Track: Rustlers boys top Helena Capital

The last event of a track and field day, the 1600 relay, is, well, the opposite of fun. It requires speed and stamina, and those asked to participate usually respond with a "thanks, but no thanks."

"You know before I was dreading it because everyone tells me it's the worst race," C.M. Russell's Bryce Cuchine said.

When it comes to the race, and teams are up a large margin, they might lollygag more than if the score was tight. It's for that reason that, on Tuesday, in the Rustlers' dual with Helena Capital on a mostly sunny day at Memorial Stadium, the coaches didn't exactly tell the truth.

Cuchine and the boys' team were told that the 1600 would decide who won and who lost the meet. In actuality, they were up comfortably and the day had been decided.

Afterward, in a narrow two-second defeat to the Bruins, Cuchine thought his team had lost the entire thing.

"We knew it was going to be close," he said. "And it came down to that (1600 relay) and we tried, just a little short."

He was then told that his team had actually won (75-69).

"Oh well, it helped, getting us motivated," Cuchine said. "… It's just so we don't loaf. 'Cause if we know we are winning, we can kind of loaf it a little. But we won, I guess. I don't know. I guess they got us to compete as hard as we could."

"It wasn't me, but we want those kids to compete in that last event," Russell head coach Mike Henneberg said. " … I'm not sure who told them that, but no, the boys had a pretty good meet, and I think we were in pretty good shape most of the day."

Cuchine — who Henneberg said had a good day — is excited about what his team can do this season, mostly because of a solid group of veterans that return. The Montana Western football commit won the 100 (11.36), finished second in the long jump to fellow classmate Xavier Pace and ran a leg on the winning 400 relay.

It took Cuchine all the way until crosstown last season to qualify for state in the 100 — the mark is 11.30 — but he's confident that will come sooner rather than later in his senior season. Cuchine's 1600 relay partner, Jacob Bahnmiller, won the 400 with a time of 53.57. Another teammate, Caelan Brady triumphed in the 1600 (4:44.29).

Henneberg, like Cuchine, is excited about the boys' team and what it can do — and points to its depth as a key strength. It was really the first opportunity for Henneberg to see his team after its triangular in Billings over the weekend was taken over by severe winds.

"We have some solid kids in most of our events, so they are a pretty good team and they are going to be competitive in a lot of dual situations and things like that," Henneberg said. "Hopefully they continue to grow and improve and maybe we can take that next step as a program and be competitive in the invites and things like that."

Henneberg was very complimentary of Knox Semenza, who qualified for the state meet with his mark in the pole vault (13-6). Cooper West, just a freshman, won the 3200. Trevor Pepin had a personal best in the javelin (169-3). Lane Jensen, Alex Fraser, Patrick McAllister and Noah Danielson rounded out an all top-five javelin leaderboard for the Rustlers.

"Great day by our javelin throwers," the head coach said.

Senior Jacob Kerner finished second in the discus (124-3).

"He's a kid that's been out for a couple years and is just kind of starting to find his stride in the discus," Henneberg said. "I was excited for him. And Isaiah Chargois is another young kid (sophomore). I think he placed in the shot and the discus. There's a lot of good stuff from the boys."

For the girls, Cali Modglin (100 and 200), Angel Buhler (1600), Annabella Aline (3200), Ashleigh Lehotsky (shot put), Karlee Simonsen (discus) and Shana Cosby (javelin) all took home gold for the Rustlers, which were topped by the Bruins, 84-61.

"The girls, kind of what we thought," Henneberg said. "There are certain places where we are very good, and certain places where we are trying to work out and find out who fits where … They are making good progress. We just got to keep plugging away and see if we can't get 'er all together one of these years."