Knights, Beeters capture Cal Wearley titles

If the 2013 track season wasn't in full swing before, it certainly is now, at least for a number of local programs.

North Star's Tylynn Rettig leads the 100-meter field during Wednesday's Cal Wearley track meet at the Havre Middle School Track. Rettig scored big points for the champion Knights.

The annual Cal Wearley track and field meet took over the Havre Middle School track on Wednesday. And with 30 teams in attendance, a lot of top tier athletes faced off against a deep field.

For the second straight year, the North Star Knights captured the team title in girls action, finishing the afternoon with 80.5 points. The Havre Blue Ponies were second with 74, while the Chinook Sugarbeeters were third with 55. Other team scores included Fairfield with 49, Choteau with 34, Belt with 34, Cut Bank with 27.5, Malta with 26, Chester/J-I with 21, Cascade with 19, Big Sandy with 16, Simms with 14, Augusta with 13, Fort Benton with 12, Denton with 10, North Toole County with 10, Valier with nine, Whitewater with seven, Roy-Winifred with six and Great Falls Central with three.

North Star junior Bettie Carlon races in the girls 200 meters Wednesday at the HMS track.

And in the boys meet, it was Chinook who captured the No. 1 spot with 62 points. Malta was second with 52 and Havre and Fairfield were both third with 49.25 points each. Box Elder and Rocky Boy scored 20 points, North Star had 13, Chester/J-I had 11.25, Big Sandy had 11 and Hays-Lodge Pole scored one.

"Thirty teams came, and I don't think everybody is all full strength," North Star head coach Brian Campbell said. "A lot of kids pulled out as the day went on and we were all concerned with staying healthy, but we had great competition. You aren't going to go to very meets where you can run seven heats of the 100 meters and six of the 200-meter."

Big Sandy's Kaylie Gilman won the girls high jump at Wednesday's Cal Wearley meet in Havre.

After winning the meet last season, then winning the State C girls title, North Star wanted to come out with another win. But it didn't come easy, as they had to fend off the Class A Ponies. The Knight's win came after the final race of the day, the long relay, in which the Knights finished second, and the Ponies scratched from the event and did not compete.

"I don't know how many points they scored throughout the day," Campbell said. "But those eight points that they scored during that relay were huge. And just being willing to race and get in there and compete, that was great. This meet is a huge stepping-stone, I always tell my girls that if they do well here, then divisionals and state will come. It was great for us to follow what we did last year with another win."

Chester/J-I's Brittnee Theel leads the way in the girls high hurdles Wednesday in Havre.

But the Knights still got points from some of their usual powerhouses to help the cause.Tylynn Rettig placed in five events to help lead the way. She finished No. 1 in the 100 with a time of 13.3, while also placing second in the 200 with a time of 29.0, and third in the triple jump with a leap of 32-2. Rettig also finished fourth in the long jump with a distance of 14-5 and sixth in the pole vault, clearing 7-6. But Bettie Carlon and Delainey Spicher also pitched in by placing in multiple events. Carlon finished first in the 200 with a time of 28.7, as well as first in the long jump (15-8) and first in the triple jump (34-4). Spicher finished third in the 100 hurdles (17.8) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (53.1). Sarah Human also finished fourth in javelin with a toss of 96-11. North Star's long relay team finished with a time of 5:03.1, sealing the win in the final event of the day.

Chinook's Hannah Weber competes in the 800 meters at Wednesday's Cal Wearley track meet at the HMS track.

The Beeter girls also had quite a few top finishers to put their program near the top of the pack. Britney Nelson was No. 1 in the discus with a toss of 113-1, but also placed second in the shot put (30-9) and third in the javelin (101-9). Hannah Weber and Makhayla Farmer also placed in multiple events. Weber was second in the 800 with a time of 2:34.3, and third in the 1,600 with a time of 6:04.0. Farmer was fifth in the Javelin with a throw of 93-1, sixth in the high jump with a height of 4-04, third in the shot put with a throw of 30-6, and fourth in the discus with a throw of 88-10. Tavin Schneider also placed fourth in the shot put (30-2) for Chinook.

Chinook's Geoff Qualls leaps in the long jump at Wednesday's Cal Wearley track meet in Havre. Qualls helped the Sugarbeeters to the boys title.

Big Sandy got its points from the short relay team finishing in third with a time of 56.3, and from Kaylie Gilman finishing the high jump in first place with a cleared height of 4-8. Turner's points came from Shania Maloney clearing 4-4 in the high jump, finishing in fifth place.

And for the C/J-I Hawks, they earned points from two individuals, including Brittnee Theel placing in four events. Theel was second in the 300 hurdles (52.3) and second in the long jump (14-9). Theel also placed fifth in the 100 hurdles (17.9) and fifth in the triple jump (31-2). Tianna Houlihan placed sixth in the shot put with a toss of 28-6.

North Star's Jaxson Simonson throws the discus during Wednesday's Cal Wearley Invite in Havre.

On the boys' side of things, the Beeters got the majority of their points from a select few. Dylan Surber, Zach Molyneuax, and Geoff Qualls had great afternoon's for the Beeters.

Surber had a No. 1 finish in the 100 with a time of 11.7 and a first-place finish in the 200 with a time of 23.2. And Qualls had a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles with a time of 43.8, a third-place finish in the triple jump with a jump of 38-8, and a fifth place finish in the long jump with a jump of 18-9. And rounding things out, Molyneaux had a second-place toss of 128-1 in the discus, as well as a third place toss of 149-7 in the javelin, and a third-place toss of 41.3 in the shot put. The Chinook short relay also finished second with a time of 45.9. The Pioneers earned their points from Trevor Lackner's sixth-place finish in the 400 (57.7), and Kaden Beck's first-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 44-7. Rocky Boy also had a standout performer in Kyle Olson, as Olson was first in the 1,600 (4:41.7) and first in the 3,200 (10:10.0). Box Elder's Will Ketchum wasn't far behind, as he was second in the 1,600 (5:04.6) and third in the 3,200 (no time). Ketchum was also first in the 800 with a time of 2:10.4.

C/J-I's Mike Henke flies through the air in the long jump at Wednesday's Cal Wearley in Havre.

For North Star, the points came from Quinn Spinler. Spinler was third in the 110 hurdles (17.4) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (44.5). North Star's long relay team also finished fourth with a time of 4:10.6. The C/J-I Hawks had a decent showing as well, as Mike Henke and Erik Kelly combined for the majority of the team points. Henke was fifth tin the 200 with a time of 25.3 and tied for sixth in the high jump with a height of 5-4. Kelly was second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.8. The short relay team also placed sixth (48.2).

Overall, the Cal Wearley was as competitive as ever as 30 teams gathered and packed each and every event with multiple competitors and multiple heats. It takes a great performance for any athlete to place near the top at this growing meet, making the Cal Wearley a great launching point for any program.

Box Elder's Will Ketchum wins the 800 meters at the Cal Wearley Invite Wednesday in Havre.

"I am a little biased," Campbell said. "But I honestly think that this is one of the best meets of the whole year. But to have it this early, it can really tell you where your team is at and where they are going. It can also give you an idea of how your team can compete, and I love that we have so many teams that are willing to come and compete. I had 10 teams that weren't in the meet call and ask if they could get in, so it is stuff like that, that gives this meet such a good name."