Hinsdale Wins Glasgow Invitational

Spring was in the air and so were an untold number of athletes last Thursday at the Glasgow Invitational track meet. Twenty-six schools and more than 564 tracksters hit the ground running and jumping, a significant increase from the 2019 meet with 26 schools but only 384 athletes. Mother Nature surprisingly cooperated for the first meet of the year, with mostly clear skies and a breeze that became somewhat stronger as the day went on. At the end of a beautiful day, Hinsdale stood atop the Girls and Boys standings with 52 and 76 points respectively.

Hinsdale head coach Taylor Olson said, "Our kids are confident and love to compete. The way they finished two years ago and missing out last year, they have been motivated in the weight room and in their speed training." That motivation was on clear display as the Raiders showed what they are made of.

Kaitlyn McColly led the girls team, winning four of her five events. The senior Raider placed second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.89. She won the 100 meter hurdles in 16.45. She won three field events, taking the pole vault (9'6"), long jump (16"), and triple jump (33"10.25). Zandora Longtree placed fourth in the javelin throw with a distance of 91'9".

Olson added, "We knew what they are capable of, but did not know what to expect after nearly two years. Some of their marks are incredible for the first meet." Indeed, the Raider boys also racked up a number of impressive performances.

Jesse Lee, Loden Idler and Trey Johnson joined forces to lead the boys team to their win. Lee placed second in the 200 meter (25.19) and 400 meter (54) dashes while Idler right behind Lee in the 200 to claim third place with a time of 25.20. Johnson placed second in the 110 meter hurdles with his time of 18.83. Lee claimed second in the high jump with a height of 5'8". In the pole vault, Idler cleared 11'6" and Johnson cleared 10' for second and fifth places, respectively. Idler took the only first place for the Hinsdale boys in the long jump, leaping 19'6.5". Lee was second in the shot put with a throw of 42'11.75. In the javelin Idler threw for 143'06" and second place while Johnson placed fifth with a throw of 135'05'.

"I really didn't have too many expectations for our meet – we just wanted to get the kids some experience. Only four girls and 11 of our boys had ever participated in a high school track meet before, so to just get that first experience was huge for them," Glasgow head coach Tim Phillips told the Courier. "I think overall we were very pleased with the efforts of all our kids."

The Glasgow girls placed seventh with 35 points and the Glasgow boys took fifth with 44 points. Iris McKean led the girls with a first-place finish in the 1600 meter run (5:45.51) and second in the 800 meter (2:33.32). Emily See took sixth in the 1600 (6:09.28) and second in the 3200 meter run (12:56.39). Blaire Westby placed fifth in the 100 meter dash (14.28). Kira Beck, He'lena Stulc, McKean and Westby combined to place fourth in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 4:37.92. Beck claimed fifth in the pole vault at 7'6".

"For the girls, Iris and Emily looked pretty solid. I thought Iris ran a tremendous tactical race in the 1600m, Emily had a great finish to get second in the 3200m. Tyann [Graham] didn't have her best shot put day, but she's been working REALLY hard on that. Sometimes you come out a little flat, but in the end her hard work will pay off. I bet she's over 30 feet this weekend," Phillips said of his girls team. "It was good to see Kira place in the vault, with Tyann just behind her. We haven't gotten much work in there yet, so lots of great things to come! And, Blaire wasn't real happy with her 100m time, but her form is so much better - she'll make some great gains in the next couple weeks too!"

For the boys, Dalton Sand took second in the 800 meter (2:09.47) and third in the 1600 meter (5:06.57). Reed Larsen was sixth in the 800 with his time of 2:19.90. Carl Zabrocki was right behind Sand in the 1600, taking fourth (5:13.98). He also took fourth in the 3200 with a time of 11:09.39. Blake Lloyd, Larsen, Sand and Tatum Hansen placed fourth in the 4x400 with a time of 3:54.74. Stephen Bailey claimed the boys' only first-place finish, clearing 12' to win the pole vault. Ted Tryan placed sixth in the pole vault after clearing 10'. Bergen Miller was third in the discus throw with a distance of 129'5".

"Dalton Sand had a couple really stout races in the 1600 and 800 - that 800m time was a 10 second personal best! Bergen Miller had a huge personal best in the discus - he threw 15 feet farther than his previous best. And, of course Stephen Bailey's win in the pole vault was big - that was a 3 foot personal best for him! The state qualifying mark is 12' 3" so he is right there. Stephen is a different athlete this year - we saw that when we did our Olympic Games day a couple weeks ago. He's a lot more confident this year!" enthused Phillips. "Carl and Lane [Thompson] ran some good distance races - they've been training all winter and I think they will both break out some really fast races in the next couple weeks. And though Tatum Hansen didn't place in the 100m, he wasn't far off: for a freshman in that race, that was really good!"

Nashua's Tia Dees was the only Porcupine to break into the top six at the meet, placing fifth in the shot put (32'9.5") and fifth in the discus (95'7"), but Nashua had their own successes, not reflected on the score sheet. "I was really happy with how the kids performed," said Janice Rorvik, head coach. "We had almost all of them achieve new PRs and the season is looking really promising."

Jasiah Hambira placed the Lustre Christian Lions on the board. He placed third in the high jump with a height of 5'6" and fifth in the long jump with a distance of 18'.

Glasgow had been scheduled to attend the Cal Wearley Invitational in Havre on Wednesday, April 7, but the meet has been postponed indefinitely. All Valley County teams are now scheduled to participate in the Wibeaux Invitational track meet in Glendive this Saturday, April 10.

Team Rankings

Girls

1 Hinsdale 52 points

2 Havre 51

3 Plentywood 50

4 Savage 40

5 Wolf Point 37

6 Scobey 35.5

7 Glasgow 35

7 Fairview 35

9 Saco 34

10 Circle 27

11 Malta 24

11 Custer County 24

13 Whitewater 19

14 Westby-Grenora 14

15 Culbertson 13.5

16 Chinook 10

17 Wibaux County 8

18 Poplar 6

19 Nashua 4

19 Turner 4

21 Garfield County 3

22 Harlem 1

Boys

1 Hinsdale 76

2 Havre 65

3 Wolf Point 55

4 Plentywood 49

5 Glasgow 44

6 Malta 38

7 Circle 37

8 Richey-Lambert 30

8 Custer County 30

10 Scobey 23

11 Harlem 18

12 Chinook 17

13 Fairview 14

14 Lustre Christian 8

14 Garfield County 8

16 Whitewater 4

16 Culbertson 4

18 Savage 3

19 Bainville 2

19 Poplar 2