George Ferguson Column: Fort Benton girls making headlines on the Hi-Line

I saw a post on the Havre Daily News Facebook page not long ago. Someone was asking the question “Since when is Fort Benton a part of the Hi-Line?” The response to that would be, of course, Fort Benton is not physically and geographically on the Hi-Line.

My guess is, residents of Fort Benton don’t consider themselves Hi-Liner’s either.

However, almost four years ago, Fort Benton High School was moved into the District 9C, and that makes them every bit a part of our Hi-Line coverage of high school athletics.

Longhorn sports are now an important part of our coverage area, and right now, no track and field team in our coverage area is thriving quite like the Fort Benton girls are.

This spring, Fort Benton has won nearly every team title race it has entered, and the Longhorns have been so dominant, it would take me way too long to go back and find how many individual gold medals the Fort Benton ladies have won this season.

That dominance has extended right into the postseason, and it’s becoming clear, the trophy the Longhorns are after the most will come in two weeks at the Class C state track meet in Laurel. And yesterday at the District 9C meet, well, that might have just been a prelude of things to come.

Fort Benton absolutely stole the show at the 9C girls meet, scoring over 200 team points and winning gold medals in 10 of the 17 events contested. Fort Benton’s depth was a key factor, too, as the Longhorns pushed through 11 girls to next week’s Northern C Divisional in Great Falls.

"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.”

And when it comes to track and field’s postseason, especially in Class C, depth is key and, like North Star in the past, as well as teams like Belt, depth will carry the Longhorns deep into this track’s postseason.

In Great Falls, on the strength of Coya Nack, Leah Gannon, Maddy Thompson, Kaitlin Bird, Nicole Axtman, Alia Evans and many others, Fort Benton will be a heavy favorite to repeat as Northern C champions. The Longhorn’s depth will likely carry them to that title in Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.

And then it’s on to state, where the Longhorns will be a real threat to win Class C’s track and field crown. But whether Fort Benton wins the state title or not, it’s already been an impressive run. The meets Fort Benton competes in, including the District 9C, are all tough and are loaded with quality track athletes.

And still, the Longhorns have stood above the rest, including many Class B and Class A teams throughout the season.

The numbers and the results might be a surprise to some, but then again, this ride has been going a little longer than many think. Look back now to late February and recall how Fort Benton finished the girls basketball season. The Longhorns took second at the 9C tournament, then stunned Box Elder on their way to a third-place finish a week later at the Northern C in Great Falls.

The roll the Fort Benton girls were on in February may have carried them right into track season, as many of the same hoopsters are now starring on the track for the Longhorns.

But no matter how it happened, one thing is abundantly clear — the Fort Benton girls are really, really good in track this season. And while they may not be geographically part of the Hi-Line, they’re most certainly in the 9C family. And I for one am glad about that because these Longhorns are sure making the local track season exciting.

And, the most exciting times for Fort Benton are still to come.