Knights take back 9C boys track crown

A two-year reign at the top of District 9C came to an end for Chinook this season, with another team crowned champion in Havre.

Wednesday, the Havre Middle School track and field in Havre was home to the annual 9C track meet. After back-to-back team championships, the Chinook Sugarbeeters wound up taking second place with 143 points and the North Star Knights took the No. 1 spot with 167.

The Box Elder Bears turned in 89 points for third place, while the Turner Tornadoes took fourth with 48, the Big Sandy Pioneers took fifth with 41 and the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds took sixth with 19 points.

It was a tough field of competitors, but the Knights had too many kids in too many events for the rest of the 9C to keep pace.

"It was a great win for the team," North Star head coach Brian Campbell said. "But for Cooper Spicher, Quinn Spinler, and Sam Ulmen, who are graduating this year, this is their first district win in anything, and I think that means a lot to them. I am pretty pleased to send them out with a team trophy, but this team has bought into the idea of doing whatever it takes to win once you get to the district level."

The Knights also helped pad their title win with a combined 12 first- and second-place finishes. Cooper Spicher paced North Star with four No. 1 finishes, including a top finish in the 100 (11.70), a top finish in the 110 hurdles (16.20), a top finish in the long jump (19-4), and a top finish in the triple jump (39-6). Quinn Spinler grabbed two No. 1 finishes, winning the 300 hurdles (45.40) and the pole vault (11-7). The 4x400 relay team also ran a 4:00.30 to take first place.

The second place points also added up quickly. Quinn Spinler showed up two more times, placing in the 110 hurdles (17.70) and the high jump (5-6). Gavin Spinler took second in the pole vault (9-0), while Jaxon Simonson took second in the discus (114-11), Matt Helmbrecht took second in the javelin (144-9), and the 4x100 ran a 49.10 in a second-place finish. North Star also got 14 other top-six finishes on the day.

Chinook wasn't too far behind as the Beeters got nearly 30 top finishes. The race for first would have been much tighter if Zach Molyneaux wasn't nursing a hamstring injury, keeping him out of the 100- and 200-meter sprints.

Molyneaux led the Beeters with No. 1 finishes in the discus (132-11), javelin (144-11), and shot put (49-2). The mark in the discus is a new meet record, surpassing a record previously set all the way back in 1966. But Jacob MacLean also won the high jump (5-8), while the 4x100 relay team turned in a time of 49.10 in the win. MacLean also took second in the 200 (25.30). Travis Roth took second in the 800 (2:10.50), while Kyler Johnson took second in the 1600 (5:02.10) and Tanner Gomke took second in the shot put (38-5).

The Bears don't have the numbers to compete for team titles, but Will Ketchum carried the program as far as he could. Ketchum swept the 400 (55.40), 800 (2:09.40), 1600 (4:58.00) and 3200 (10:27.40). Brandon The Boy pitched in as well, finishing the 3200 in second place (10:48.00), alongside the 4x400 team that also finished second (4:08.30).

"The boys field was very good this year." Campbell said. "This is the best team Box Elder has brought in years, and I think they will be a top eight team at divisionals next weekend."

Turner didn't get any individual champions, but did get two second-place finishes by Lucas Reed. Reed was runner up in the long jump (17-9) and triple jump (37-10). For Big Sandy, Kyle Strutz highlighted the efforts with a win in the 200 (25.00). Strutz also took second in the 100 (12.30) and 400 (56.30), while Geno Menard was second in the 300 hurdles (46.80).

The top five individuals from each event advance to the Northern C divisional track meet in Great Falls next Thursday.