Longhorns cruise to a 9C girls repeat

The Fort Benton girls are putting together a dominant run in track and Wednesday at the District 9C girls track meet, the Longhorns walked away with some more hardware.

When the competition was all said and done, the Longhorns didn't just win the the 9C championship - they dominated it. Fort Benton took home first place in eight of the 17 events, including both the 400 and 1,600-meter relays en route to 245 points. That was more than double the point total of second-place Chinook, which finished with 109 points. In third place was North Star which finished with 55 points. Fort Benton's point total was the most at the 9C girls meet since 2012 when North Star matched the feat.

"It feels really good to win it again," Fort Benton standout Leah Gannon said after the meet. "I think that just shows that we are still working really hard and pushing each other to get better. We just need to keep doing that this week in practice and try to get ourselves as ready as we can for divisionals."

Gannon, a junior, was a big part of the Longhorns' day-long domination at the Havre Middle School track. She was part of four first-place finishes, as she won the 800 (2:24), the 400 (1:02.5) and the long jump (16-02). Gannon also ran the anchor for Fort Benton in the 1,600-relay as the Longhorns posted a time of 4:21 and helped the Longhorns win the 400-meter relay with a time of 51.6.

"I just tried to come and get some PRs," Gannon said. "I didn't end up getting any, but I still really tried to push myself. I am also lucky that I have some really good teammates in the same events as me and that also pushes me to get better."

Gannon was far from the only Fort Benton girls athlete to see the top of the podium by the end of the day. Another was freshman thrower Maci Molinaro, who won the shot put with a throw of 30-0, finishing just ahead of teammate Hallie Lowe. Lilly Gopher of Box Elder finished third. Another Longhorn who finished on top of the podium was Nicole Axtman, who captured a district title in the triple jump (33-06) and the high jump (5-00). Axtman also finished second in the 100 and scored a total of 34 points, which led all athletes in the meet.

Axtman was also part of a group of Fort Benton runners who dominated in the 100 hurdles, as freshman Abby Clark won the event (17.10) but was followed closely by Allie Wallace, who was second and Axtman, who finished third. The pole vault also saw another Fort Benton champion crowned as McKenzie Clark won it by reaching 8-00. Fort Benton also won both relay events with teams of Gannon, Clark, Aspen Giese and Axtman. Giese finished second in both the 400, 800 and the long jump.

Some of the other individual district champions at the 9C Wednesday, included Gopher of Box Elder, who qualified for divisionals in a couple of events and won a district title in javelin with a throw of 111-10. Clark added to the Longhorns point total by finishing second. Molinaro, who won the shot put, also finished fourth for Fort Benton in both the javelin and the discus.

While Chinook didn't have what it took to hang with the Longhorns, the Sugarbeeters put together some solid performances, led by Megan Molyneaux, who won the 100 (13.45) and the 200 (27.91) and scored a bunch of points for for Chinook. Her teammate Raynee Hasler completed a similar feat, taking first in the 1,600 (6:18) and the 3,200 (13:08). Jayden Miller of Chinook also won the discus with a throw of 87-07. Another district champion was Sarah Billmayer, who took home first place in the 300 hurdles.

All of the athletes who finished in the top five of their respective events qualify to participate in the Northern C Divisional track meet in Great Falls next week.

GIRLS

Team Scores

Fort Benton 245, Chinook 109, North Star 55, Big Sandy 37, Turner 31, Box Elder 19 Chester-Joplin-Inverness 14.

100 - 1. Megan Molyneaux, CHI, 13.45; 2. Nicole Axtman, FB, 13.65; 3. Jaye Anderson, CHI. 14.25; 4. Baylee Balnsett, FB, 14.72; 5. Rylee Conlan, TUR, 14.75.

200 - 1. Megan Molyneaux, CHI 27.91; 2. Allie Wallace FB. 29.71; 3. Jaye Anderson CHI 30.05; 4. Rylee Conlan, TUR 30.85; 5. Emmi Arnst FB, 31.18.

400 - 1. Leah Gannon, FB, 1:02.56; 2. Aspen Giese, 1:03.43; 3. McKenzie Clark, FB, 1:06.17; 4. Paij Peterson, NS, 1:03.34; 5. Seanna Demontiney, BS, 1:08.57.

800 - 1. Leah Gannon, FB, 2:24.9; 2. Apsen Giese, FB 2:25; 3. McKenzie Clark, FB ,2:27.3; 4. Kourtney Hanson, CHI, 2:44; 5. Katelin Harvey, NS 2:53.2.

1,600 - 1. Raynee Hasler, CHI. 6:18; 2. Rebecca Stroh, CHI. 6:26; 3. Cassie Nack, FB, 6:41; 4. Jessica Roth, BS 6:47; 5. Noelle Bierwagen, BS, 7:16.

3,200 - 1. Raynee Hasler, CHI, 13:08; 2. Jessica Roth, BS 14:11; 3 Katelin Harvey, NS, 14:39; 4. Cassie Nack, FB, 14:52; 5. Tso Shuree, BE, 17:08.

100 H - 1. Abby Clark, FB, 17.10; 2. Allie Wallace, FB, 17.73; 3. Nicole Axtman, FB, 17.76; 4. Bailey Gasvoda, BS, 19.2; 5. Katelyn Hansen. NS, 19.73.

300 H - 1. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 50.19; 2. Allie Wallace, FB, 50.65; 3. Emmi Arnst. FB. 53.36; 4. Abrianna Blanton, BS, 55.06; 5. Rebecca Stroh, CHI, 56.19.

400 Relay - 1. Fort Benton, 51.6; 2. Chinook, 54.74; 3. Big Sandy, 58.48; 4. North Star, 1:01.

1,600 Relay - 1. Fort Benton, 4:21; 2. Chinook, 4:49; 3. Big Sandy, 4:53; 4. North Star, 5:05.

High Jump - 1. Nicole Axtman, FB, 5-00; 2. Abby Clark, FB, 4-06; 3. Paij Peterson, BS, 4-04; 4. Janae West, NS, 4-00.

Pole Vault - 1. McKenize Clark, FB, 8-00; 2. Janae West, NS, 7-06; 3. Leah Fowles, FB, 6-06.

Long Jump - 1. Leah Gannon, FB, 16-02; 2. Aspen Giese, FB, 15-02. 3. Megan Molyneaux, CHI, 14-07; 4. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 14-06; 5. Kayona Fraser, CJI, 13-09.

Triple Jump - 1. Nicole Axtman, FB, 33-06; 2. Kayona Fraser, CJI, 30-03; 3. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 30-01; 4. Samantha May, CJI, 29-05; 5. Kacelyn Christensen, FB, 29-00.

Shot Put - 1. Maci Molinaro, FB, 30-01; 2 Hallie Lowe, FB, 29-07; 3. Lillian Gopher, BE, 29-03; 4. Baylee Blansett, FB, 28-01; 5. Rachel Gunderson CHI, 27-03.

Discus - 1. Jayden Miller, CHI, 97-07; 2. Chelsea Donaldson, NS, 93-06; 3. Rachel Gunderson, CHI, 93-01; 4. Maci Molinaro, FB, 84-04; 5. Shyan Krass, TUR, 86-03.

Javelin - 1. Lilian Gopher, BE, 111-10; 2. McKenzie Clark, FB, 106-10; 3. Janae West, NS, 101-11; 4. Maci Molinaro, FB, 99-11; 5. Rachel Gunderson, CHI, 99-09.