View from the Sidelines

Kyle Lawson and Elizabeth Lampshire are in seventh heaven right now.

How could they not be, given that they earned spots in this week’s State C meet at Laurel not by finishing in the top six as usual, but by finishing in the top seven.

Given the fact that there are simply more teams out west in the Class C ranks this season than in other parts of the state, Montana High School Association officials decided that the only fair thing to do was to allow the top seven place-winners in each event to qualify for the State C, and Lawson and Lampshire are two beneficiaries of that decision.

Lawson is a freshman at Hot Springs who specializes in the hurdles races, while Lampshire is a junior distance runner for the Noxon Red Devils. Kyle qualified for the boys 300 meter hurdles for Hot Springs this week while Elizabeth will run in the 3200 meters for Noxon.

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Sanders County athletes have a rich history of success in high school track and field, and a brief tour of the Montana High School Association’s archives reveals some records set by local athletes and teams that still stand to this day.

With the Montana high school boys, Hot Springs legend Todd Riech, who single-handedly won three straight State C team titles for the Savages (as they were known then) from 1987 through 1989, still has his name splashed all over the record book a full three decades later.

A one-man track and field wrecking crew during his illustrious high school career, Riech won a total of 11 individual event championships while winning those three team titles for Hot Springs High School. Riech won three State C titles in the 100 meters, three more in the 200, two in the 400, two in the javelin and one in the 300 meter hurdles.

Going on and developing into a world class javelin thrower in college and beyond, Riech eventually became Sanders County’s first and to-date only Olympic athlete ever, when he qualified for and competed in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Another local javelin thrower of note, Nate Bache of Thompson Falls threw the new IAAF javelin a record 213 feet, 4 inches at the State B meet in Bozeman in 2005, and that record will stand as the first set with the new implement.

Another record that will stand from now on was set by the now-forgotten Earl Halladay, also of Thompson Falls, way back in 1907. One hundred and twelve years ago, Hallady threw the old discus, which weighed four pounds, 6.6 ounces, 99 feet, 2 inches for his forever-record.

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On the MHSA girls’ side of sports history, the Plains Trotter teams from 2013 through 2016 hold a prominent place in the track and field record books.

The Trotters are listed as one of only a handful of teams that ever won four straight State championships, three as a Class B entity in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and the fourth at the Class C level in 2016.

In 2013, the Trotters set a points record for a State B meet with an amazing total 115. The Plains girls had set the previous point record of 83 back in 2013 as well, which now ranks third overall.

A member of all four of those Plains State championship teams, Leah Thompson set a Montana All-Class record of 154-11 in 2016 and that record still stands. Montana All-Class records can be set only at State meets. Thompson’s monster throw still marks as the fourth best prep effort ever turned in by a Montana athlete.

Another key player on those four Trotter championship teams, Hailey Phillips still holds the State B record in the 100 meter hurdles (14.75 seconds set at the 2015 State B meet in Kalispell) and ranks No. 6 in the 300 meter hurdles (43.50 also set in 2015 at Kalispell) among all the classes.

A pair of Trotter javelin throwers from that 2013-2016 Plains dynasty still have their names in the record books as well.

Carley VonHeeder, who recently won third place in the Big Sky Conference Outdoor Championships competing for Montana State, still ranks at No. 10 overall with a throw of 145-7 set at the District 14C meet in Polson in 2016.

Kimberly Earhart, who is currently on the Montana track and field team, set the new IAAF javelin record of 142-6 at the State C meet later in 2016.

A little earlier in Plains High School history, Larri Jo Christensen was one of the best throwers the Trotters ever produced, winning several individual State titles. Her shot put of 46 feet, 8.5 inches set at the District 6B meet in 1993 ranks as the third best ladies’ shot put attempt in Montana ever.

Stepping even a little farther back in time, Diane Franklin, who is now known as Diane Page and still lives in Hot Springs, set the State C record of 149-9 in the javelin at the 1969 State C meet in Billings, and that record is still on the books as the tenth best throw ever with the old javelin.

Diane also holds (and will always hold) the State C record for the old, eight-pound shot put, pushing that version of the steel ball 40 feet, one-half inch, again back in 1969.