Seven Panther boys and six girls will travel to Butte this week to compete in a total of twelve events at the State Class B Track Meet Friday and Saturday. Josh Eckmann was the sole Panther to capture a divisional title, taking first place in the high jump with a leap of six feet even. Right behind him was teammate Avery Stiles, who also cleared six feet, but with more misses along the way, for second place. For Eckmann, the divisional track meet pulled him away from a very successful start at the State Class B Golf Tournament in Shelby. He shot a strong 81 in the first round and was sitting tied for ninth when the weather turned bad, leading to the postponement of the second round to Thursday.
At that point Eckmann had a decision to make, and he elected to travel to Laurel to compete with his track teammates so the team had a better chance of qualifying for more State meet berths. It certainly takes the right kind of team player to put the track team ahead of his chance to become an All-State golfer. It is unfortunate, but the weather in Montana can change in a minute, and being a two-sport athlete in one season comes with its risks. Eckmann’s choice paid off both for himself and for the team as he qualified for the State track meet in three individual events and was part of both JHS relay teams that also qualified for State. At Laurel, Eckmann earned a second in the triple jump at 43’ 3” and a seventh in the 300 hurdles at 42.62 in addition to joining teammates for a seventh in the 4×100 relay in 46.52 and a third in the 4×400 in 3:38.44.
Relay runners were Jaxson Yanzick, Mead Blake, Stiles and Eckmann in the shorter relay and Hunter Henschal, Blake, Stiles and Eckmann in the 4×400. Blake added a sixth in the 400 in 54.0 seconds to his divisional successes and Stiles added an eighth in the triple jump at 43’ 3” to qualify for State in that event. Dalton Rykal tossed the shot put 42’ 5” to take a fifth in that event, and Noah Fader sent the javelin 138 feet even to take eighth in that event, both earning the right to advance to State. The boys’ divisional team title went to Forsyth and Broadwater, who tied with 74 points. Huntley Project took third with 70 points. The Panthers finished in seventh out of the 16 teams entered.
