BOULDER, Mont. — The best small school athletes from Southwest Montana put on one heck of a show at the District 5B meet at Jefferson High School on Friday.
Four meet records were broken and another was tied, and the Manhattan boys and Jefferson girls claimed the team titles.
The Tiger boys finished the meet with 150 points, with Jefferson in second at 124, followed by Townsend in third at 72.
The Manhattan and Jefferson boys both broke the previous 4 x 100-meter relay record of 43.62 seconds. Manhattan took first with a time of 43.02, followed by a mark of 43.34 for Jefferson.
Jefferson’s Cooper Mikesell broke the meet record and set a personal best in the pole vault, launching himself over the bar that was set at 14 feet, 1.25 inches. That is the best mark in all of Class B this season.
Panther Tyler Frydenlund just missed out on the meet record of 49.85 in the 400-meter dash but set a new school record with a time of 49.87.
Tiger Brady Toner took first in a loaded boys’ shot put field with a personal best of 53 feet, 8 inches. That was 4 feet, 11.5 inches further than the rest of the competition.
“I’ve been running it all season just hoping to get this, worked hard for it. It’s so special. I love this team. Everyone is my family,” said Frydenlund.
On the girls’ side, Jefferson ended the day with a remarkable 234 points. Townsend took second with 99, and Manhattan had 75 points to earn a third-place finish.
Broken meet records on the girls’ side were Jefferson in the 4 x 100 relay (49.72 seconds) and Townsend’s Kaitlyn Noyes in the long jump (18 feet, 4.25 inches).
“Last year, especially, I was kind of doubting if it was all a fluke my sophomore year. But being able to do that in these conditions has really brought back my confidence a little bit,” said Noyes, a two-time State champion in the long jump, with a wind-aided career best of 18 feet, 4.75 inches.
Jefferson’s McKinleigh Doherty tied the meet high jump record with a mark of 5 feet, 4 inches.
The Panthers took first, second, third, and fourth in the girls’ shot put, with London Ostby winning the event with a mark of 33 feet, 2 inches. That came on the final throw of the event, besting teammate Josie Oxarart by one inch.