Even Through the Wind and Rain, Scotties Go to State

We raise 'em right in Montana. There's no doubt in my mind. It was truly a miserable day at the North/East B divisional track meet on Saturday, but from the athletes to the volunteers, not a single "whine" was heard. If anyone was whining, it all stopped when the Glasgow boys and girls swept the meet and brought home the titles of divisional champs (the first time in school history that both boys and girls claimed the divisional title two years in a row). It was all smiles and hugs after that.

Head coach Tim Phillips expressed gratitude for everyone that literally weathered the storm on Saturday.

"Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard during a miserable day. It's really a testament to Glasgow that people will volunteer their time to help with the track meet on a day like that," Phillips said. "Some, who had been out in the wind and rain the entire day, stuck around to see the kids get their trophies. We are very grateful to all who helped with the meet in extremely poor conditions."

According to Phillips, overall it was a great day for the kids. "I can't say enough about their efforts. We set the tone early, placing two in both the boys and girls 3200-meter and the kids all just kept competing all day," he said. "It's always sad when some of our athletes don't qualify, but it wasn't from a lack of effort on their part."

"The boys just kept delivering all day - enough so that we could take Chase Fossum out of the 400 and rest him. We didn't run the 1600-meter-relay - at that point the boys were way ahead and it made no sense to send them out there in those conditions. So, there were some benefits of the qualifying standards right there," he said. "For the girls, we knew it would be a tough fight with Malta. Coach Schye and I were both counting points carefully during those last few events. The girls 1600-meter-relay team ran inspired for the second week in a row to help seal the win. Right before that, in the discus, Dana Hughes was behind Malta's Darby Schye, and on her last throw, beat Darby by one foot. They are two great senior competitors and I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do on a nice day at state next week."

Despite the weather, there were some personal records (PRs) set. For the boys: Benji Phillips - 11.76 to 11.44 in the 100 meter dash, 23.85 to 23.08 in the 200 meter dash, and 19' 11.5 to 20' 1.5 in the long jump; Chase Fossum - 23.32 to 22.85 in the 200 meter dash and 20' 10.25" to 21' 1.5" in the long jump; Trent Herbert: 19' 1" to 19' 6" in the long jump, and 39' 7" to 40' 7.75" in the triple jump.

For the girls, there were three PRs in the 100 meter dash: Baylie Chappell - 13.68 to 13.22 (state qualifying time), Jordan Kulczyk - 13.45 to 13.41 and Alex Simensen - 13.50 13.42. Julia Kolstad improved from 17.48 to 17.40 in the 100 meter hurdles and Karissa Liebelt improved her distance in the triple jump from 29' 8.5" to 30'.

Making the trip to Kalispell for the Scottie girls will be: Josie Braaten in the 1600-meter and the 3200-meter runs, Amy Breigenzer in the 100-meter-hurdles, the 300-meter-hurdles, the long jump, and the triple jump. Breigenzer will also run in the girls 4x100 relay. Baylie Chappell will compete in the 100 meter dash and the high jump, Morgan Guttenberg in the 400-meter run and the long jump and Kerry Hoffman in the 3200-meter run. Dana Hughes will throw the javelin, the discus, and the shot put. Also competing in the shot put will be Keirsten Wethern. Kaylee King made it in the high jump, Julia Kolstad in the 100 meter hurdles, and Jordan Kulczyk in 3 events: the 100 meter dash, the javelin, and the long jump. Kulczyk will also run in both relays for the girls. Brinlie Nielsen will run in the 400 meter as well as one leg of the 4x400 relay. Alex Simensen will be doing a lot of running. She's scheduled to compete in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter run and both relays. Finally for the girls, Amanda Wolff. She'll be doing a lot of running too: the 400-meter run, the 800-meter run, and a leg on both of the relays.

Scottie boys heading west include: Walker Allen in the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run, Luke Breigenzer, who will run the 300-meter hurdles, the 110-meter hurdles, and one leg of the 4x400 relay. Ethan Etchart will be running the 110-meter hurdles as well as both of the relays for the boys. Chase Fossum will compete in seven events: the long jump, triple jump, high jump, the 200-meter dash, the 400 meter run, and both relays. Benji Phillips will also be competing in seven events: the 100 meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter run, the javelin, the long jump, and both relays. Gabe Hallock is the third Scottie signed up to run both of the long distance events: the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run. Trent Herbert will compete in the long jump, the triple jump, plus a leg of the 4x100 relay. Two Scottie boys will be throwing the discus for the team: Tanner Roness and Trevor Toavs.

"State looks to be extremely competitive," said Phillips. "We'll just try to continue to peak and compete and we might just be able to bring home a trophy or two."