Hawks sending athletes to Northern C Meet

Friday marked the start of the postseason track and field season for the Chester/J-I Hawks. And at the District 10C Meet in Great Falls, the Hawks did quite well.

On Friday at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls, the C/J-I girls finished in second place with 107 points, while the Power Pirates claimed the 10C title with 133 points. Sunburst finished third in the girls meet with 95 points. On the boys side, the Hawks finished fifth with 54 points. Power scored 172 points to roll to the boys 10C title. Simms was second with 146 points while Dutton-Brady was third with 80 points.

Individually, Friday was a solid day for several Hawks.

On the girls side, Kate Graff won the high jump by clearing 4-8 but was upset in the pole vault. Graff cleared 8-0, but Power's Kelcy Holbrook set a new meet record by vaulting 9-1. Graff added a third-place finish on the track in the 800 meters.

Still, the Hawks had plenty of power of their own.

In the throws, Cheyloe Forbes won the discus going 87-0, finished second in the javelin and third in the shot put. Shari Belcher also finished third in the discus, while adding a sixth in the long jump to help the Hawks. The hurdles also went well for C/J-I. Caitlin Vinson won the 100 hurdles with a time of 19.1, while Brittnee Theel finished third. Theel added a win in the high hurdles with a time of 56.4, while Vinson finished third, and Theel also placed sixth in the 100 meters.

On the boys side, C/J-I had troubles staying with the Pirates, but Brandon Graff had a strong day. Graff won the pole vault with a height of 12-0 and for good measure, he took home the discus title with a throw of 119-2.

As expected, Erik Kelly helped C/J-I out with a strong showing in the hurdles. Kelly finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 17.2 and third in the 300 hurdles with Jordan Oraw, who finished fourth in the shot put and Jeff Wanken, who finished fifth in the discus.

All of C/J-I's qualifiers will move on to the Northern C Divisional this Thursday back in Great Falls.