If there were oddsmakers for Montana Class B high school sports, and if it were six months ago, the money surely would be on Jefferson High to repeat as boys track and field state champions.
Last spring, after all, the Panthers captured the school’s fifth state title—its first since 1998. They did so handily, with their 62 total points eclipsing runners-up Missoula Loyola and Huntley Project by wide margins.
Jefferson was poised to return nearly that entire championship squad this year. And rival Huntley Project’s dominant all-around athlete, Noah Bouchard, who was injured early in the 2021 state meet, was no longer a threat; graduated, he now competes for the University of Colorado.
But then: Football happened. Senior Joey Visser, who won the state 300-meter hurdles and anchored the Panthers’ 4×100 relay, suffered a serious sports hernia in Jefferson’s first gridiron game last fall. And Braden Morris, who finished second in the 300 hurdles and won a title of his own in the 110 hurdles, tore up his ankle on the heartbreaking final play of the last regular season game.
Visser and Morris both eventually needed surgery, and they sat out the entire basketball season. And the questions emerged: Would they return in time for track? And would they still be fast?
The answers: Yes—and we’ll soon see. After “a long winter” of physical therapy and rehab, Morris says he’s back to 100%. Visser’s recovery isn’t as far along: The Panthers’ practices last month were the first time he had tried running at full speed, and, he says, “it’s definitely tough getting back into it after not competing.”
Coach Sarah Layng—fresh from coaching Jefferson’s girls basketball team to a second-place State finish—is taking all this in stride. Her ranks are deep: 55 students are competing this year, up from the low-40s last spring, giving her the chance to fill more events with stronger athletes.
The new kids include three familiar faces: seniors Jake Genger, Trent McMaster and Tom Meyer, who anchored the Panthers’ football and basketball squads but haven’t run track the last two years. Morris and Visser say they roped their three friends into one final athletic quest together before graduating.
With those numbers, Layng plans to use early-spring meets to sort through the puzzle pieces, figuring out which kids fit best with which events. “We might start out a little slow,” she says. But “I don’t think it’s too far-fetched” that the boys might take another state crown. “I think we have great shot at it.”
So far, so good: The boys dominated at the first meet of the year, on April 2 in Lockwood; their team score of 167 easily topped a field of 14 schools. Morris was, in fact, fast, winning the 110 hurdles, triple jump, and javelin. (Visser, who hadn’t yet attended enough practices to compete, will have to wait for this weekend.)
Some of the puzzle-solving, Layng says, “we’ll just play by ear.” Genger, McMaster, and Meyer probably will slot into sprints and jumping events. Dylan Root, third in the 110 hurdles at State last year, will return with Mike Emter to the relay events. Freshmen Luke Oxarart and Hunter Stevens could figure in the hurdles.
Logan Hornung, part of the Panthers’ cross country squad, will join in distance events, as well Luke Mest and Dylan Myksell.
Among the field events, Wade Rykal will be back in shot put; he narrowly missed the state crown last June. And Morris plans to return to the javelin, where he finished fourth. Newcomers Keenan and Braden Martin, as well as Brady Armstrong and Ranger Schake, are in the mix for throwing events.
The girls likewise have a strong core that will try to improve on an eighth-place finish at last year’s championship. Among others, senior Kai Taylor is back for shot put and discus, and sophomores Claire Ronayne and MacKenzie Layng will return for sprints and relays; Ronayne was second at State in the 100 and fourth in the 200.
Among the newcomers, Arena Thaler likely will run middle distance and compete in throwing. Clara Genger will figure in distance running, hurdling and jumping. And Renee Parker, who finished second at the state cross country meet last fall, will give the Panthers a fierce presence at 1,600 meters.
That amounts to a pretty deep bunch. “Compared to last year,” Morris observes, “we have more weapons.” Can that bigger crew take State again? “We definitely can, if everyone keeps focused and doesn’t lose sight of the goal.”
And with the new seniors—Genger, McMaster, and Meyer—now along for the ride, “it will be extremely fun,” Visser says. “We were like, guys, even if you don’t make it to State [individually], just being with us and experiencing it is best feeling ever.
“And if we can win State again, it would mean the world to me.”
