Meet: Butte Quad
Date: 2011-05-07Butte High got a good look at some of the toughest track and field competition in the Class AA ranks Saturday, as the Bulldogs hosted Billings West, Billings Senior and Missoula Sentinel in a quadrangular meet at Charlie Merrifield Track.
Billings Senior’s girls got three individual wins from Dani Aragon in taking the team victory, while Billings West’s domination in the shot and disc rings led to the Bears winning the boys’ side.
In addition to the two Billings schools and host Butte High, Missoula Sentinel was a late addition to the field.
While none of the teams in attendance had blue in their uniforms, the color was a popular choice among Butte High’s athletes Saturday. Blue is Zach Bunney’s favorite color, and the sophomore’s teammates were wearing blue shirts and wristbands in support of the talented sprinter.
Earlier in the week, Bunney was diagnosed with leukemia, and he has been at a hospital in Spokane since, getting started on treatments to fight the disease.
“Fight like Hell” was on the back of the blue T-shirts, while “ZB” was on the front in between a pair of hearts.
Two of Bunney’s teammates — Jake Dennehy and Brock Bond — got the ball rolling on the blue bracelets, and ordered a thousand of them to sell at $5 a pop. They sold out in two hours.
“It was Brock’s idea,” Dennehy said. “We made $5,000 that’s going to Zach. We’ll be heading out to Spokane to see him soon.”
Bunney is a key member of Butte High’s team, scoring points in the sprints and serving as an integral member of the 400 relay team. Everyone Saturday missed Bunney’s presence, but it certainly wasn’t for his substantial gift for speed.
“The track season doesn’t mean a thing,” said veteran Butte High boys’ coach Charlie Merrifield. “Right now it’s all about getting Zach well. And he will get well. That’s one of the great things about being young.”
Many of Butte High’s athletes had “ZB” written on their shoulders in marker, and a few more had their heads shaved clean in support of Bunney.
Butte High’s Tyler Harney had both — a clean-shaven head to go along with the big “ZB” on the back of his skull.
Competing without their teammate, the Bulldog boys were led by senior hurdler Mark Huntington, who won both the 110 and 300 hurdles. Though he didn’t run his best time of the season in either race, Huntington looked smooth over the hurdles and seems in excellent shape with the Eastern AA Divisional meet only two weeks off.
Huntington also took third place in the pole vault, where he cleared 11-6. He was a foot behind teammate Kyle Christie, who won the event at 12-6.
Butte High got a win in the 3,200 from distance man Josh Panasuk, while the junior was also second in the 1,600.
Dunk Abbott placed second in the javelin, where he uncorked a personal-best 170-7. Cody Carriger was third in the 100 and the 200, while Jake Dallaserra placed in both the triple and high jump.
“There was tough competition today, but we had some good performances,” Merrifield said.
Butte High girls’ coach Tom Roberts agreed.
“The two Billings schools are absolutely loaded,” Roberts said. “They’re well coached, plus they have a lot of kids to choose from. Still, we competed pretty well in a lot of events.”
The Bulldog girls mile relay team took second to Senior, but both teams established season-best times, and now have the best two times in the state so far. Butte cut six seconds off its previous best time.
Roberts was also extremely pleased with freshman Erika McLeod, as she won the 400 in a time of 58.97 seconds. That’s the fifth fastest time in the state this season and the fastest ever run by a Butte High freshman.
“That was just awesome,” Roberts said. “Unbelievable. Erika ran a great race. She must be listening to ( running coaches) Zach and Mara (Osborne).”
Butte High senior Elsa Janney didn’t win an event for a change, but she was right up there against the top runners in the state. Stutter steps over the first hurdle in both the 100 and 300 races cost her time, though she was second in the 300 and fourth in the 100. Janney was also second in the 100-meter dash.
Butte High high jumper Keli Zemljak was second at 5-1, while triple jumper Bailey Harper added a foot to her previous best jump in taking third place at 33-3.
Rashae Emerson was third in the shot put, while big sister Kabri Emerson was fourth in the javelin and fifth in the shot.
The performance of the day came from Aragon, whose time of 4:57.08 in the 1,600 is less than two seconds off the state all-class record. State records may only be established at state meets, and this year’s Class AA meet is set for Butte.
Aragon’s previous personal best time of five minutes flat was also recorded on the Butte track last season.
“This track is so fast,” Aragon said while warming up for the 800 — which she won by 80 meters. “I’ve had all my best times here.”
Aragon said she was unfazed by the altitude in Butte and that she looks forward to the state meet in three weeks.
Roberts said he’s pleased with his team’s progress through a wintery spring.
