(Editor's note: MTN Sports is featuring a Midland Roundtable Athlete of the Year finalist nightly leading into this year's awards banquet Wednesday, May 18, at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. Ten graduating seniors (five boys, five girls) in Billings are nominated annually by coaches and activities directors before Roundtable members, a group of longtime sports enthusiasts in Billings, vote on one male and one female winner. In rare instances, the award has been shared.)
BILLINGS - If there's one chore West High's Jaeden Wolff absolutely despises, it's laundry.
"I let it build up so much. There's so many stacks in our laundry room, my mom yells at me all the time," Wolff told MTN Sports with a laugh. "And I have clothes all over my floor, so with my roommate Lizzy next year, I'm definitely going to have to clean up."
She's referring to her roomy at Montana State where Wolff is committed and eager to run track for the Bobcats. And she is fast.
It doesn't matter if Wolff is running a relay — she's a three-time State AA champ — or the 100-meter dash, where she's also a state champ and Montana's fastest girl this season in a time of 12.06. Wolff has a legit chance to run the dash in under 12 seconds and according to teammates, she outruns quite a few guys at West.
Though her parents are Montana natives, Wolff and her younger sister actually grew up in Arizona. Imagine her surprise after moving to Billings middle of her 8th-grade year -- in the dead of winter.
"We were just thrown right into so much snow that we were not obviously used to," she recalled. "And when I got here, I was like, why did I agree to moving here?"
Now, Wolff says she's glad she moved. And so is West head track and field coach Rob Stanton, who admitted he normally doesn't nominate single-sport athletes for this award, but made an exception because Wolff has a chance to become the fastest high school female in Montana history. And, he says, "she has a cute puppy."
Should that puppy ever become a flight risk, you know Wolff is fast enough to chase it down.
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Female finalists: Brooke Berry (Skyview), Kaitlin Grossman (West), Mya Hansen (Central), Kennedy Venner (Senior), Jaeden Wolff (West).
Male finalists: Isaiah Claunch (West), Caden Dowler (West), Taco Dowler (West), Drake Rhodes (West), Payton Sanders (Skyview).
