WHITEFISH — Rain battered athletes on and off throughout the day, but that wasn’t going to slow down Polson senior Bea Frissell.
Frissell, the defending Class A state champion in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, was never contested in Saturday afternoon’s 3,200 at the Whitefish ARM track and field meet en route to a new Polson school record of 10 minutes, 53.14 seconds, shattering her old record by more than 25 seconds.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Frissell said after her record-breaking race. “Thinking back to my sophomore year and freshman year, I never imagined I would get that time. So it makes me really happy I’m beating my PRs.”
Running uncontested throughout, Frissell kept pushing knowing that she was on record pace. But even though her time is far and away the leader in Class A, Frissell thinks she has room to improve.
“I think I have more in me, for sure,” Frissell said. “I’m really excited about the mile for the coming races. I’m really excited basically for all the races, because I think I have more in me and I’m ready to go.”
Frissell became the first Montana girl to run sub-11 minutes in the 3,200 on Montana soil this season and now has a 45-second edge over Class A’s No. 2 time.
Kalispell Glacier’s Faith Brennan wins 3 events
Faith Brennan, who stands among Class AA’s top jumpers, won three events at the Whitefish ARM on Saturday afternoon. The Kalispell Glacier junior opened the day with a victory in the triple jump, leaping 36 feet, 5.25 inches. While not a season best, Brennan currently sits No. 5 in Montana in triple jump.
“I’m actually very happy, because usually in this weather I don’t do the best, but (Saturday) I did pretty good,” Brennan said. “Usually on days like this I work on my mindset and don’t let the weather get to me.”
Brennan then added a second victory in the long jump at 16-05.5, holding off teammate Taylor Brisendine in both events. Brennan’s third victory of the day came in the 100-meter hurdles, where Brennan crossed in 15.93 seconds. Brennan is currently No. 4 in Class AA in the hurdles.
Kalispell Glacier’s Drew Deck sweeps long jump, triple jump
Kalispell Glacier’s Drew Deck had never triple jumped before Saturday’s Whitefish ARM meet, but it didn’t seem to matter.
One of the most explosive athletes in Class AA, Deck qualified for the State AA track and field meet on his final attempt of the day, a jump of 42-10.25. That jump also surpassed Shelby’s Wyatt Brusven to win the event.
Deck improved seemingly every jump he took, and his final jump propelled him to the No. 2 spot in Class AA this season by Missoula Sentinel’s Elias Dewaters (43-10).
Deck then won the long jump with a jump of 21-01 and also ran the opening leg on Glacier’s winning 400-meter relay team.
Kalispell Flathead’s Ben Perrin wins 1,600, 3,200
Add another pair of victories to Kalispell Flathead senior Ben Perrin’s gaudy resume. Perrin won both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Whitefish ARM on Saturday afternoon in dominant fashion.
Perrin came out on a mission in the 1,600, leaving the pack in the dust almost instantly. Perrin kept his brisk pace through the four laps to finish in 4:23.01, a new season best for Perrin and the No. 1 time in Class AA this season.
“It felt faster than my other races. … I had high goals for this meet, I wanted to go fast. The weather did kind of play a part, but it’s better than being really hot out,” Perrin said.
Perrin cruised to another easy victory in the 3,200, finishing in 9:54.42, nearly 50 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Perrin then ran the second leg for Flathead’s winning 1,600-meter relay team.
For full results of the 2019 Whitefish ARM click here.
