Scotties Looking for Hardware at State

The Scotties have been dominating the track all season, and they don't intend to stop now. With 25 individual qualifiers in several events and both boys and girls relays heading to the big show, the Scotties definitely have the potential to make some noise at their last competition of the year.

The Class B state tournament will be held in Laurel Friday and Saturday, May 25 and 26. The location of the meet may provide more than one advantage to Glasgow's competitors, or at least more of a level playing field. The state meet has typically been held in one of several western cities, including Butte, Bozeman or Kalispell. The travel time alone to those venues can be draining with a minimum of seven hours on the road, but factor in things like altitude and other environmental differences, and things can get really difficult for the athletes. The conditions in Laurel will be more similar to the conditions the Scotties are used to competing in, generally.

Head track coach Tim Phillips was pleased with the efforts of Glasgow's divisional competitors in Great Falls on May 19. "We had 31 personal bests on Saturday, so we are very happy with that!" he said. "We figured we could win the girls division fairly easily, but knew we'd have a very tough fight with Fairfield on the boys' side."

According to Phillips, the distance crew set the tone for the day right away. "The boys scored 20 points to kick things off, and the girls, who've battled injuries, got out of their comfort zone and really competed," he explained. Although Colin Jamba and Carl Zabrocki were not able to qualify for the state meet, Phillips thought they both had good seasons.

Despite feeling ill during the 3200 run, Brooke Westby came thru with her best race of the year, finishing with a near all-time p.r. to place third. Ali Cunningham had a great kick to get fifth place, set a p.r. and advance to state.

In the 800m, both Ellis (McKean) and Alec (Boland) had "brilliant" races, finishing one-two, said Phillips. He also noted the performances of Jeremiah McCoy, who finished seventh in only his second time running it, and Colton Pewitt who competed well but was unable to place.

"The 800m girls did really well," he continued. "Emily (Kolstad) held off a late surge to win it, and with a three-second p.r., Lauren Padden was fifth."

"Ellis, Wilson (Overby) and Merlin (McKean) went 2-3-4 in the 1600m," Phillips said of yet another dominating performance from a trio of distance runners for the Scotties. "Ellis was definitely tired from the 800m or I'm pretty sure he would have won."

The hurdlers added points to Glasgow's side with Cody Cronmiller and Garrett Lloyd both placing well for the boys, and Alaina Sallee and Ellie Page representing for the girls.

The Scottie throwers performed well to add points for both sides. Freshman standout Riley Noser won the shot put to lead the way in that event, followed by Ziggy Chamberlain and Natosha Sand. For the boys, Brett Glaser took second to a Poplar competitor, but had a good performance nonetheless.

The javelin throwers struggled a bit in the tall, wet grass according to Phillips. Boland finished third overall followed by Chevy Boos in fifth. Tehya Campbell squeaked into sixth-place to qualify for the girls.

There were a few disappointing moments in the girls discus when Brennan Peters got beat out of a qualifying sixth-place finish by just one foot and senior Hannah Mickelson just missed going to finals also. "The girls have really made lots of progress," said Phillips of the pair. "We're looking forward to Brennan blowing things up next year." Of Mickelson, he said, "We'll miss her skills in the throws, but what we'll really miss is her 'team mom' attitude of helping out the others and the coaches. She's a great role model for everyone."

Ben Miller and Boos went two and five in the discus for the boys, adding solid points for the Scotties.

"Back on the track, Fairfield went 1-2-5 in the 100m for the boys, but Tyler Fitzsimmons and Lloyd broke them up, finishing 3-4," explained Phillips of the sprints. "On the girls' side, Baylie looked tremendous in the 100m victory."

That afternoon, Glaser and Lloyd both recorded p.r.'s in the 400m, to place first and fifth. For the girls, Kolstad and Chappell went one – two. "I wouldn't be surprised if they are two of the top three at state this year," said Phillips of the two. "An hour and 20 minutes (after running the 400m), they were racing the 200. Baylie won that with Emily third. Coach Gamas has done a great job w/ the sprinters and relays again this year. Those two will be our leading contenders for scoring points this weekend."

Although the Fairfield boys went 1 and 4 in the 200m, Fitzsimmons and Lloyd again countered their performance by placing second and third in the event.

The jumpers and vaulters had some great finishes as well, although Matt Reyling had a tough day and was unable to place in the vault. "Both he and coach Capdeville were very disappointed," said Phillips. "The vault is something that is really technical, so that just happens sometimes."

Kyle Ross had a solid day in the event, recording a 10' 06" vault to place fourth and qualify for the state meet.

Coach Capdeville will be taking three girls to state in the vault: Katie Kaiser, Anika Peters and Kolstad.

In addition to her solid performances in the hurdles, Sallee will compete in the triple jump in Laurel – the only Scottie girl to qualify in the event. In the long jump, it will be Chappell representing the Lady Scotties. "Baylie really lit it up, going 15' 11.5 to win it," said Phillips of the standout senior. "She's struggled a bit with that event at times and I've even thought of taking her out of it, but she really came through on Saturday."

For the boys, Glaser went one – two in the triple jump and the long jump to boost points for the Scotties, and Cronmiller clinched fifth place in the long jump to move on to state.

Jaysen Turner will also be moving along in the triple jump, said Phillips. "He has really blossomed under Coach Wesen and Coach Menge and has added three feet to his triple in the last couple weeks."

