Fort Benton girls power past the 9C field

For the second straight year, the Fort Benton girls dominated the District 9C track meet and in the process, they put the rest of Class C on notice.

The Longhorns, who won the District 9C and the Northern C Divisional championships a season ago, took the first step toward successfully defending both, as they cruised to the 9C crown with 221 points Wednesday at the Havre Middle School track.

Chinook finished second with 141 points and North Star was a distant third with 67. Big Sandy also had a solid day, notching a fourth-place finish after a total of 50 points, followed by Turner with 12, Chester-Joplin-Inverness with 11, Box Elder with eight and Hays-Lodge Pole with seven.

"Those Fort Benton girls, they have quite the team," Chinook head coach Paula Molyneaux said. "They had some really impressive performances today. They are a deep team. But this whole district and this whole division is deep."

Of the 17 events that were held at the 9C girls track meet, Fort Benton won 10 of them, thanks to a slew of stellar performances, highlighted by senior Coya Nack, who swept the individual titles in all three throwing events. Nack won the shot put with a throw of 35-06, the discus with a throw of 105-08 and the javelin with a throw of 117-07.

While Nack was the top individual performer at the meet, her teammate Leah Gannon, a sophomore, was not far behind. Not only did Gannon win the 400-meter dash (1:01) and the long jump (16-09), she also finished second in the 200 and helped both the 400 (52.46) and 1,600-relay teams (4:13) take first place.

Joining Gannon on the 400-relay team for the Longhorns was Maddy Thompson, Ali Evans and Nichole Axtman. The 1,600-relay team featured Evans, McKenzie Clark and Kaitlyn Bird, in addition to Gannon.

Bird, a senior, also stood out individually for the Longhorns, capturing the top spot in the 1,600 (5:51), as well as finishing second in both the 3,200 and the 300 hurdles. Thompson also took home an individual title for Fort Benton, claiming the top prize in the pole vault (8-06). She also came in second in the 100 and the long jump, while also finishing fourth in the 200.

Evans was the other Longhorn to find the winner's circle, winning the high jump (4-08) and also placing second in the 400. In addition to running in the long relay, Clark added points with a second-place finish in the long jump and a third in the 400. Nicole Axtman was another that placed in multiple events, getting two seconds (110 hurdles and triple jump) and two thirds (high jump and 100).

"We have a lot of girls spread out over all 17 events," Fort Benton head coach Kevin Shaw said. "I think that we performed really well. It was the first really hot day that we have run, so some of the kids were a little stressed, a little under the weather. We didn't drink enough water, but that will be a good lesson. We still performed well, but the times aren't gonna be unbelievably fast, but I thought that we competed well."

Fort Benton may have run away with the team competition, but Chinook also had a strong performance and advanced a number of athletes to the Northern C Divisional. The Sugarbeeters were led again by Megan Molyneaux, who won the 100 (12.54) and the 200 (26.98). She also notched a third-place finish in the long jump.

Rochelle Chaffin joined Molyneaux in winning multiple events, capturing first in the 300 hurdles (48.21) and the triple jump (32-00). Kourtney Hanson was another key point getter for Chinook as she won the 800 (2:30) and finished second in the 1,600. In the 3,200, Chinook's Raynee Hasler won with a time of 13:26. Hasler was also second in the 1,600. Brooke Elliot also placed in all three throwing events for the Beeters, while Jaye Anderson (long jump) and Rachel Gunderson (javelin, discus) also placed and qualified for the Northern C.

"I was pleased with our kids," Molyneaux said. "I thought that we performed really well, whether it was trying to get a PR (personal record) or trying to place. Most kids walked out of here with a personal record and that's exciting, that's what we are aiming for."

Chinook and Fort Benton may have dominated the podium, taking first place in 16 of the 17 events, however, Big Sandy also had a good showing and the Pioneers got an individual title from Bailey Gasvoda, who won the 110 hurdles (17.94) and was fourth in the 300 hurdles. Jessica Roth also finished second in the 3,200 and fourth in the 1,600.

"We advanced a lot of athletes to next week," Shaw said. "And that's what matters, that and trying to qualify as many as we can for state."

Every individual that finished in the top five, earned a spot in the Northern C Divisional, along with those who had already qualified previously. The Northern C track meet is set for May 18 at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.

