Longhorns capture third straight district title

All the hard work came down to this as high school boys track and field teams came from across the Hi-Line to compete in the District 9C track meet at the Havre Middle School Track on Wednesday. As the 9C boys competed for spots in next weekend's divisional meet, the Fort Benton boys team took home first for their third straight district title.

"Our seniors did really well today and some of our younger kids have really surprised us," Fort Benton head coach Kevin Shaw said.

Fort Benton was able to capture its third straight 9C title by scoring 195 points in the meet. The Longhorns were led by several strong performances through the day. Dane Byle had an excellent day as he took first in the long jump, the discus and the shot put. He recorded a distance of 19-11.50 in the long jump, a distance of 41-07.5 in the shot put and a distance of 143-01 in the discus.

"(I credit my success to) lots of training. I've been preparing for my whole life," Byle said. "Just training and a lot of discipline."

Devin Bird also had a strong day for the Longhorns in the sprints. In the 200-meter sprint, he took first with a time of 23.79. He also took first in the 400 with a time of 53.10 and he finished first in the 800 with a time of 2:06.90.

The Fort Benton 1,600 relay team consisting of Bird, Landis Arganbright, Kaden Bach and Tim Lane took first in its event with a time of 3:40.53. Colter Ball won another event for Fort Benton with a distance of 165-00 to take first in the javelin.

Several other Longhorns had high finishes Wednesday. In the 400 relay, the team consisting of Bird, Arganbright, Byle and Mateo Socorro took second with a time of 47.32. In the 400, Arganbright finished second with a time of 54.16. Lane finished second in the pole vault with a height of 11-06. In the triple jump, Socorro took third with a distance of 38-01.75.

Socorro also did well in the 100 with a time of 11.65 to take third. He also took third in the 200 with a time of 24.35. Lane finished third in the 400 with a time of 55.31. His teammate Jacob Giles took third in the 3,200 with a time of 11:23.82 while fellow Longhorn Nick Woods finished third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 18.03. With the success the Longhorns had at this meet, Byle credited the team chemistry and the coaching.

"We have a really good coach," Byle said. "We have good morale with our team and everybody just works together and does a great job."

The Chinook Sugarbeeters scored 124 points to finish second in the meet. Levi Jensen took first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.08. Toby Niederegger won another event for Chinook as he took first in the high jump with a distance of 6-02. The Chinook relay team of Niederegger, Hunter Molyneaux, Braxton Inman and Tyler Schoen took first in the 400 relay with a time of 47.19.

Many other Sugarbeeters placed high at the meet. The Chinook relay team of Inman, Niederegger, Lane Hasler and Danny McKenzie took second in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3:58.52. Niederegger also took second for Chinook in the 100 with a time of 11.51.

Landen Beck took second in both the 1,600 and the 3,200 for Chinook. In the 1,600, he posted a time of 5:04.84 and in the 3,200, he recorded a time of 11:22.67. Jensen finished second in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.81. He also took second in the high jump with a distance of 5-10. In the 300-meter hurdles, Inman took second with a time of 44.63.

In the long jump, Molyneaux finished second with a distance of 19-09. Schoen took third in the shot put with a distance of 38-10.5. Oliver Standiford finished third in the high jump with a distance of 5-08.

The CJI Hawks finished third in the meet with 90 points. Kyle Harmon had a strong day as he took first in both the 100 and the triple jump. He recorded a time of 11.47 in the 100 and he posted a distance of 40-06 in the triple jump. Harmon also placed second in the 200 with a time of 24.16 and he took third in the long jump with a distance of 19-05.75.

Ryder Cole won another event for CJI in the pole vault with a height of 12-00. Bryce Kammerzell finished first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.54. He also took second in the javelin with a distance of 155-04. Kammerzell placed third in both the 300-meter hurdles and the triple jump. He recorded a time of 45.53 in the 300 hurdles and he recorded a distance of 37-05.25 in the triple jump.

