Could it be that Jefferson High’s boys’ track and field team has a shot at a fifth straight Class B state championship? It’s still very early in the season – but at last weekend’s Gallatin Valley Invitational meet, the Panthers appeared to throw down the gauntlet.
Competing against 20 schools, including a host of Class B rivals, Jefferson scored 96 team points to win the event. Missoula Loyola finished second with 90 points, followed by Manhattan Christian with 64, Manhattan with 52, and Sweet Grass County with 48.
The Panther girls made a strong showing, too, placing fourth with 47 points. Dillon took first with 85 points, while Belgrade finished second with 79 and Broadwater third with 66.
In the boys’ track events, Luke Oxarart finished 3rd in the 100-meter sprint in 11.67 seconds. Caleb Morris was 15th in 11.79, Zeke Dove 20th in 11.92, and Cooper Mikesell 31st in 12.09. Oxarart then won the 200 in 23.27; his teammate Michael Richard was 6th in 23.60 and Dove 15th in 24.48. Colten Thornock finished 3rd in the 300 hurdles in 45.88.
Tyler Frydenlund took 8th in the 400 in 57.27, and McKenon Boyd was 9th in the 800 in 2:08.97. In the distance events, Marshall Jensen placed 10th in the 1600, in 5:11.87, and Caelum Dunn was 9th in the 3200, in 12:15.96.
The boys team of Oxarart, Thornock, Richard and Dove won the 4×100 relay, and Richard, Mikesell, Jensen and Boyd placed 3rd in the 4×400, in 3:45.42. A very nice showing for the relay squads.
The Panthers dominated the shot put, just like old times: Oxarart took first with a throw of 45’ 11.50”, while Kaynen Martin was 3rd, 45’ 1”, Dylan Stevens 4th, 44’ 11.50”, Tavin Charlton 6th, 43’ 5”, and Brady Armstrong 7th, 43’ 1½”. Charlton won the discus with a throw of 132’ 10”; Armstrong was 6th, 118’ 8”, and Jed Williams 18th, 101’ 11”.
Frydenlund placed 2nd in the javelin throw, with 130’1”; Williams was 7th, 124’5”, Jensen 8th, 118’ 4”, and Morris 12th, 109’ 11”. John Quigley won the high jump at 6’ 2”, with Thornock just behind at 6’. Quigley also placed 10th in the long jump, with 18’ 1.25”, and Boyd was 12th in the triple jump 38’ 8.25”.
For the Lady Panthers Allie Muffick took 11th in the 100, in 13.67. McKinleigh Doherty ran 3rd in the 400, 1:04.43, Peyton Stearns won the 800 in 2:29.30, then took 2nd in the 1600 with 5:42.98. Karsyn Dolezal was 10th in the 800 at 2:40.20, and Brinna Barry 10th in the 1600 at 6:14.45. Josie Oxarart finished 8th in the 100 hurdles, 17.89. And the 4×400 relay team of Parker Layng, Dolezal, Oxarart and Erica Shields took 5th in 4:43.16.
In the field events, Muffick placed 6th in the shot put, with 30’ 0.5”; Brianna Layng was 7th, 27’ 9.50”, Katie Maus 13th, 25’ 6”, Elodie French 17th, 23’ 7”, and Joslyn Buckley 22nd, 22’ 1/2”. Buckley placed 2nd in the discus with a throw of 115’ 4”, besting her distance a week ago by 10 feet. London Ostbey was 4th in the discus with 94’ 5”, and Maus 17th at 83’ 8”.
McKinleigh Doherty won the high jump at 4’ 10”; Sidney French was 6th, also at 4’ 10”, while Allison Zawacki placed 10th, 4’ 8”, and Alondra Rivera 13th, 4’ 4”. In the long jump, Maddy Averill took 13th with 14’ 4”; Zawacki was 15th at 14’ 3”, and Daisy Johnson 21st with 13’ 6.
Tennis
The Panther tennis team competed in the Choteau Invite tournament on Apr. 12, and the JV squad took on Broadwater and Three Forks in Townend.
At the Choteau tournament, Bailee Silvonen continued her early-season run, beating Paeyton Templet of Fort Benton, 6-1. Addi Coates lost to Alexis Clark 0-6, and Elizabeth Weninger dropped a set to Grace Wright, 1-6.
In doubles against Fort Benton, Holly Keough and Clara Yap lost to Donner and Rominger, 4-6. Evelyn Hansen and Teagen Silvonen beat Fuller and Mondloch, 6-2. Wade and White won their set against Hengford and Good, 6-3.
Then, the Panthers took on Conrad. This time, Silvonen lost her match, falling to Trinity Vanden Boss, 2-6. Coats lost to Urika Delica, 0-6. Weninger dropped a set to Raegan Oberg,1-6,and Myle O’Neill lost to Belle Sturm, 4-6. Keough and Yap defeated Bethany Heine and Hanna Suganob, 6-3. Hansen and Teagen Silvonen defeated Sturm and Jaiden Farkell, 6-4. And Wade and White lost to a Conrad pair.
In the boys’ action, Kale Strozewski and Hudson Hill lost to pairs from Sims, 4-6, and Choteau, 1-6. Hunter Heinitz and Izaak Luhrsen defeated a Bridger player, 6-2, but Izaak Luhrsen lost, 3-6. Heinitz and Luhrsen lost to a Choteau pair, 2-6. Heinitz lost to Bridger Woods, but Luhrsen lost, 3-6. Heinitz and Luhrse beat Conrad’s VanDyken and Peterson 6-5 (7-5), then lost to Denzer and Walter, 1-6.
In the JV squad’s play, Three Forks, Jefferson’s Avery Wade beat Tori Kotter, 6-3, 6-4. Cassidy White took Anna Dabling 6-3, 6-3. And the doubles pair of Wade and White beat the Wolves’ Zigler and Clayburn, 6-2, 6-2.
Lainey Wilson beat Broadwater’s Wheeler, 7-5, 6-4. But Wade and Lainey Wilson lost to Broadwater’s Simms and Warburton, 4-6, 2-6, and Wilson and White lost to the Bulldogs’ Warburton and White, 6-7 (4-7), 4-6.
This is a quiet week for Panther sports. The varsity track and field squads head to Missoula Friday for the Seeley Swan Invitational meet. Golf visits Missoula next Tuesday and Wednesday for the Loyola Spring Fling. Tennis off until May 2, when the Dawg Bite Invite takes place in Helena.