“On days like this we don’t care about times,” he said. “We care about staying healthy and getting ready for divisionals and state. I think we’re starting to turn it on at the time of year we need to.”
Butte High will host Bozeman on Thursday and then travel to Bozeman in two weeks for the divisional meet.
Butte High quadrangular track
Saturday at Charlie Merrifield Track
Girls
Team scores — Billings Senior 95, Billings West 66, Butte 43, Missoula Sentinel 30
100 — 1, Chloe Kanning, Senior, 12.93. 2, Elsa Janney, Butte, 13.15. 3, Kennedy Smith, West, 13.40. 4, Erika McLeod, Butte, 13.67. 5, Holly Hollinger, Sentinel, 13.70. 6, Natalee Faupel, Butte, 13.72.
200 — 1, Chloe Kanning, Senior, 25.99. 2, Liz Harper, Sentinel, 26.31. 3, Kennedy Smith, West, 26.73. 4, Sammy McGree, Butte, 27.57. 5, Holly Hollinger, Sentinel, 27.63. 6, Taylor Dantic, West, 27.80.
400 — 1, Erika McLeod, Butte, 58.97. 2, Nicole Reitz, West, 59.55. 3, Sarah Snoozy, Senior, 1:02.30. 4, Mariah Richardson, Butte, 1:03.31. 5, Bailee Hanson, Butte, 1:04.76. 6, Jessica Marosok, West, 1:06.62.
800 — 1, Danielle Aragon, Senior, 2:13.34. 2, Cate Hanna, West, 2:26.25. 3, Jocelyn Elorriaga, Senior, 2:26.92. 4, Shea Coons, Senior, 2:28.14. 5, Brianna Eaton, Senior, 2:28.56. 6, Breanna Jaynes, Sentinel, 2:32.16.
1,600 — 1, Danielle Aragon, Senior, 4:57.08. 2, Breanna Jaynes, Sentinel, 5:37.64. 3, Cate Hanna, West, 5:43.90. 4, Mary McCarvel, Butte, 5:48.85. 5, Brenna Cockburn, Senior, 5:51.75. 6, Alex Williams, Sentinel, 5:56.86.
3,200 — 1, Danielle Aragon, Senior, 11:28.36. 2, Nicole Reitz, West, 11:38.10. 3, Breanna Haynes, Sentinel, 12:21.29. 4, Jocelyn Elorriaga, Senior, 12:51.09. 5, Brenna Cockburn, Senior, 12:58.54. 6, Alex Williams, Sentinel, 13:02.06.
100 hurdles — 1, Morgan Sulser, Senior, 15.30. 2, Liz Harper, Sentinel, 15.34. 3, Tori Weyand, West, 15.35. 4, Elsa Janney, Butte, 16.11. 5, Alyssa Espinoza, West, 16.95. 6, Kelsie McDowell, Senior, 18.09.
300 hurdles — 1, Liz Harper, Sentinel, 44.89. 2, Elsa Janney, Butte, 45.91. 3, Tori Weyand, West, 47.76. 4, Morgan Sulser, Senior, 48.43. 5, Alyssa Espinoza, West, 50.35. 6, Jordan Dreessen, Senior, 50.67.
400 relay — 1, Billings Senior, 50.06. 2, Billings West, 51.25. 3, Butte, 51.31. 4, Missoula Sentinel, 52.45.
1,600 relay — 1, Billings Senior, 3:58.48. 2, Butte, 4:01.11. 3, Billings West, 4:09.82. Sentinel DQ.
Long jump — 1, Kennedy Smith, West, 16-3. 2, Andrea Emmett, Senior, 15-11.5. 3, Natalee Faupel, Butte, 15-3. 4, K.C. Christensen, West, 15-2. 5, Chrissy Webb, Senior, 15-1.
Triple jump — 1, Kennedy Smith, West, 36-1. 2, Andrea Emmett, Senior, 33-8. 3, Bailey Harper, Butte, 33-3. 4, Britani Burns, West, 32-5. 5, Chrissy Webb, Senior, 32-3.
High jump — 1, Liz Harper, Sentinel, 5-1. 2, Keli Zemljak, Butte, 5-1. 3, Sarah Snoozy, Senior, 4-11. 4, Kinsley Rafish, Butte, 4-11. 5, Ashley Curtiss, Senior, 4-11.
Pole vault — 1, Emma Fulton, Senior, 10-0. 2, K.C. Christensen, West, 9-6. 3, Crystal Scoles, West, 9-0. 4, Kelsie McDowell, Senior, 9-0. 5, Mikaela Robinson, West, 9-0. 6, Jamie Ritter, Butte, 8-6.