District 9C Track

Girls

Team Scores - Fort Benton 221, Chinook 141, North Star 67 Big Sandy 50, Turner 12, CJI 11, Box Elder 8, Hays-Lodge Pole 7.

100 - 1. Megan Molyneaux, CHI, 12.97; 2. Maddy Thompson, FB, 13.03; 3. Nicole Axtman, FB, 13.7; 4. Sheridan Spicher, NS, 13.64; 5. Jaye Anderson, CHI, 14.1.

200 - 1. Megan Moylneaux, CHI, 26.47; 2. Leah Gannon, FB, 27.4; 3. Rochelle Chaffin, CHI, 28.47; 4. Maddy Thompson, FB, 28.57; 5. Sheridan Spicher, NS, 28.77;

400 - 1. Leah Gannon, FB, 1:01; 2. Alia Evans, FB, 1:05; 3. McKenzie Clark, FB, 1:06; 4. Katelin Harvey, NS, 1:07; 5. Lincy Johnson, CHI, 1:08.

800 - 1. Kourtney Hanson, CHI, 2:26; 2. Kaitlyn Bird, FB, 2:27; 3. McKenzie Clark, FB, 2:33; 4. Katelin Harvey, NS, 2:41; 5.Audrey Sipler, BS, 2:53.

1,600 - 1, Kaitlyn Bird, FB, 5:51; 2. Kourtney Hanson, CHI, 6:00; 3. Raynee Hasler, CHI, 6:26; 4. Jessica Roth, BS, 6:34; 5. Cassie Nack, FB, 6:43.

3,200 - 1. Raynee Hasler, CHI, 13:26; 2. Jessica Roth, BS, 13:52; 3. Cassie Nack, FB, 14:37; 4. Darrelyn Blackwolf, HLP, 15:52; 5. Lainee Van Voast, NS, 18:24.

100 H - 1. Bailey Gasvoda, BS, 17.94; 2. Nicole Axtman, FB, 17.97; 3. Sheridan Spicher, NS, 18.31; 4. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 18.17; 5. Samantha May, CJI, 20.64.

300 H - 1. Rochelle Chaffin, CHI, 48.21; 2. Kaitlyn Bird, FB, 48.24; 3. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 52.98; 4. Bailey Gasvoda, BS, 53.61; 5. Emmi Arnst, FB, 57.60.

400 Relay - 1. Fort Benton, 51.31; 2. Chinook, 51.57; 3. Big Sandy, 57.71.

1,600 Relay - 1. Fort Benton, 4:14; 2. Chinook, 4:29; 3. Big Sandy, 4:58.

High Jump - 1. Alia Evans, FB, 4-08; 2. McKenize Clark, FB, 4-08; 3. Nicole Axtman, NS, 4-06; 4. Audrey Sipler, BS, 4-02; 5. Janae West, NS, 4-02.

Pole Vault - 1. Maddy Thompson, FB, 8-06; 2. Janae West, NS, 7-06; 3. McKenzie Clark, FB, 7-00; 4. Mystic Farinas, NS, 6-06.

Long Jump - 1. Leah Gannon, FB, 16-09; 2. Maddy Thompson, FB, 15-09; 3. Megan Moylneaux, CHI, 15-01; 4. Jaye Anderson, CHI, 14-04; 5. Sarah Billmayer, TUR, 14-03;

Triple Jump - 1. Rochelle Chaffin, CHI, 32-00; 2. Nicole Axtman, FB, 31-10; 3. Kayonna Fraser, CJI, 30-11; 4. Jenna Leader, BS, 30-08; 5. Samantha May, CJI, 29-05.

Shot Put - 1. Coya Nack, FB, 35-06; 2. Sheridan Spicher, NS, 32-11; 3. Brooke Elliot, CHI, 31-05; 4. Hallie Lowe, FB, 28-05; 5. Lily Gopher, BE, 28-04.

Discus - 1. Coya Nack, FB, 109-07; 2. Sheridan Spicher, NS, 100-04; 3. Brooke Elliot, CHI, 97-01; 4. Chelsea Donaldson, NS, 95-11; 5. Rachel Gunderson, CHI, 89-06.

Javelin - 1. Coya Nack, FB, 117-07; 2. Brooke Elliot, CHI, 112-08; 3. Rachel Gunderson, CHI, 101-07; 4. Lily Gopher, BE, 100-05; 5. Mystic Farinas, NS, 97-06.