State A track: Corvallis leads both team races, using repeat bids to 'Live Like Lucas' (2024)

LAUREL — Winning — no, dominating — the Class A boys shot put state championship was personal to Wyatt Miles.

For one, a multitude of injuries that the Corvallis thrower suffered throughout the season threatened to derail a promising senior season, one which he flung a shot put 59 feet, 7 inches during a season-opening meet before missing some time and being unable to get back to that standout mark.

And second, as he and many of his Blue Devil track and field teammates made clear through T-shirts and wristbands worn with the slogan Friday, their bid for a second straight sweep of the boys and girls Class A track state titles has a mantra that they remind themselves of frequently.

Live Like Lucas.

Miles said that during Powell's final meet, about a year ago Friday, he went above and beyond in setting a personal-record by almost two feet to help get Corvallis over the line.

If the Blue Devil boys, who lead second-placed Hamilton by 1.8 points (26.8-25) after the first day of competition at the MHSA State A Track and Field Meet in Laurel, do end up winning another title Saturday afternoon, they might just be pointing to Miles going above and beyond — Living Like Lucas, indeed — for explaining how they were able to pull it off.

Miles tossed on his second shot put throw of the day a monster distance of 60-9.5, smashing the previous Class A state meet record (58-5.5, set by Livingston's Chris Emter in 2014) and being less than an inch shy of the best mark in Montana this year per athletic.net, behind only Kalispell Glacier's Aiden Krause (60-10.25).

It wasn't as if Miles was far and away the top dog, either. Hamilton's Andrew Burrows, the defending Class A shot put champ, also launched what would've been a state-record throw of 58-11 on his final attempt of the afternoon. But the University of Providence commit got the better of the Idaho State signee this time around, and if their places were reversed, the Broncs would be leading the boys team standings right now.

While wearing a wristband with a slogan that honors his late teammate on his non-throwing hand, Miles, even with his own personal adversity, carried the memory of Powell with him and got the job done.

"When it landed, I mean, I was expecting high 50s," Miles said of his record throw. "And then when the marker called 60 foot, I almost broke into tears. That was obviously my biggest goal in my entire high school career was eventually hit 60. To hit it was a big, big landmark for me.

"(Lucas) was a key factor for us winning state last year ... he was the reason we won it. We wanted to carry on that tradition and just have Lucas with us through this year and through the years to come."

With heavy hearts, Corvallis' push to pull off the boys-girls double for the second year running is going according to plan halfway through the festivities in Laurel.

Already a close race in the boys leaderboard, the margin is even thinner in the girls standings as the Blue Devils are only up by a half-point (40.5-40) against Hamilton at the top of the ladder.

Combined, Corvallis already has four individual state champions via Miles and Derek Criddle (400-meter dash, 49.23 seconds) for the boys and Olivia Lewis (400, 55.52) and Ella Varner (long jump, 17-6.25) for the girls, and several more are for the taking for the Blue Devils on Saturday.

Lewis is the most high-profile name, having won three state events plus run an epic 4x400-meter relay leg in last season's state-title team, and she'll be the heavy favorite in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles finals Saturday with a serious chance at an all-class state record in the latter. Her season PR of 42.36 is well above the 42.87 mark set by Missoula Sentinel's Liz Harper at the 2013 Class AA state meet.

But don't count out the close-behind Broncs in each team race, especially considering that Hamilton's girls squad won the Western A divisional meet last weekend ahead of Corvallis. Two of the biggest movers for the Broncs' girls team Friday, in fact, where hotshot freshmen.

First-year duo Annalise Lewis and Aleigha Child won the 800 (2:16.21) and 3,200 (11:30.86) for Hamilton, respectively, and Lewis is ranked No. 1 and Child No. 4 in Saturday's girls 1,600, scheduled to get going sometime between 1:50-2:20 p.m. following the conclusion of the boys 1,600.

As for Hamilton's boys, Burrows (in the discus) and Tyson Bauder (in the javelin) are top-ranked entries in their respective Saturday events, and Evan Bennett's pair of runner-up finishes in the 400 and 800 on Friday helped in their battle to unseat Corvallis at the top, too.

"We have a really supportive team, and so they support us through all the races that we do," Child said. "It's good to run in big races like this because you have more competition."

"I think it was a really competitive race (the 3,200)," Annalise Lewis said. "It was really fun, and I think that running against really fast girls from around the state push me to run well. ... Everyone's running really well this weekend, so it should be fun."

Four other boys teams are within 10 points of Corvallis entering Saturday in Columbia Falls, Whitefish (20 each), Livingston (18) and Laurel (16.4), setting the stage for what could be a chaotic quarrel for the trophy places. Corvallis and Hamilton's girls have a little more space over third-placed Hardin (26), which currently stands tall in the pecking order over Eastern A rivals Havre (19) and Laurel (18).

The Class A boys javelin gets Day 2 of State A track started at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the first running event being the 4x100-meter relay finals at 10:30 a.m. Other Class A state champions from Friday were:

Boys 800:Jack Jensen, Bigfork (1:54.42); Boys 3,200:Finn Schretenthaler, Livingston (9:32.3);Boys high jump:Banyan Johnston, Columbia Falls (6-0);Boys pole vault:Carter Gage, Laurel (13-6);Boys long jump:Kohbe Smith, Glendive (23-2.25); Girls high jump:MaKenna Torske, Hardin (5-2);Girls pole vault:Morgan Kindopp, Sidney (12-0);Girls shot put:Maggie Hillis, Laurel (42-2);Girls javelin:Ella Moodry, Butte Central (132-1).