Huerta chooses to throw at Great Falls

POLSON — It was as simple as fast food for Chloie Huerta.

Polson’s standout trackster signed a letter of intent with the University of Great Falls’ track and field program last week, but it wasn’t all about having the chance to compete at the collegiate level for Huerta.

“The Taco Bell [within walking distance of campus] kind of sealed the deal for me,” she joked.

But for Huerta, also an all-conference volleyball player for Polson last season, the decision was about much more than the eating options.

“It’s got the small-town Polson feel, but it’s got all the things that a bigger town has,” Huerta said of Great Falls.

She also liked the coaching staff at UGF.

“I love the coach,” she said, referring to Argonauts assistant Alan Cress, who handles the throwers. “When I first met him, I felt like I could talk to him. He wasn’t intimidating at all.”

Huerta said she didn’t feel the same about the volleyball program, which also recruited her. She also got more scholarship money for track.

It doesn’t hurt that the coaching staff is jazzed about having a thrower of Huerta’s caliber. After all, the senior has already posted a state qualifying distance in the shot put.

“We were really interested in her size and athleticism,” Cress said, nodding to Huerta’s volleyball abilities as well. “She liked the sound of that and there we went.”

In addition to the shot put and discus, Huerta will take on the hammer throw, which isn’t contested at the MHSA level, at UGF.

Huerta said she plans to study criminal psychology in the university’s criminology program.