Area teams should shine at Northern C

Class C track teams from across the Hi-Line have shined all season long. They house some of the state's top talent and have remained competitive all season long, but most recently they made their marks at district meets all over the state.

Today the competition will continue, as the Chester/J-I Hawks, Big Sandy Pioneers, North Star Knights, Turner Tornadoes, Chinook Sugarbeeters, Box Elder Bears and Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds will all compete for Northern C hardware. The Northern C meet will take place today in Great Falls.

Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson

Chinook's Kayla Hanson lands in the pit during the girls triple jump at last week's District 9C meet in Havre. Hanson is one of many local athletes who should do very well at today's Northern C Divisional in Great Falls.

In the girls field, the Knights have to be looked at as a favorite to win the team title.

The Knights are coming off of their fifth straight District 9C title, where they overpowered the competition with 245 team points earning them the No. 1 spot. The Sugarbeeters came in second with 150 and the Pioneers finished third with 83 points. The Thunderbirds came in fourth with 12, while the Tornadoes finished fifth with eight and the Bears finished in sixth place with six points.

Going into the Northern C, the Knights could possibly find similar results.

Lisa Carlon and Jordan Spicher should lead the Knights. Carlon qualified in the long jump, high jump, triple jump, pole vault and the short relay, and Spicher qualified in the pole vault, 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles and 400-meter. Spicher also runs in the short relay. But the Knights should find success in numbers, as Shelby Lipp (shot put, javelin and discus), Bettie Carlon (long jump, high jump, triple jump and both relays), Haylee Anderson (100-meter and 200-meter), Taylor Warren (800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter), Delainey Spicher (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Bridjour Han (1600-meter, high jump), Melisa Pester (100 hurdles), Sierra Yanny (pole vault and 800-meter), Whitney Wendland (shot put, discus and javelin) and Kali Twedt (200-meter, high jump and triple jump), also qualified for the Northern C.

The Sugarbeeters should also fight for position, as they qualified top talent such as Kayla Hanson, Kayceen Pursley, Laramie Pursley, Ashley Bower, Talya Johnson, Summer Edwards, Laura Nussbaum, Paige Moxley, Makhayla Farmer, Tavin Schneider, Emily Dennis and both relays.

The Big Sandy girls also qualified a select few, including Quintin Pegar, Brooke Leader, Brandy Bahnmiller, Meteila Cline, Leela Engle and both relay teams. Molly Herron also qualified and should shine for the Pioneers in the 100, 400-meter and 800-meters. And also coming out of the 9C, Kristie Runsabove will make the trip for the Thunderbirds, while the Bears will send Rebecca Rosette and the Tornadoes will send Shania Malonet abd Lyndsey Hutton.

But the 10C Hawks can't be overlooked either, as their girls are coming off of a No. 2 finish in the 10C Meet. Kate Graff (pole vault and 800-meter), Cheyloe Forbes (discus, javelin and shot put), Shari Belcher (discus and long jump), Caitlin Vinson (100 hurdles and 300 hurdles), Brittnee Theel (100-meter, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles)

The boys field will be a fight for all of the area Class C teams, but Chinook would like to hope it has a shot at the No. 1 spot after a first-place finish at districts.

The Beeters are taking a solid group to Great Falls, including Tyler Molyneaux, Dylan Surber, Taylor Erskine, Wyatt Brandal and Kaylan Johnson, who all scored at least 28 points each at districts. Molyneaux leads the Beeters in the both relays, as well as the 100, discus and shot put. Zach Molyneaux, Jacob Maclean, Geoff Qualls, Taylor Riphenburg and Barry Murnion will also compete today.

The Knights also send a solid group of competitors this weekend, including Connor Kline (tiple jump, long jump, pole vault and hurdles), Jordy Donoven 200-meter, 400-meter, long jump, triple jump and javelin) and Quinn Spinler (hurdles and 800-meter), who have led the Knights all season long.

Cooper Spicher, Shelby Sizemore, Donoven Ulmen, Karston Donoven and both relays also made the cut.

Travis Hofer (100-meter, 200-meter, triple jump, long jump and high jump) and Rylan Hofer (javelin, triple jump and long jump) will lead the Tornadoes, while Big Sandy, Box Elder, Hays-Lodge Pole and C/J-I are also led by a select few. The Pioneers should get good production from Ryan Miller, Adam Quinn, Trevor Lackner, Zac Leader, Justin Stevens, Kaden Beck and both relays, while the Bears send William Ketchum and the Thunderbirds send Tyler Roberts.

And the Hawks, coming off of a fourth place finish at districts, will send Erik Kelly, Cody Ramberg, Jordan Oraw and Jeff Wanken. Brandon Graff will also make the trip and should find solid points in the pole vault and discus.

The Northern C is a tough meet, but the local talent should find good success today in Great Falls. The top six from each event at the Northern C will advance to next weekend's Class C state meet in Missoula.