Powder River Examiner -

By Mr. Coulter

We started our events in Great Falls with the boys 400m relay team that dropped the baton at district with a new runner. They battled back and managed to get to the divisional meet, where they ran well enough to get 6th place and qualify for state without our fastest sprinter, Johnny Rich-ards, was was out with mono. Kudos to them for making it to state. They ran their fastest time of the year, with a time of 48.84. Riggin Schaffer filled in for Johnny Richards, running with Jaxon Bilbrey, Matt Hansen and Eli Heacock. Great job relay team.

Next up was Zeason Schaffer in the state long jump. She came into the event at seventh place at 16'6¼". She had a 16'0" jump to get into finals and her last jump was 16'7¼" to get a 4th place medal. Yes! Great jump!

Next up was the girls high jump with Sophie Irish and Zeason Schaffer. Zeason had to run literally from long jump to high jump to the awards stand so there was no rest for her. Zeason made the opening height of 4'6" and Sophie did not. Most meets start at 4'0" but not at state where there are 24 good jumpers - the bar is higher to start. Good effort for both - next year!

Eli Heacock was up next in the mile. Eli ran a stunning 4:44.38 to get the 4th place medal, having improved his personal best time over 10 seconds. He out leaned a boy at the finish line, showing his heart's desire to compete. Super effort!

Jaxon Bilbrey was up next in the open 400m dash. He came in at 54.95 and all the runners in his heat of three had a faster time so he was in a terrible lane, outside lane 8. His time reflected the lane at 55.6. Great try. 50.58 won the event.

Saturday we started with Jaxon Bilbrey in the triple jump. He came into the meet at 39'0", and you have to jump or run better to compete at State. Jaxon struggled with his normal jumps going 36'10". I think it was too early in the day.

Next up was Eli Heacock in the 800m or ½ mile run. He came into the tournament ranked 16th at 2:15, and ran a 2:08 at state for his personal best this year and finished 11th. Great run.

Maddie Zimmer, a freshman, was up next in the 800m. She came into state with a time of 2:50 or 22nd place only running the event 2 previous times, but she excelled being in the top 6 after the first lap before hitting a wall a little, but had an amazing 2:39 for 14th place overall. The winning time was around 2:15. Maddie had a great season for a freshman girl doing 5 events.

Zeason Schaffer then triple jumped, coming into state 19th at 32'1½". She won her flight of 10 at 32'9" to get into the finals, where she ended her triple jump on a high note of 33'8"; unfortunately the field was very strong. She ended up 9th. Great job! The winner was over 37'.

Tytan Hanson was next at discus throwing 110'10" and all throws were in and close to that mark. One more year, he can and will throw further.

Josh Rasmussen was next in the 3200m run or 2 mile. He came in at 11:34 and ran a 11:47 to end up 18th overall. Josh has really improved throughout the year and is only a sophomore so with determination will only get better.

Our last event which we won at district without Johnny Richards was the 4x400 relay or 1600m relay. The team came in at 3:57 and ran in the first heat with a score of personal best 3:54 with Josh, Matt, Jason and Eli working hard. Great effort!

Jaxon Bilbrey competes in the triple jump at State Track.

To recap the 2022 year, we got 2nd in district with boys, the girls placed 4th with only 3 girls, and all made it to divisional and state which is a great feat in itself. We had a lot of adversity with the death of Cale Emmons from our team, bad weather and reschedules, and injuries, but we persevered to get 2 medals at state. Thanks to the team, parents, Sommer Schaffer for taking lots of good pictures and being a state chaperone. We made it through the season. We will be back stronger than ever as no seniors went to state. Good luck to seniors Johnny Richards and Abigail Martin who had to deal with season ending injuries. Hope to see you next year!

State Meet 5/26-28/22

BOY'S RESULTS (4 points) – 400 M – Jaxon Bilbrey, 17th, 55.66; 800 M – Eli Heacock, 11th, 2:08.69; 1600 M – Eli Heacock, 4th, 4:44.38; 3200 M – Josh Rasmussen, 18th, 11:47.16; Discus – Tytan Hanson, 110'10" (Prelims); Triple Jump – Jaxon Bilbrey, 36'10" (Prelims); 400 M Relay – Jaxon Bilbrey, Matt Hansen, Eli Heacock, Riggin Schaffer, 48.84 (Prelims); 1600 M Relay – Jaxon Bilbrey, Matt Hansen, Eli Heacock, Josh Rasmussen, 22nd, 3:54.03.

GIRL'S RESULTS (4 points) – 800 M – Maddie Zimmer, 14th, 2:39.31; High Jump – Zeason Schaffer, 4'6", Sophie Irish, NH; Long Jump – Zeason Schaffer, 4th, 16'7¼"; Triple Jump – Zeason Schaffer, 9th, 33'8½".