Tuesday marked one of the great days on the annual track and field calendar, as athletes around Montana competed in some of the best meets of the regular season. Laurel hosted the Midland Roundtable Top 10, Glasgow hosted the North/East Top 10 and Fairfield hosted the Cascade Top 8.
Each of the three meets annually invites the top athletes from their respective regions to compete head to head against the best of the best. The meets rarely disappoint, as athletes from all classifications put their best feet forward in attempts to run personal-best times or break meet records.
The 2018 meets were no different, as state-best times were recorded and meet records fell. Here are some of the more noteworthy marks from the Midland Roundtable Top 10, the North/East Top 10 and the Cascade Top 8.
- Bozeman’s Lucy Corbett etched her name into the Midland Roundtable record books, taking down the meet’s longest-standing record. Corbett cleared 5 feet, 7 inches to eclipse the the 5-06 mark set by Jill Montgomery in 1988. Corbett’s teammate, Delaney Bahn, also got in the record books with a long jump of 19 feet, 1 1/2 inches.
- The boys had a good day in the jumps at the Midland Roundtable Top 10, too, with three athletes registering long jump marks longer than 22 feet. Forsyth’s Paul Johnstone won the event with a jump of 22 feet, 6 inches. Teddy Krogh of Billings West placed second (22-04) and Robbie Simpson of Bozeman finished third (22-00 1/4). Johnstone and Krogh now rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the state, and Simpson sits third. Melstone’s Brody Grebe edged Johnstone for the triple jump title, marking 44-01 1/4.
- The Midland Roundtable Top 10 featured the fastest 400-meter run in the state this season with three runners breaking the 50-second barrier. Forsyth’s Cade Johnstone, Paul’s twin brother, clocked a time of 49.52 seconds to edge Trevin Gradney of Billings West (49.56) and Micah Ans of Billings Senior (49.65). Those are the three fastest times in the state this season and personal-best times for all three runners. Bozeman’s Korben Cossins also ran his personal-best time of 51.11 to rank eighth in the state.
- The exploits of Sidney’s Hughes brothers are well-documented by now, but they keep raising the bar — in Garrison Hughes’ case, literally. He already owns the Class A state pole vault record, which can only be set at the state meet, and recently cleared 16 feet, 9 inches. His 16-05 at the North/East Top 10 in Glasgow didn’t reach his typical standards, but Hughes still broke his own meet record. Brother Carter Hughes added two more meet records, setting the new top marks in the shot put (58 feet, 6 inches) and discus (167-06). The 58-06 shot put mark is his personal best and keeps the junior on the heels of state leader Justin Jenks of Helena Capital (61-03 1/2).
- Kinley Peterson of Westby-Grenora posted the fastest 400-meter run time in the state at the North/East Top 10, crossing the finish line in 58.82 seconds. Peterson placed fourth at the State C meet last spring, and she’ll have plenty of competition this year, too. Winnett-Grass Range’s Zoe Delaney has a season-best time of 59.22.
- While Peterson was shining at Glasgow, Delaney was putting together a great day at the Cascade Top 8 in Fairfield. The sophomore comfortably won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter runs.