In the high jump, Kaylee King won a jump-off for the second week in a row, and Keely Fossum looked good getting third place. For the boys, Boland set a p.r. to finish sixth.

Looking forward to state, Phillips has loose predictions of a top three finish for the girls, noting that Big Fork will be difficult to beat. Baker, Huntley Project, Missoula-Loyola, Manhattan and Colstrip will all figure in as well.

For boys, he said Forsyth looks like the huge favorite, with Huntley Project, Fairfield, Joliet, Lincoln County, Manhattan and Sweet Grass County in there, adding that the boys may have a shot for a trophy as well with just a little bit of improvement.

Team Scores

Mens:

1. Glasgow 168

2. Fairfield 132

3. Cut Bank 62

4. Wolf Point 53

5. Malta 41

6. Poplar 36

7. Choteau 11

8. Conrad 10

9. Harlem 8

10. Shelby 6

Womens:

1. Glasgow 155

2. Malta 81

3. Cut Bank 77

4. Shelby 62

5. Fairfield 60

6. Choteau 34

7. Harlem 27

8. Wolf Point 19

9. Poplar 10

10. Rocky Boy 2

Individual Results

100m - 3, Tyler Fitzsimmons, 11.66a; 4, Garrett Lloyd, 11.83a.

200m - 2, Tyler Fitzsimmons, 23.78a; 3, Garrett Lloyd, 23.99a.

400ms - 1, Brett Glaser, 52.48a; 5, Garrett Lloyd, 54.72a; 8, Dexter Monson, 56.37a; 11, Cody Cronmiller, 59.70a.

800m - 1, Ellis McKean, 2:06.44a; 2, Alec Boland, 2:07.25a; 7, Jeremiah McCoy, 2:17.81a; 10, Colton Pewitt, 2:23.67a.

1600m - 2, Ellis McKean, 4:43.90a; 3, Wilson Overby, 4:51.17a; 4, Merlin McKean, 4:53.93a.

3200m - 1, Ellis McKean, 10:12.28a; 2, Wilson Overby, 10:15.01a; 5, Merlin McKean, 10:54.83a; 7, Colin Jamba, 11:44.05a; 8, Carl Zabrocki, 12:17.59a.

300m Hurdles - 3, Cody Cronmiller, 44.78a; 6, Garrett Lloyd, 46.47a.

4x100 Relay - 1, Tyler Fitzsimmons/Garrett Lloyd/Cody Cronmiller/Dexter Monson, 45.39a.

4x400 Relay - 3, Alec Boland/Dexter Monson/Cody Cronmiller/Brett Glaser, 3:41.93a.

Shot Put - 2, Brett Glaser, 43-06.50.

Discus - 2, Ben Miller, 126-01; 4, Chevy Boos, 121-05.

Javelin - 3, Alec Boland, 131-01; 5, Chevy Boos, 129-03; 7, Bridger Barnett, 120-08; 9, Eli Zeluff, 106-10.

High Jump - 6, Alec Boland, 5-06.

Pole Vault - 4, Kyle Ross, 10-06; 7, Caden Gustafson, 9-06.

Long Jump - 2, Brett Glaser, 20-00.75; 5, Cody Cronmiller, 18-07.50; 10, Jaysen Turner, 15-05.75.

Triple Jump - 1, Brett Glaser, 41-01.25; 6, Jaysen Turner, 36-03.75.

100m - 1, Baylie Chappell, 12.72a; 9, Keely Fossum, 14.05a; 11, Sheree Cook, 14.47a.

200m - 1, Baylie Chappell, 26.68a; 3, Emily Kolstad, 27.70a; 10, Keely Fossum, 29.01a.

400m - 1, Emily Kolstad, 1:00.21a; 2, Baylie Chappell, 1:01.60a; 9, Keely Fossum, 1:06.66a.

800m - 1, Emily Kolstad, 2:28.09a; 5, Lauren Padden, 2:39.38a.

1600m - 10, Ali Cunningham, 6:41.49a.

3200m - 3, Brooke Westby, 13:15.86a; 5, Ali Cunningham, 13:51.19a.

100m Hurdles - 4, Alaina Sallee, 18.94a.

300m Hurdles - 1, Alaina Sallee, 50.46a; 5, Ellie Page, 53.50a.

4x100 Relay - 1, Baylie Chappell/Anika Peters/Keely Fossum/Emily Kolstad, 52.58a.

4x400 Relay - 6, Alaina Sallee/Lauren Padden/Ellie Page/Ali Cunningham, 4:39.18a.

Shot Put - 1, Riley Noser, 34-11; 4, Ziggy Chamberlain, 31-04; 6, Natosha Sand, 30-06.

Discus - 7, Brennan Peters, 94-05; 10, Hannah Mickelson, 81-02.

Javelin - 6, Tehya Campbell, 91-07; 7, Katie Kaiser, 90-02.

High Jump - 1, Kaylee King, 4-09; 3, Keely Fossum, 4-06; 7, Sheree Cook, 4-02.

Pole Vault - 2, Katie Kaiser, 9-00; 3, Anika Peters, 8-06; 5, Emily Kolstad, 8-00; 10, Kenna Anderson, 6-00.

Long Jump - 1, Baylie Chappell, 15-11.50; 12, Sheree Cook, 12-03.25.

Triple Jump - 3, Alaina Sallee, 30-10.