BUTTE — From runners bolting around the track, to field athletes launching javelins, to coaches and spectators, people just seemed to be happy to be participating in a track and field meet.
And understandably so as Butte High hosted its first track and field dual of the season against Kalispell Glacier -- with some members of Butte Central's squad also joining in -- on a cloudless, sun-soaked afternoon at Charlie Merrifield Track.
The Bulldog boys cruised to a team win with 98 points to the Wolfpack's 67. The Maroons took third with eight points.
Butte finished with the top four placers in the 100-meter dash with Christian Vetter leading the way with a time of 11.34 seconds. John Connole delivered a win for the Bulldogs in the 110 hurdles (18.08) and Butte's 400 relay teams took the top three spots.
Glacier's Ethan Strand held off Ethan Wroblewski in a tightly contested 1,600 with Strand finishing in 5:05.16 to Wroblewski's 5:05.85.
Dylan Snyder and Cameron Gurnsey finished in first and second place in the high jump with both clearing 6-foot-2. In the pole vault, Butte's Keagan Gransbery won with a height of 13 feet.
Glacier's Aiden Krause held off Butte's Jake Olson in the discus with Krause notching a winning throw of 108 feet, 7 inches while Olson took second with a mark of 107-11.
GIRLS DUAL
The Glacier girls handily won the team title with 99 points while Butte took second with 57 and Central scored 18.
The Wolfpack earned 11 points in the 1,600 as Glacier finished with the top four runners, led by Isabella Lane who clocked a time of 6:23.48.
In the 400, Noah Fincher (1:04.76) and Kiera Sullivan (1:05.50) delivered a 1-2 finish for the Wolfpack. Glacier also claimed all 11 points in the shot put, led by Cameron Gilman's winning throw of 33 feet, 5 inches.
Butte's Mollee Conlan won the 100 with a time of 13.25 while Central's Ella Moodry took second at 13.32. The Bulldogs also got a win out of senior and future Montana Tech cross country runner Hailey Nielson who took first in the 800 (2:28.71).
In the high jump, Butte's Anna Trudnowski won with a height of 5 feet, 5 inches and Glacier's Taylor Brisendine cleared 5-1. Both automatically qualified for state.
Butte Central's Rileigh McGree took home a pair of wins. She won the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.72 seconds and also took first in the long jump with a distance of 17-1 to qualify for state. Trudnowski also punched a ticket to state in that event with a distance of 16-7.
