Vikings, Lady Vikings finish season strong at state

All season, the Charlo High School girl’s track team has had several familiar names with top ten or better finishes and the Lady Vikings continued this trend at the Montana High School Association Class AA and A track meet May 24-26 at Memorial Stadium in Great Falls.

Lady Vikes’ Carlee Fryberger, Tyrah Hammond, Destiny Manual and Kaitlin Cox all found themselves in the thick of the competition.

Hammond edged Fryberger in the 100-meter dash by tenths of seconds. Hammond, who finished fourth in the State clocked in with a time of 13.04 seconds and Fryberger, who finished fifth recorded a time of 13.07.

Fryberger finished seventh in the 200-meter dash recording a time of 27.09 seconds and Hammond recorded a personal record in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1 minute, 1.76 seconds to finish in seventh place.

Fryberger, the Lady Vikings freshman, pushed herself to capture a State title in the 100-meter hurdles and she challenged herself to try to defeat Twin Bridges’ Kailee Oliverson, who will be on her way to a scholarship to play basketball at NCAA Division I’s University of Nevada.

Both Fryberger and Oliverson achieved personal records competing against each other. Oliverson had a State championship time of 15.36 seconds while Fryberger finished second with a time of 15.52 seconds.

Fryberger joined her teammates Kaitlin Cox, Hammond and Manuel to capture third in the 4X100 relay. The Lady Vikes recorded a time of 51.26 seconds to finish third behind Twin Bridges, who finished second with a time of 50.50, and Fort Benton, a team that captured the State relay title clocking in 50.21 seconds.

The relay team finished fourth in the 4X400 relay with a time of 4 minutes, 14.27 seconds.

The Lady Vikings also boasted of a few talented jumpers in the State track meet. One of them was Kira McPhail, who finished eighth but set a personal record of 4 feet, 10 inches in the high jump.

Hammond, like Fryberger, nearly captured a State title in the pole vault competition. Hammond’s personal record of 9 feet, 6 inches tied Seeley-Swan’s Terra Bertsch, who also cleared 9 feet, 6 inches, but the attempt wasn’t quite enough to earn her a State title.

Destiny Manuel also finished 13th in the pole vault clearing a distance of 7 feet, 6 inches.

Kaitlin Cox has demonstrated all season why she excels in volleyball. Cox finished in the top seven at State in the long jump clearing a distance of 16 feet, 4.25 inches, also her personal record.

Cox placed fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 33 feet, 9.50 inches.

Degrandpre, Smith excel at State

All season, Charlo High School distance runner Wills Degrandpre has excelled in the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter run. In the majority of events Degrandpre has competed in this season, he has finished in the top three.

The MHSA boys state AA and C meet was no exception for Degrandpre, who proved he could not only hold his own against some of the State’s best, but is one of the State’s best runners.

Degrandpre placed fifth in both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter race against some of the best runners in the state of Montana. In the 1,600-meter race, Degrandpre clocked in at 4 minutes, 37.74 seconds and in the 3,200-meter run, finished with a time of 10 minutes, 22.81 seconds.

Toby Odom finished 12th in the 110-meter hurdles recording a time of 17.50 seconds.

The last couple of seasons Charlo has become known for their team speed and at the State tournament, they demonstrated their ability on Montana’s biggest stage.

The team collectively finished third with Bridger Foust, Toby Odom, Isaiah Allik and Landers Smith, recording a time of 3 minutes, 35.42 seconds in the 4X100 relay.

Smith also finished fourth in the pole vault clearing a distance of 12 feet, 6 inches and Bridger Foust recorded a personal record of 11 feet, 6 inches to finish 11th.