North Star took fourth in the meet with 55 points. Carter Campbell had a strong day for the Knights as he took first in both the 1,600 and the 3,200. He recorded a time of 5:04.53 in the 1,600 and he posted a time of 11:16.30 in the 3,200. He also took third in the 800 with a time of 2:15.07. With his success on Wednesday, Campbell credited the work he put in throughout the season.

"It's probably just the training we do in practice. Coach (Brian Campbell) works us pretty hard," Campbell said "We do a bunch of sprint work and weightlifting to keep us in shape."

Gavin Clawson also did well for North Star Wednesday. In the shot put, he finished second with a distance of 40-09.50. He also took third in the discus with a distance of 118-04. Chris Burkhartsmayer did well in the pole vault with a height of 10-00 to finish third.

Big Sandy scored 38 points to finish fifth in the meet. Wylee Snapp finished second in the discus with a distance of 120-06. His teammate Cooper Taylor took third in the javelin with a distance of 147-03.

The Big Sandy relay teams did well Wednesday. The 400 relay team of Snapp, Rusty Gasvoda, Braydon Cline and Kody Strutz took third with a time of 48.70. The 1,600 relay team of Cline, Gasvoda, Strutz and Austin Haugen took third with a time of 4:05.30.

Turner scored 17 points for sixth in the meet. Ryan Doyle finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:09.58. His teammate Trent Billmayer took third in the 1,600 with a time of 5:19.73. Hays-Lodge Pole scored four points to finish last in the meet.

The top five athletes in each event will now advance to the Northern C Divisionals in Great Falls next week. As the defending state champions, the Longhorns hope to keep things rolling through the postseason. While he expects Belt to be a tough opponent next week, Shaw feels confident heading forward.

"We're going to hold our own and we're going to score quite a few points so we'll just see how it lines up," Shaw said.

The Northern C Divisionals will begin in Great Falls May 19.

District 9C Boys Track Meet

Fort Benton 195, Chinook 124, CJI 90, North Star 55, Big Sandy 38, Turner 17, Hays-Lodgepole 4.

100 - 1, Harmon, Kyle, Chester-Jopl, 11.47. 2, Niederegger, Toby, Chinook, 11.51. 3, Socorro, Mateo, Fort Benton, 11.65. 4, Dunham, Nathan, Fort Benton, 11.73. 5, Bach, Kaden, Fort Benton, 12.08. 6, Strutz, Kody, Big Sandy, 12.10.

200 - 1, Bird, Devin, Fort Benton, 23.79. 2, Harmon, Kyle, Chester-Jopl, 24.16. 3, Socorro, Mateo, Fort Benton, 24.35. 4, Niederegger, Toby, Chinook, 24.59. 5, Bach, Kaden, Fort Benton, 24.96. 6, Dunham, Nathan, Fort Benton, 24.97.

400 - 1, Bird, Devin, Fort Benton, 53.10. 2, Arganbright, Landis, Fort Benton, 54.16. 3, Lane, Tim, Fort Benton, 55.31. 4, Bach, Kaden, Fort Benton, 55.87. 5, Grossman, Brock, Fort Benton, 55.93. 6, Doyle, Ryan, Turner, 56.08.

800 - 1, Bird, Devin, Fort Benton, 2:06.90. 2, Doyle, Ryan, Turner, 2:09.58. 3, Campbell, Carter, North Star, 2:15.07. 4, Beck, Landen, Chinook, 2:16.90. 5, Hanson, Aedan, Fort Benton, 2:18.69. 6, Pulst, Karson, Chester-Jopl, 2:21.65.

1,600 - 1, Campbell, Carter, North Star, 5:04.53. 2, Beck, Landen, Chinook, 5:04.84. 3, Billmayer, Trent, Turner, 5:19.73. 4, Pope, Listat, Chinook, 5:21.89. 5, Giles, Jacob, Fort Benton, 5:25.05. 6, Hanson, Aedan, Fort Benton, 5:27.36.

3,200 - 1, Campbell, Carter, North Star, 11:16.30. 2, Beck, Landen, Chinook, 11:22.67. 3, Giles, Jacob, Fort Benton, 11:23.82. 4, O'Hara, Trevor, Fort Benton, 12:12.60. 5, Bender, Jordan, Chester-Jopl, 12:24.22. 6, Pope, Listat, Chinook, 12:40.28.

