Mother Nature blessed Montana’s athletes with beautiful weather over the weekend, which led to some of the best times and distances of the season. The Skor DeKam Invitational in Helena had one meet record broken and narrowly missed having a second. Some performances have already eclipsed current state records, although state records must be set at the state meet. With the state meets just a few weeks away, the competition on the track and in the field is heating up.
- Sidney’s Garrison Hughes continues to soar to new heights in the boys pole vault. Hughes cleared 16 feet, 9 inches over the weekend and has his sights firmly set on the all-class pole vault record of 16-04, currently held by Helena High’s Chase Smith. Smith set the record in 2015. Hughes already owns the Class A record after a vault of 16-feet won him the Class A state title last year.
- Defending Class AA 100-meter dash champion Damien Nelson of Great Falls CMR looks poised to repeat. Nelson clocked the fastest 100 time in Montana this season after running a blazing 10.63 seconds at the Skor DeKam Invitational in Helena. Nelson finished just .07 off former CMR sprinter Chris Wilson’s meet and stadium record time of 10.56.
- Big Timber’s Casey Gunlikson had himself quite the weekend. Gunlikson ran 10.89 in the 100 and 22.39 in the 200-meter dash, both the fastest times in Class B this season. He also ran 39.55 in the 300-meter hurdles, which puts him atop Class B in that event, as well.
- Mark Estes seems to be adjusting to Kalispell Glacier quite well. Last season at Drummond, he won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races at the Class C state track and field meet. Estes is rounding into form late in the year. He ran 11.16 in the 100, good for fourth-best in Class AA, and set a new state-best mark in the triple jump with a leap of 45-11.
- Roberts’ Alex Kosel, the defending Class C champion in the high jump and runner-up in the long jump, is now the state’s leader in the long jump. Kosel became the first jumper to leap more than 22 feet this season, jumping 22-02 1/4 at the Park City/Harlo Invitational.
- As the old adage goes, records are made to be broken. Bozeman high jumper Lucy Corbett did just that at the Skor DeKam Invitational on Saturday. Corbett broke the meet record, as well as the Vigilante Stadium record, both of which stood for more than 30 years, with her state-best jump of 5-10. The jump is the second best in a Montana high school meet according to the Montana High School Association website, and is currently tied for sixth in the nation according to www.athletic.net.
- Helena Capital’s Audrey Bloomquist and Charlo’s Tyrah Hammond set their respective class bests in the 100 over the weekend. Bloomquist ran 12.66 to grab the Class AA lead, while Hammond also ran 12.66 to grab the Class C lead.
- Missoula Sentinel sophomore sensation Lauren Heggen continues to add to her resume. Heggen ran the 100-meter hurdles in 14.92, making her the only female athlete in Montana to run faster than 15 seconds in that event this season.
- Sinclair Oliver of Three Forks, who finished seventh in the Class B long jump last year, improved upon her state-leading jump. Oliver is the only Class B girl with a mark better than 17 feet this season. She jumped 17-07 1/2 at the Manhattan Christian Invitational.
- Baker’s Wrenzi Wrzesinski is once again the state leader, this time in the 300-meter hurdles. Wrzesinski ran 46.01 and now holds a 1.6-second advantage on the No. 2 time in Class B.
