Class C thinclads earn gold in Laurel

North Star’s Tylynn Rettig and Chinook’s Brittney Nelson have each had spectacular track and field careers. But, this past weekend, they both reached new heights and the top of the podium at the Class C state track meet in Laurel.

Although neither of their teams came away with trophies, thanks to Rettig, the North Star girls finished in a respectable eighth place with 26 points, while Chinook, led by Nelson, finished 14th with 18 points. West Yellowstone captured the girls title with 50 points, Seeley-Swan was second with 46 and Darby was third with 37. The Fort Benton girls also scored points and finished 21st with seven points.

On the boys side of things, it was Ennis that took home the first-place prize with a total of 62 points. Jordan finished second with 50 points and Manhattan finished third with 45. Fort Benton ended up in 20th place with 10 points. Box Elder finished in 25th place with six points, while Chinook, Chester/J-I and North Star tied for 30th with four points.

Yet, in terms of Hi-Line athletes, the two-day meet belonged to Rettig and Nelson. Rettig, who has dominated for the Knights for the past few seasons, outdid herself in her final high school meet, placing in four different events and scoring all 26 of her team’s points.

However, the best moment of the weekend for Rettig came in the pole vault, where she finished with a vault of 9-6 to win the event and earn an individual state championship. The senior, who has committed to compete in track and field for Carroll College next year, also finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.94, third in the long jump with a jump of 16-1 and fifth in the 200 with a time of 27.06.

As spectacular as Rettig was, Nelson was equally impressive. The senior scored all 18 of Chinook’s points and the thrower, who has dominated all year for the Sugarbeeters, did so again on Class C’s biggest stage, winning a state championship in the shot put with a throw of 37-7. Nelson also placed in the two other throwing events, notching a third-place finish in the discus with a throw of 116-9 and a fifth in the javelin with a throw of 111-6.

The Fort Benton girls were paced by Cassidy McCarthy, who finished third in the pole vault behind Rettig with a vault of 9-0. Kaitlyn Bird also placed for the Longhorns, finishing sixth in the 800 with a time of 2:27.

In the boys meet, no one from along the Hi-Line captured an individual state title, but there were still some solid performances nonetheless. The top finisher from a Hi-Line athlete came from Box Elder’s Shane Ketchum, who capped a tremendous season with a third-place showing in the 3,200 thanks to a time of 10:12.

Ben Hulme of Fort Benton had a stellar meet for the Longhorns as he earned ten points by way of a third-place finish in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.35 and a fourth in the 400 thanks to a time of 50.84.

Jaxon Simonson ended his illustrious career with North Star by coming in fourth in the shot put with a throw of 45-6. Simonson will play college football for Montana State University-Northern this fall. And last but not least was Justin May, who got Chester/J-I on the board by finishing fourth in the javelin with a toss of 160-10.