Area athletes succeed at State C Meet

Chinook's Kayla Hanson (middle) leads the pack in the girls 300-meter hurdles at the Class C state track meet this weekend in Missoula. Hanson won state championships in both hurdle races, and many local Class C athletes earned medals at the meet. For full results from the Class C state meet, see Tuesday's Havre Daily News.

MISSOULA — It is no secret that the Hi-Line houses some of the best athletic talent in the state. And after another fantastic showing at the Class C State Track Meet by local girls and boys teams, that philosophy was proven even more.

This weekend in Missoula, the MCPS Track Complex on the campus of Big Sky High School was the site of the Class C State Track Meet. And making their presence known, the Hi-Line saw several teams finish amongst the top of the field.

In girls' action, the North Star Knights had the best finish with 35 points and a No. 4 finish. The Chinook Sugarbeeters also finished near the top with 20 points, while the Big Sandy Pioneers finished with 12 and the Chester/J-I Hawks finished with two. And in boys' action, it was the Sugarbeeters who turned in the best performance as the No. 4 finisher with 28 points, while the Knights scored seven and the Turner Tornadoes scored one.

The North Star girls placed in five events and were led by Haylee Anderson who was a part of three of those. Anderson grabbed a third-place finish in the 100-meter with a time of 13.46 and a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter with a time of 27:40. Anderson was also a part of the short relay team that placed second with a time of 51.87.

"It feels good be at the top and be amongst the best of the best," Anderson said. "But our whole team has worked really hard all season long to get here."

But the Knights also saw good production from Bettie Carlon, Lisa Carlon and Jordan Spicher. Bettie placed second in the triple jump with leap of 34-8 and Lisa launched herself into a second-place finish in the long jump with a jump of over 16-0. Spicher cleared 8-0 in the pole vault and grabbed a sixth-place finish.

Kayla Hanson, who grabbed two No. 1 finishes, led the Sugarbeeters. Hanson ran the 100 hurdles in 15.83 and the 300 hurdles in 46.96; earning all 20 of the Chinook points a long the way, and two individual state championships.

"It feels good to win and it feels really cool to win both hurdle races," Hanson said. "I have worked hard all year to get to this spot and I finally made it and finally accomplished what I have been working for all year. I have watched the papers all year, but you don't really know how fast the other runners are until you face them. It all comes down to one race and you just have to run your own race."

Molly Herron was also the hero for Big Sandy. Herron finished fifth in the 400-meter with a time of 62.28 and third in the 800-meter with a time of 2:25.86. The Pioneers' long relay also finished fourth with time of 4:19.23.

The Hawk's two points came from Kate Graff after she finished fifth in the pole vault with a height of 8-6.

In the boys field, the Sugarbeeters also had a successful weekend on the track and in the field.

Tyler Molyneaux finished in second place in the discus with a toss of 142-5, and Dylan Surber finished the 800-meter in 2:02.71, good enough for a fourth-place finish. Kaylan Johnson also grabbed a fifth-place finish after running the 3200-meter in 10:32.49. Both relays also placed. The short relay finished in second with a time of 44.73 and the long relay finished in third with a time of 3:34.38.

All of the North Star points came from Connor Kline.

Kline finished the 110 hurdles in 16.22 for a fourth-place finish, as well as the 300 hurdles in 42.76 for a fifth-place finish. Kline also took sixth in the pole vault after clearing 14-6.

And wrapping up the Hi-Line finishers, Turner earned one point on the weekend with Travis Hofer jumping 19-10 in the long jump and grabbing a sixth-place finish.