The Three Forks High School Track and Field team had a slew of fantastic performances at last week’s Fergus Invite on April 4 in Lewistown.
It was quite the day for Wolves senior Colten Hayder, who finished first in the 200 meters with a time of 23.89 and tenth in the 100 meters at 11.83.
“Seeing Colton winning that race was a pleasant surprise. We knew he was fast, but we’d be crazy if we were to expect the number two time in Class B fast, especially at his first track meet this year. Coach Noble and I are pretty sure he is only going to get faster, too,” Head Coach Dillon Gongliewski said.
Competing for the first time this season, Kylie Rowan finished second in the shot put at 33-08, close to an auto-qualifying mark for the state meet.
“Coach Lattimore (Aaron) and I are super impressed that after the first meet of the year, she is sitting as solidly at the top of the state as she is,” Gongliewski said.
Freshman Hailey Williams had quite the day for Three Forks, finishing third in the 400 at 1:04.13 and fourth in the 300-meter hurdles at 1:04.13, one of the top 10 times in Class B this season.
Also competing for the first time was freshman Maya Noble, who took third in the pole vault. Gongliewski said Noble cleared eight feet in the pole vault and also had solid times in the 100 and 200 meters.
Brady Olson had an excellent meet for Three Forks, finishing seventh in the pole vault at 10 feet and the triple jump at 37’10”.
Gongliewski said freshman Marcus Pestel took a huge step forward at the meet and is really figuring out the high hurdles. Pestel was seventh in both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
The Wolves had a banner day in both 1600-meter races. Cass Violett finished third on the boys’ side, and Bryon Fanning finished sixth. In the girls’ race, eighth grader Teegan Gifford placed fifth, and Bella Jones was sixth.
“Coach (Matt) Robb, Coach (Tara) Forsberg, and I are ecstatic about this early-season success for distance and middle runners, and the times are only going to get faster as recently they’ve been doing some pretty grueling workouts,” Gongliewski said.
Three Forks student-athletes, Shane Williams, Trevor Davis, and Quentin Recendez, all had PRs in the javelin. According to Gongliewski, the great day in the javelin was highlighted by Recendez’s 15-foot PR.
“We also had a great first look at our 4x100 relays with Maya Noble, Kylee Reichman, Ella Delger, and Julia Kotter for the girls, and Jackson Fanning, Jace Kopp, Shane Williams, and Marcus Pestel for the boys,” Gongliewski said.
Three Forks will next compete on April 13 at the Gallatin Valley Invitational in Belgrade.
“I’m excited to see what the kids do at a track meet closer to home, with less of a bus ride to shake out,” Gongliewski said.