North Star girls bring home another trophy

LAUREL — After the conclusion of yet another Class C state track and field meet, it should come as no surprise that many area athletes had another standout weekend of competition.

A second consecutive girls’ state title was on the line for the North Star Knights. And while the milestone wasn’t reached, the Knights did help lead the way for the success found by the Hi-Line teams and individuals that competed Friday and Saturday in Laurel.

Superior had a strong weekend, capturing the state girls title with 58 points. Seeley-Swan was second with 46, and the Knights were a close third with 41. Charlo took the boys’ title with 62 points, while Belt was second with 48, and Victor was third with 35.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters also had a strong showing by their boys team. The Beeters finished in sixth place with 23 points. Big Sandy finished with eight, while Box Elder and North Star each finished with six points. In girls action, Chester/J-I finished with 19, while Chinook finished with two points.

The Knights had three girls step up and have big weekends, as well as Cooper Spicher for the boys team.

Spicher placed in three events, sixth in the 110 hurdles, sixth in the triple jump, and fourth in the long jump. Spicher ran a 16.32 in the 110 hurdles, and jumped over 40-10 in the triple jump, and over 20-9 in the long jump.

For the girls team, Tylynn Rettig, Bettie Carlon, and Lisa Carlon placed in two events each. Bettie Carlon won the triple jump with a distance of 36-2, and took second in the long jump with a distance of 16-5. Lisa Carlon took second in the triple jump with a distance of 35-4, while also taking third in the long jump, with a jump of 16-4. Rettig placed sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.17, and also stepped up and took second place in the pole vault, clearing 9-6.

The Beeter boys got a great state meet from Dylan Surber and Zach Molyneaux, while the Chinook girls earned their points from Britney Nelson.

Surber placed second in the 400 with a time of 50.95, and also placed third in the 100 with a time of 11.32 and fifth in the 800 with a time of 2:03.52. Molyneaux placed sixth in the 100 with a time of 11.62, and also placed in the shot put and discus. Molyneaux had a toss of 46-7 to take fifth in the shot put, and a toss of 140-9 to take fourth in the discus. Nelson placed fifth for the girls, throwing a 114-4 in the discus.

And while the Bears, Pioneers and Hawks didn’t make strong statements in the team standings, they too earned standout performances from a handful of athletes.

The Bears’ Will Ketchum placed in two events. Ketchum ran a 10:12.82, good enough for a fourth-place finish in the 3,200-meter, and a 4:34.82, earning a fifth-place finish in the 1,600-meter. Big Sandy’s Kaden Beck finished second in the shot put with a throw of 47-1, while the C/J-I Hawks’ two girls place in four total events. Katelyn Graff took third in the pole vault with a height of 9-0, while Brittnee Theel placed in the long jump, 300 hurdles, and 100 hurdles. Theel ran a 15.98 in the 100 hurdles and placed second, while her time of 48.53 was good enough for sixth in the 300 hurdles, and her jump of 16-4 was good enough for a fourth-place finish in the long jump.

Overall, the Hi-Line was well-represented at the Class C state track meet. And with a good chunk of these athletes returning next season, local teams should already be poised to make another run at state glory come next season.