BUTTE — Vaughn Miller wasted no time setting the tone for the Glasgow Scotties.
Miller, a junior, kicked the Class B portion of the State AA-B meet at Memorial Stadium in Butte off with a bang in the javelin as Miller threw it 163 feet, 5 inches to win the gold for Glasgow. The win was a big reason why Glasgow finds itself in the top spot in the team race with 39 points, while Huntley Project has 20 points for second place and Jefferson has 18 in third.
PHOTOS: DAY 1 OF STATE AA-B TRACK AND FIELD IN BUTTE
For Miller, he came up just short last season, so getting it done on Friday was special when the dust settled.
"It was awesome, took second last year so I was really wanting it and that's everybody's goal so it felt good to get it," Miller said. "I was ranked second coming into it this year. (The competition) definitely helps. When you're ranked first it's a lot more pressure so it helped."
In the girls team race, it's Huntley Project with the slim lead with 26 points while Columbus isn't far behind with 24. Big Timber sits in third with 16. Avery Gerdes picked up a big win in the 400 for Huntley Project to help solidify their lead after the first day.
Conrad's Breauna Erickson went 11-9 in the girls pole vault which set a new Class B record. She just edged out Huntley Project's Brynn Wandle who went 11-6, which also would've broken the Class B record which previously was 11-3 which was set by Carter Theade of Red Lodge in 2013.
For Erickson, a junior, she's now 3 for 3 on state pole vault titles in her career.
While trailing in the team race, Columbus got a big boost by Makenzie Sheils who won the long jump at 16-08.25. Sheils win has Columbus right on Project's heels after the first day concluded.
"It was pretty exciting, got a little nervous when the rain came in but I'm really glad it cleared up at the end. I was hoping for a 17-foot today but I'm happy with what I got," Sheils said. "My goal was to get in the top three and jump high 16's, 17's. Last year I only got in the 15's so I'm glad that I beat my mark last year."
St. Ignatius' Bryce Umphrey picked up the win in the boys long jump as he was in a battle with Missoula Loyola's Malik Lyttle. Umphrey won it with a 22-02.25 to get a gold medal for the Bulldogs.
"It feels weird, I was all shaky after. It just feels unreal, last year I got third so it was always a goal to get first," Umphrey said. "I was actually perfect this year, I didn't lose in long jump and I was losing the entire time until my last two jumps so just feels unreal.
"The jumps felt smooth. The other ones I wasn't finishing well, I was putting my feet down and those last couple I finally put it together."
State B saw less events get completed compared to State AA on Friday in Butte. Other champions included Bigfork's Jack Jensen and Big Timber's Natalie Wood in the 1,600-meter runs. Florence's William Wagner won the boys 400 while Alexis Deming of Plains won the girls discus and Loyola's Beau Meyer won the boys discus.
Conrad's Zack Durnell won the boys pole vault on Thursday as well. For full results from Friday, click here. The State B meet will conclude on Saturday in Butte.
