Track and Field Excels at State

At a team meeting the night before last week's Class B State Track and Field Meet in Laurel, Three Forks Head Coach Dillon Gongliewski challenged his team to "leave it all out there" at the season-ending meet.

According to the first-year Head Coach, his team answered the call.

"They did amazing, First, we believe this is one of the largest group of kids Three Forks has sent to state in a long time. Everyone came to compete. They ran, jumped, and threw their hearts out," he said.

The Wolves ended the two-day meet with eight student-athletes earning All-State honors by finishing in the top six at state.

It was a tremendous finish to the season for the Girls' 4x400 relay team of junior Bella Jones, freshman Julia Kotter, junior Devynn Judd, and freshman Hailey Williams, who earned All-State honors after a third-place finish at 4:12.38.

Gongliewski said the relay team absolutely "killed it" in the season's final race.

"Going into state ranked seventh and to come out third was unreal. They shaved off 10 seconds over the weeks of the postseason, and with two freshmen and two juniors, they are all going to come back next year, and it's going to be exciting from the start," he said.

Junior Kylie Rowan ended the 2024 season in style, finishing third and earning All-State Honors in the shot put with a PR of 38-02.00.

Gongliewski said Rowan had an awesome day and had about an eight-inch PR in the shot put, adding she is starting to give the 29-year-old school record a serious look.

Eight-Grader Teegan Gifford capped off a banner season with All-State honors after finishing fifth in the 3200 with a PR of 12:01.95. Gifford also finished seventh in the 1600 meters with a PR of 5:31.83.

"Teegan Gifford ended a monstrous year for an eighth grader. She had a huge PR in her 1600 and barely missed All-State there getting 7th, but she followed up and ran a very smart 3200m race and took 5th with a 12-second PR. She was so close to breaking 12 minutes as an 8th grader and we are very happy that we get her for four more years," Gongliewski said.

Junior Cass Violett and senior Bryon Fanning earned All-State honors in the 3200 meters.

Violett finished in the fourth at 9:56.97, and Fanning was fifth at 10:01.64. Violett also finished ninth in the 1600 at 4:41:13.

Gongliewski said the duo ran a beautiful 3200 race to get All-State honors.

Jones finished seventh in the 800 meters with a PR of 11-06.00. Gongliewski said it was a really gusty performance from the junior standout.

Maya Noble just missed out on All-State accolades after finishing seventh in the pole vault at 9-06.00.

"We are also super proud of Maya for auto qualifying in two events and being an anchor on our 4x100m relay, too. She had to deal with some nagging injuries but pushed through them and really has a bright future considering what she accomplished this year," he said.

Gongliewski said sophomore Brady Olson popped off and jumped a stellar 41'6.75" in the Triple Jump.

"He took 7th with that and barely missed out on All-State, but coach (Lacy) Gershmel and (Brenda) Olson were so thrilled with his performance," Gongliewski said.

Senior Shane Williams was eight in the pole vault with a PR of 11-06.00.

Gongliewski said Williams had a banner day, adding a foot to his Pole Vault PR, and ended a great year by making it to state in his first year doing track.

Gongliewski also praised the performance of the boys' 4x100 team of Isaiah Gather, Jackson Fanning, Williams, and Jace Kopp.

"They continued their serious run of improvements and made it into a very competitive final. Over the season, they've dropped 2.5 seconds, with 1.3 of that coming over the last two weeks. With three of them returning, we are very excited to see where they could take that relay," Gongliewski said.

After a successful season, Gongliewski lauded his assistants for their work in 2024.

"We had an incredible season this year and the bar has been raised and the standard set. I need to give the biggest shoutout to my assistant coaches Lacy Gershmel, Matt Robb, Tara Forsberg, Aaron Lattimore, Jeremy Kopp, Mark Noble, and Brenda Olson. This season would not have been possible without their support and dedication," Gongliewski said.