Apr. 12—MISSOULA — The Flathead Braves made a push for the MCPS Invitational boys team title Friday and came up 1.5 points short.
Helena scored 101.5 points at MCPS Stadium, next to Big Sky High School. Flathead had 100, Helena Capital 81.5 and Columbia Falls 57. Whitefish and Polson scored 22 each.
Missoula Hellgate won the girls side with 101.6 points; Helena High was next with 98.8 and then Hamilton had 73.5. Flathead was sixth at 48 points; Whitefish had 35, Columbia Falls 18 and Polson 15.
Flathead's boys had plenty of highlights, including Ben Bliven winning the 100 meters in 10.89 seconds and the 200 in 22.02 — with teammate William Hollensteiner second at 22.07, a personal record. Bliven leads the state in both sprints going to Saturday, in all classes.
Hollensteiner also soared 22 feet, 1.5 inches to win the long jump, setting the early standard for all classes.
Kasen Kastner hit his PR in the 800, 1:53.97, which is Montana's top time. He beat a talented field that included Whitefish's Simon Douglas, who was second at 1:54.43, his best and the best in Class A. Kastner was also third in the 1,600.
Lane Chivers ran the state's fast 300-meter hurdles so far, winning with a PR of 39.03, and the Braves also swept the relays — making up most of a 7.5-point deficit during the 4-by-400.
Columbia Falls' Jack Phelps took the 400 in 50.68, and his teammate Lane Voermans threw 167-8 to beat a deep discus field that included Polson's Astin Brown, who was fourth at 151-5.
Brown threw 58-4 to win the shot put, where Voermans (48-6) was third.
On the girls' side, Flathead's Alivia Rinehart ran a PR and all-class best time of 25.26 to win the 200, and took the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.85 (teammate Bristol Lenz was second at 15.58). Rinehart continues to have the state's best high hurdles time.
The Bravettes' Jose Wilson (2:24.44) was second to Hamilton standout Annalise Lewis (2:16.95) in the 800; Lewis also led a 1-2 finish in the 1,600, where Flathead freshman Everett Holland was just .29 out of second;
Polson's Morgan Delaney won the 3,200 in 11:32.25, the best time in Class A.
Whitefish freshman Ginger Bergland ran 46.23 to win the 300 hurdles and set the early standard in the event for all classes.
Her teammate Rachael Wilmot was a close second in both the 100 and 200. Wilmot ran 12.55 to lose by just.05 to Hellgate's Sofia Szollosi in the 100; She was .24 behind Rinehart in the 200, clocking 25.50.
Both Bergland and Wilmot helped Whitefish take second in the long relay.
As for Helena, Madilyn Todorovich was again a force, winning the long jump with a mark of 17-7.5 and the high jump with a PR and all-class best of 5-7.
Complete results can be found at athletic.net.
