The Lady Blackhawks pose with their trophy and coaches after winning the Class C State Championship. Pictured back (L-R): Head Coach Mike Haines, MacKenzy Best, Hannah Ayers, Sariah Maughan, Klaire Kovatch, Emily Maughan, Kyla Conley and Coach Zelda Haines. Front (L-R): Coaches Kal Kovatch and David Cahoon.
Junior Sariah Maughan receives her medal after winning the 800-meter. She broke not only the school record but also the State Class C record.
Junior Walker McDonald releases his winning throw in the Shot Put. He won the event throwing 52 feet 8.25 inches.
Senior Klaire Kovatch sends the shot flying. She placed second at State just 1.25 inches behind first place.
Sophomore Owen Hoag crosses the line in the 4x400-meter relay. The Boys relay team earned sixth in the event.
Emily Maughan hands off the baton to Hannah Ayers after the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay.
Senior Eric Lorentz reacts to hearing his distance in the Shot Put. His throw of 47 feet 11.5 inches was a new personal record by 18 inches and earned him third place at State.
Sophomore Kyla Conley heads out for her leg of the 4x400 meter relay.
Klayton Kovatch reaches back for the baton from teammate Chase Haines in the 4X400 relay.
MISSOULA - Athletes from Seeley-Swan High School brought home more than a dozen medals and the Lady Blackhawks defended their 2019 team championship at the State Class C Meet May 28-29. Three school records were broken including one fast enough for a state record.
The Lady Blackhawks cruised to the championship earning 72 points with second place Hinsdale coming in at 42 points. Fort Benton and Plentywood tied for third with 37 points each.
The Lady Blackhawks 4x100 relay team put up a smoking fast time in the prelims shaving two hundredths off the school record set in 2019 but they weren't done yet. In the finals, Klaire Kovatch, Sariah Maughan, Emily Maughan and Hannah Ayers cut their time down another half second winning the event in 50.24 seconds. Sariah and Klaire were on the 2019 record holding team with Terra Bertsch and Lily Mercer.
Kyla Conley joined Klaire, Sariah and Emily for the 4x400 relay. They made winning look easy, finishing with a time of 4:06.35, nearly six seconds ahead of second place.
Sariah was just getting started on Saturday with the short relay record. She finished the 800-meter in 2:14.86 breaking the State Class C record of 2:15.56 from 2008 held by Big Sandy's Kourtney Danreuther. This also broke the 2005 SSHS record set by Caitlin Stone by nearly three seconds.
"I was expecting to get close to the school record," Sariah said. "If I beat it I thought maybe it would be by a second, not by three seconds."
While Sariah was in disbelief that she broke the school record by that much she had no idea she had also achieved the state record. She didn't learn of that until after she received her medal and a reporter asked her how it felt to break a state record.
Breaking the school record has been a goal of Sariah's since her freshman year. She spent the week mentally preparing for the 800 and a coach encouraged her to surge with 300 meters left since her main competition typically kicks at 200 meters remaining. And that is what she did. She followed Belt's Lindsey Paulson through the first 500 meters and then made her move to take the lead.
The first day of the meet Sariah also secured a first place in the 400-meter with a new personal record of 58.32 and a fourth place in the 1600-meter crossing the line at 5:24.57.
Klaire started the meet with a victory in the Discus making her a three-year champion. While her winning throw of 145 feet 11 inches was nearly 20 feet farther than the second place thrower, it fell short of her goal for the season of 160 feet. Klaire said she was disappointed to miss her goal for the season but she is excited to continue throwing. She has already signed with Colorado State to throw for the Rams.
Klaire also showed she was a solid competitor in Javelin and Shot Put setting personal records and taking second place in both events. She led the Javelin right down to the final throws. She came up a few feet short of the top spot with a throw of 123 feet 7 inches. In the Shot Put she was just 1.25 inches short of first place sending the 4kg ball 37 feet 3.75 inches.
In addition to her leg of the relays Emily also placed fifth in the Long Jump flying 15 feet 11.75 inches and ninth in the 200 with a personal record of 27.45.
The Boys finished just outside the top in fourth place with 38 points. Richey-Lambert took third with 41 while Belt took second with 45 and Fort Benton won the championship with 74.
The Boys 4x100 relay consisting of Chase Haines, Klayton Kovatch, Cannon Hawkinson and Owen Hoag crossed the line in 3:39.90 for sixth place.
Walker McDonald dominated the Discus and Shot Put, winning both events. His winning disk throw of 156 feet 9 inches was 8 feet farther than second place. He bested second place in Shot by nearly two feet throwing 52 feet 8.25 inches, extending his school record by almost a foot.
Walker said he was super happy with his performance. He said he couldn't have done it without his Coach Kal Kovatch. Walker's personal records in Discus and Shot Put are the farthest throws in the state across all classes this season and he is already thinking of goals for his senior year.
Eric Lorentz also had a great day in the Shot Put. He was ranked fourth coming into the event and he threw a personal record of 47 feet 11.5 inches to take third place.
On the track Owen edged out second place by just 0.02 seconds to take the top spot in the 400-meter. His time of 50.10 was also a personal record. Owen secured a sixth place in the 200-meter finishing in 23.63.
Several more Lady Blackhawks and Blackhawks competed at State though they finished outside the points, including Hannah - 12th in the Long Jump, Kyla - 11th in the High Jump, MacKenzy Best 22nd in the 3200, Chase 7th in the 110-meter Hurdles and 13th in the 300-meter Hurdles, Klayton - 17th in the Discus.
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