LAUREL — Even after winning Friday’s 400-meter dash in dramatic fashion, Scobey’s Martin Farver had plenty of work left at the State C track and field meet at the Laurel Sports Complex to help the Spartans bring home a team title.
Farver started the day with the 110-meter hurdles, where he posted a personal-best time of 14.91 seconds. But it wouldn’t be enough, as Farver was passed by Valley Christian’s Benjamin Tuinstra between the final hurdle and the finish line. It was Tuinstra’s second consecutive hurdles title.
“I kind of surprised myself with that time in the hurdles. I really wanted to go fast, but I didn’t think it could be that fast,” Farver said. “But not winning the title definitely added some motivation for the 100.”
It showed, as Farver threatened the State C record of 10.96 seconds. He finished the 100-meter dash in 11.00 seconds to claim his second gold medal of the weekend. He quickly turned his attention to the 200, where he and teammate Brandon Machart finished 1-2 to essentially seal the team title for the Spartans.
“(Machart) has been running well lately. He’s been working really hard. We both had confidence he could place, but going two, that’s huge. That’s a real big move by him,” Farver said.
Farver swept the sprints on the weekend and helped the Spartans win the 400-meter relay to open Day 2.
“It’s just such a long road. You start in the offseason, you’re working through the summer, then football and basketball. You finally get to track and you get to really see what you can do and it’s really awesome to fulfill that goal,” he said. “Last year we lost by two points, so obviously every point matters. We kind of found that out the hard way.”
The Spartans finished with 64 points. Scobey led second-place Seeley-Swan by 21 points entering the 1,600-meter relay, so Farver was able to finally take a break. The Spartans still placed sixth in the event.
Seeley-Swan finished in second place with 52 points after winning the 1,600-meter relay. Fort Benton claimed third with 45 points.
Brody Grebe nearly breaks triple jump record, wins shot put
At the beginning of Saturday, Brody Grebe had a realistic shot at winning five individual titles and earning a trophy for Melstone.
Grebe opened with the shot put. His first attempt of the day, though, caused plenty of confusion. Grebe’s throw was initially marked at 51 feet, 7 inches. The record printed on the entry list incorrectly showed 50-06.50. Meet officials measured the mark officially at 51-05.50, but it wasn’t until later that the error was made clear. The State C shot put record is actually 56-07.5, set by Ben Toeckes of Power in 1995.
“(Geraldine’s Mavrick McKinlay) threw a 51-02, so then maybe those two inches were going to be bigger than I thought,” Grebe said. “On my last throw I threw 51-07. I went out and threw as hard as I could and somehow it ended the exact same.”
The error didn’t wind up costing Grebe in the end, as he started two for two in his quest for five. He’d run into Farver in the 100, though, and finish in second place.
Grebe’s quest to earn Melstone a trophy still had hope, but a false start in the 200, in which Grebe was the top qualifier, ultimately put that to bed. He responded well, though, as he marked a triple jump of 44-07 in prelims to lead entering finals.
Defending champion Levi Brubaker of Noxon lurked in second just three inches behind and Grebe didn’t feel his lead was safe. On his final attempt, he nearly broke the state record, jumping 45-06.75. He was just shy of the State C record of 45-07.75 by Greg Stene of Columbus in 1976.
“I was definitely pissed,” Grebe said of his false start in the 200. “I thought, ‘Well, this is my last track event ever in Montana, just going to give it everything.’ … At the end of the day I’m happy with how I did. This is a big one. I think I redeemed myself from last year.”
Grebe finished with 38 points to help Melstone tie with Manhattan Christian for fourth place.
Seeley-Swan girls dominate en route to team title
Seeley-Swan’s girls were dominant from start to finish of the State C track and field meet.
Terra Bertsch opened up the meet with a pole vault title on Thursday night. The Blackhawks increased their lead Friday with strong performances from Klaire Kovatch and Sariah Maughan. Saturday the Blackhawks continued their dominance on the track.
Seeley-Swan opened Saturday morning by finishing second in the 400-meter relay to Fort Benton. Then, Maughan and Hannah Ayers, both freshmen, finished 2-3 in the 800-meter run to add 14 quick points. Senior Autumn Morse added a win in the javelin early Saturday morning with a throw of 130-11.
The Blackhawks put the exclamation point on their title with a win in the 1,600-meter relay to finish with 90.33 points. Charlo finished second with 48 points and Fort Benton took third with 43.
“It’s really exciting,” Kovatch said. “I think we can keep this up. Winning a state meet, it’s a lot of fun. We’ve worked really hard this season, so I’m really happy for us.”
Charlo’s Carlee Fryberger leads Vikings to 2nd-place finish
Charlo sophomore Carlee Fryberger had a monster Saturday to help lead the Vikings to a second-place finish.
Fryberger opened with a win in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.81 seconds. She had finished runner-up as a freshman. She then won the 100-meter dash in 12.70 seconds to tack on 10 more points.
Fryberger added a third-place finish in the 200 and ran on both of Charlo’s third-place relay teams.
“It just feels so good to be on top of that podium,” Fryberger said. “Seeley is coming in with a bunch of points, so it’s pretty important for me to pull my weight.”
Teammate Kaitlin Cox chipped in with a second-place finish in the triple jump and Allie Delaney finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles. Charlo finished with 48 points, holding of surging Fort Benton, which had 43 points, for second place.
For complete results from the Class C state track and field meet, please click here.
