Alex Frey, Blue Sky/J-I, 2:04.50; 2. Isaac Van Dyke, Chester, 2:04.98; 3. Darin Ray, Big Sandy, 2:07.63; 4. Caleb Brown, Chester, 2:07.97; 5. Brian Davison, Highwood, 2:08.01; 6. Brien Peterson, Denton, 2:10.70.
1,600 - Isaac Van Dyke, Chester, 4:50.47; 2. Stephan Wall, Belt, 4:56.40; 3. Darin Ray, Big Sandy, 5:02.33; 4. Caleb Brown, Chester, 5:04.57; 5. Mort Poser, Denton, 5:07.23; 6. Jon Sheehy, Big Sandy, 5:11.88.
3,200 - Isaac Van Dyke, Chester, 10:17.87; 2. Stephan Wall, Belt, 10:32.19; 3. Cody Joyce, Geraldine, 11:11.0; 4. Nathan Henry, Great Falls Central-MSDB, 11:25.65; 5. George Moreno, Heart Butte, 11:36.53; 6. Jon Sheehy, Big Sandy, 11:49.12.
110 hurdles - Brian Guisti, Centerville, 15.96; 2. Vojtech Pohdradsky, Augusta, 16.09; 3. Brenton Melton, Denton, 16.19; 4. Cody Donoven, KG, 16.67; 5. Tyler Vanaken, Centerville, 17.39; 6. Bret Bahnmiller, Highwood, 17.41.
300 hurdles - 1. Kyle Danreuther, Big Sandy, 40.69; 2. Ross Mosher, Augusta, 42.52; 3. Cody Donoven, KG 43.19; 4. Brenton Melton, Denton, 43.22; 5. Kevin May, Chester, 43.40; 6. Bret Bahnmiller, Highwood, 44.0.
400 relay - 1. Power (Chad Sievers, Talon Allen, Cody Ewert, Logan Manzaners) 45.3; 2. Big Sandy 45.54; 3. Chester 46.35; 4. Valier 46.65; 5. Augusta 46.91; 6. Geraldine 47.25.
1,600 relay - 1. Big Sandy (Karl Osterman, Kyle Danreuther, Justin Willis, Ryan Pokorny) 3:34.85; 2. Belt 3:40.73; 3. Denton 3:41.65; 4. Chester 3:42.28; 5. Centerville 3:44.46; 6. Augusta 3:45.32.
Long jump - 1. Vojtech Pohrdradsky, Augusta, 19-6; 2. Ryan Neumann, Geyser, 19-6; 3. Dakota Wergin, Belt, 19-5; 4. Zach Ramberg, Chester, 18-4; 5. Lawrence Jappe, Big Sandy, 18-3.5; 6. Talon Allen, Power, 17-10.5.
Triple jump - 1. Talon Allen, Power, 43-3.5; 2. Ryan Neumann, Geyser, 42-9; 3. Derek Sande, Geraldine, 42-7; 4. Zach Ramberg, Chester, 42-4; 5. Hunter Kerkes, Centerville, 41-6; 6. Trevor Daer, Belt, 41-2.5.
High jump - 1. Dakota Wergin, Belt, 6-0; 2. Casey Willmore, Roy, 6-0; 3. Lance Nemec, Denton, 6-0; 4. Clint Dean, Valier, 5-10; 5. Nate Aschim, Sunburst, 5-10; 6. JC Isakson Augusta, 5-8; 6. Craig Halko, Centerville, 5-8; 6. Bret Bahnmiller, Highwood, 5-8; 6. Branden Melby, KG, 5-8.
Pole vault - 1. Daniel Hawkey, Stanford, 12-3; 2. Clint Dean, Valier, 11-6; 3. Conrad Wendland, Blue Sky/J-I, 11-6; 4. Cole Derks, Denton, 121-6; 5. Levi Clark, Geraldine, 11-0; 6. Jeff Trafelet, Valier, 10-6.
Shot put - 1. Brock Hansen, Geyser, 48-7; 2. Wacy Deegan, Stanford, 46-9; 3. Stanton Schulze, Sunburst, 46-7.25; 4. Craig Miller, Blue Sky/J-I, 45-8.5; 5. Casey Willmore, Roy, 44-5.5; 6. Adam Schilling, Centerville, 43-5.
Discus - 1. Craig Miller, Blue Sky/J-I, 152-5; 2. Ryan Kolar, Hobson, 151-5; 3. Mark Buckentin, Denton, 145-6; 4. Weston Merrill, Judith Gap, 139-3.5; 5. Adam Schilling, Centerville, 139-2.5; 6. Wacy Deegan, Stanford, 133-10.
Javelin - 1. Brock Hansen, Geyser, 163-4; 2. Adam Waltz, Hobson, 162-9; 3. Scott Buckentin, Denton, 160-10; 4. Casey Buffington, Chester, 157-1; 5. Steve Foran, Winifred, 152-1; 6. Casey Clark, Geraldine, 150-5.