110 Hurdles - 1, Kammerzell, Bryce, Chester-Jopl, 17.54. 2, Jensen, Levi, Chinook, 17.81. 3, Woods, Nick, Fort Benton, 18.03. 4, Reimer, Teagan, Fort Benton, 19.45. 5, Dunham, Nathan, Fort Benton, 20.04. 6, Gasvoda, Rusty, Big Sandy, 20.15.

300 Hurdles - 1, Jensen, Levi, Chinook, 44.08. 2, Inman, Braxton, Chinook, 44.63. 3, Kammerzell, Bryce, Chester-Jopl, 45.53. 4, Woods, Nick, Fort Benton, 46.62. 5, Gasvoda, Rusty, Big Sandy, 48.63. 6, Reimer, Teagan, Fort Benton, 48.74.

400 Relay - 1, Chinook 47.19. 2, Fort Benton 47.32. 3, Big Sandy 48.70. 4, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 48.71.

1,600 Relay - 1, Fort Benton 3:40.53. 2, Chinook 3:58.52. 3, Big Sandy 4:05.30. 4, North Star 4:05.64. 5, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 4:08.64. 6, Hays-Lodge Pole 4:38.92.

High Jump - 1, Niederegger, Toby, Chinook, 6-02. 2, Jensen, Levi, Chinook, 5-10. 3, Standiford, Oliver, Chinook, 5-08. 4, Reimer, Teagan, Fort Benton, 5-00. 5, Hughes Jr., William, Hays Lodge P, 4-10.

Pole Vault - 1, Cole, Ryder, Chester-Jopl, 12-00. 2, Lane, Tim, Fort Benton, 11-06. 3, Burkhartsmayer, Chris, North Star, 10-00. 4, Reimer, Teagan, Fort Benton, 9-06. 4, Searles, Xander, North Star, 9-06. 6, Axtman, Morgan, Fort Benton, 8-06.

Long Jump - 1, Byle, Dane, Fort Benton, 19-11.50. 2, Molyneaux, Hunter, Chinook, 19-09. 3, Harmon, Kyle, Chester-Jopl, 19-05.75. 4, Jensen, Levi, Chinook, 18-05.50. 5, Woods, Nick, Fort Benton, 18-04.25. 6, Mattson, Braden, Chester-Jopl, 18-03.25.

Triple Jump - 1, Harmon, Kyle, Chester-Jopl, 40-06. 2, Socorro, Mateo, Fort Benton, 38-01.75. 3, Kammerzell, Bryce, Chester-Jopl, 37-05.25. 4, Strutz, Kody, Big Sandy, 37-02. 5, Doyle, Ryan, Turner, 36-07.75. 6, Spicher, Garrett, North Star, 35-08.50.

Shot Put - 1, Byle, Dane, Fort Benton, 41-07.50. 2, Clawson, Gavin, North Star, 40-09.50. 3, Schoen, Tyler, Chinook, 38-10.50. 4, Hanford, Brock, Fort Benton, 38-04. 5, Simpson, Will, Fort Benton, 36-08.50. 6, Walker, Kaleb, Hays Lodge P, 36-08.

Discus - 1, Byle, Dane, Fort Benton, 143-01. 2, Snapp, Wylee, Big Sandy, 120-06. 3, Clawson, Gavin, North Star, 118-04. 4, Taylor, Cooper, Big Sandy, 112-00. 5, Hanford, Brock, Fort Benton, 109-07. 6, Welch, Collin, North Star, 99-09.

Javelin - 1, Ball, Colter, Fort Benton, 165-00. 2, Kammerzell, Bryce, Chester-Jopl, 155-04. 3, Taylor, Cooper, Big Sandy, 147-03. 4, Mattson, Braden, Chester-Jopl, 135-04. 5, Cole, Ryder, Chester-Jopl, 130-04. 6, Standiford, Oliver, Chinook, 125-00.