Crowned Again: Knights romp to 9C title

The North Star Knights have truly become a dominant force in the District 9C track and field ranks. And this season, with another 9C track meet in the books, the trend continued.

Wednesday afternoon brought the District 9C track meet to the Havre Middle School. And with some of the state’s best athletes in attendance, it was another good showing for local competitors. The Knights captured their seventh straight 9C title, besting the field with 242 team points. The Chinook Sugarbeeters came in second with 176, and the Big Sandy Pioneers finished third with 54. The Turner Tornadoes finished fourth with 28.

The top five girls in each event advanced to the divisional meet.

“That is seven in a row,” North Star head coach Brian Campbell said. “I told the girls that my lucky number was seven and that I wanted this team win today. Today was a day where we competed hard. We competed in Stillwater last weekend and that was a long day for our girls, and I noticed today that we didn’t have a lot of lively legs, but we did what we needed to move on, to qualify, to get as many kids as we needed for next weekend, and move on.”

North Star continued their dominance by earning points from all over the lineup, including several girls who won and placed in several different events.

Tylynn Rettig had one of her best meets of the season, as she placed in each of the five events she competed in. Rettig finished the long jump in fourth place with a distance of 14-9, and finished the triple jump in sixth place with a distance of 30-7. But capping off an incredible outing, Rettig took first in the 100 and 200 meters, and pole vault. Rettig ran a 13.60 in the 100 and a 28.80 in the 200, while also clearing 10-0 in the pole vault, breaking the meet record which was last set in 1998.

But adding to the talented depth, both Delainey Spicher and Lisa Carlon won two events each. Spicher took first place in the 100-hurdles with a time of 17.50, as well as first in the 300-hurdles with a time of 50.51. And Lisa Carlon took first in the long jump with a distance of 15-7, and first in the triple jump with a distance of 32-10. Spicher also took second in the 400-meter with a time of 1:07.20, while Lisa Carlon finished second in the 200-meter with a time of 29.40, and third in the 100-meter with a time of 14.38.

Bettie Carlon, Graysen Spicher and Sarah Massar also helped lead the way, as they, and several other girls earned points from several more events. Bettie Carlon was second in the triple jump (32-7), third in the long jump (14-11), third in the 200 (39.45), and fifth in the 100 (14.43). And Grayson Spicher finished the 100 in second place (13.97), third in the javelin (94-2) and fourth in the 200 (29.76), while Massar finished the 100 hurdles in second place (18.04), the 1,600 in second place (6:28.30), the 300 hurdles in third place (52.81) and the triple jump in third place (31-10). And Kristyn Lavery placed second in the 800 (3:00.26), second in the 3,200 (14:40.3) and third in the 1,600 (6:55.55), while Sarah Human placed third in the 800 (3:01.79), fourth in the 400 (1:11.60), sixth in the high jump (4-2), and sixth in the javelin (86-0).

And rounding off the long list of top performers, Megan Kurtz, Samantha Pester, Whitney Wendland, and Sierra Yanny also placed for North Star.

Kurtz was third in the 3,200 (15:46.7), fifth in the 800 (3:11.84), and fifth in the 1,600 (7:25.80), while Pester was fourth in the 300 hurdles (1:01.71) and sixth in the 100 hurdles (21.56). Wendland placed fifth in both the shot put (26-9) and discus (85-4), while Yanny was second in the pole vault (6-0). The short relay team was No. 1 with a time of 54.10, while the long relay was third with 4:25.50.

“Winning today was a big deal for us,” Campbell said. “I appreciate the effort the girls gave today. As far as competition in the district, we got as much as anybody is going to get. Chinook is as deep a team in the field events as anybody, and they are the best weight-throwing team in the division.”

The Beeters were neck and neck with the Knights for a good part of the afternoon. Chinooks’ production in the field events boosted them early, and it shows in the results.

Emily Dennis was No. 1 in the high jump with a height of 4-10, and Makhayla Farmer was third with a height of 4-8. Madison McCann cleared 4-4 for a fifth-place finish. And the long jump and triple jump were nearly the same. In the long jump Dennis was second with a leap of 15-4, while McCann was fifth with a leap of 14-5. And in the triple jump, Dennis was fourth with a distance of 31-9, while McCann was fifth with a distance of 30-9.

Chinook also dominated the javelin, shot put and discus. Tavin Schneider took first in the shot put with a throw of 32-1, while Britney Nelson was second with a throw of 32-0, and Farmer was third with a throw of 29-5. Britney Nelson won the discus with a toss of 99-11, while Farmer was second with a toss of 93-5, and Schneider was third with a toss of 91-10. And in the javelin, Farmer was No. 1 with a throw of 97-4, while Nelson was No. 2 with a throw of 93-5, Schneider was fourth with a throw of 91-6 and Summer Edwards was fifth with a distance of 89-9.

On the track, it was Hannah Weber who led the way for the Beeters. Weber took the No. 1 spot in the 800 with a time of 2:27.94 and the No. 1 spot in the 1,600 with a time of six minutes flat. Katelyn Neibauer also took the No. 1 spot in the 400 with a time of 1:07.10, while the long relay team was first with a time of 4:36.50. The short relay team finished second with a time of 55.80, while Talya Johnson was second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 52.03.

Kailey Kleinjan took fourth in the 100 (14.40) and fifth in the 200 (30.30). And Vinnessa Lundstrom was fifth in the 3,200 (16:24.50), while Summer Edwards was third in the 100 hurdles (19.50).

“We bring in the majority of our points in the field events and throws,” Chinook head coach Paula Molyneaux said. “So early on we were close to North Star, but then the running events got going, and that is where North Star is strongest. They just have a strong running crew, Hannah Weber and Katelyn Neibauer did a nice job running for us. Overall we were pleased with our kids, they competed well and had a great day.”

Big Sandy earned one No. 1 finish, as Mattie Reichelt won the 3,200 with a time of 14:18.70. Reichelt also took fourth in the 800 with a time of 3:05.23 and fourth in the 1,600 with a time of 7:05.00. Cheyenne Johnson placed in two events. Johnson was fourth in the 3,200 (15:57.60) and sixth in the 1,600 (7:35.00).

Kaylie Gilman took second in the high jump, clearing 4-10, while Abbey Gregory took third in the 400 with a time of 1:11.00. Quintin Pegar was sixth in the 200 (31.10), while Cheynne Pegar was fifth in the 100 hurdles (21.00). The short relay finished third (55.90), and the long relay finished second (4:38.10).

Turner had one of their better 9C outings in a long time.

Shania Maloney and Kristina Conlan helped lead the way. Conlan earned points with four sixth-place finishes. Conlan finished the 400 with a time of 1:28.25, the 800 with a time of 3:15.93, the shot put with a throw of 26-0, and the discus with a throw of 74-2. Maloney finished the 100 hurdles in fourth with a time of 20.48, the high jump in fourth with a height of 4-6, and the long jump in sixth with a distance of 12-8.

Laura Pillon placed fifth in the 400 (1:15.10) and sixth in the 100 (14.45). And Lyndsay Hutton finished the shot put in fourth (28-4), and the discus in fourth (90-2), while the short relay team finished in fourth place with a time of 58.45.

The top five athletes in each event will move onto the divisional track meet next Thursday at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.