On a cold and windy day in Laurel, Jefferson High’s track and field squad fought the elements and came away with a large complement of qualifiers for the end of season Class B State tournament, set for this Friday and Saturday in Kalispell.
The Panther boys finished fourth, and the girls 13th, at the weekend’s South Division meet. Huntley Project looks to be this year’s Class B favorite in both boys and girls. It took the boys’ division title with 157 points, overwhelming Manhattan’s 56, Broadwater’s 49, and Jefferson’s 43. Huntley Project’s girls team won gold with 113.58 points, outpacing Baker with 89 and Colstrip’s 77. Jefferson’s girls came away with 10 points.
Among the Panther boys, Coen Guisti took first place in the shot put with a personal best of 48’4.50”; and 4th in the discus at 133’4”. Avery Stiles qualified for State in four events, finishing 7th in the 100, at 11.44, 2nd in the high jump at 6’4”, 2nd in the long jump at 20’7.25”, and 3rd in the triple jump, 41’7”.
Carter McCauley placed 8th in the 110 hurdles at 16.75; Joey Visser finished 7th in the 300 hurdles at 43.36; Dalton Rykal took 4th in the shot put at 44’11.25”; and Drake Schacke was 5th in the discus at 132’9”; his personal best in the shot put, 42’10.50”, fell just shy of qualifying for state. And Jefferson’s 4X100 relay team of Richie Canzona, Joey Visser, Casey St Clair and Avery Stiles took 6th in 46.51.
For the Lady Panthers, Hailee Stiles qualified for State with an 8th place finish in the 200, at 28.55, and 7th in the triple jump, at 30’10.75”. Grace Alexander placed 6th in the 300 hurdles at 49.85; and Grace Jones had a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 34’6”, good for 3rd. The 4X400 relay team of Stiles, Alexander, Ashton Oxarart and Ashley Sullivan took 5th in 4:27.09; the same four placed 6th in the 4X100 relay in 54.02.
Golf
Not often is a freshman among the top fifteen golfers in the state. But the Panthers’ Preston Field came on strong in the Class B State tournament in Missoula May 14 and 15. Field dug a bit of a hole with a first-round score of 90. But he stormed back the next day with an 85 to land in 15th place with a total of 175. Other boys in the top 15 from the South were Blake Finn of Sweet Grass County, second with a 148, and Cody Graveley of Broadwater, also with a 148. Missoula Loyola won both the boys and girls titles.
Tennis
At the State B-C tournament in Bozeman, the Panthers’ doubles team of Kylie Marks and Laurynn Armstrong lost its first two matches, falling to Madi Seifert and Katelyn Edinger of Cut Bank in the first round. Both girls are juniors, so watch for them to return to State next year.
