Stiles earns first state crown; M-ettes eighth in state

The Malta M-ettes placed eighth in team standings at state after the State B meet in Butte, thanks to the heroic efforts of Sophia Stiles, Darby Schye and Jada Nicholson.

The team scored 27.5 points in the two day event.

Plains won the meet with 83, Big Fork was second with 58.5 and Manhattan was third with 38.3. Glasgow remained 2B's undisputed champ, taking fifth at the meet with a score of 34.

Stiles was the only M-ette to bring home gold, but thanks to Schye and Nicholson, she was not the only M-ette to reach the podium.

Stiles became the newest owner of the triple jump crown, after leaping a distance of 36'9.25" in the final heat of the event. Her effort is her personal best and Malta's newest school record. The previous owner of the record was Nikki Hanson, who's personal best was 36'1" in 1988.

Her closest competitor was Joliet's Tru Roginske, who landed a jump of 36'4.75", five inches shorter than Stiles.

Sophia, only a freshmen, placed in four of the five events she entered in, which is quite the feat.

"My boards were definitely the best they've been all year," Stiles said. "I got into the 36's three times, along with my 36'9" but then the number one ranked girl(Tru Roginske), had three jumps left after I was done with all of mine," said Stiles thankful that she was able to overcome her adversary.

She took third place in the 100 meter hurdles after posting a time of 15:31. The competition was fierce in the event, with all placers, placing within 1.10 seconds of each other.

Winner Hannah King of Choteau, ran the race in 15.18, the second place finisher, Hailey Phillips of Plains posted 15.19. Aubry Bair was fourth with a time of 15.88.

Stiles also placed third in the long jump, with a leap of 16'4". Fairfield's Kourtney Coverdell took the event's crown, with a leap of 16'8.75". Daniella Russell of Red Lodge was second with a leap of 16'7.50".

Stiles was fifth in the 300 hurdles, with a time of 47.22. Janessa Williams of Jefferson took the last spot with 47.70.

"I definitely have (grown more in track and field this year)," Stiles said. "We always compare my times and my jumps from eighth grade to this year and they were definitely better this year."

Darby Schye had a great throw in the shot put, as she took home fifth, she was in between Becky Gerst of Jefferson, who had a throw of 38'9.75", Schye had a throw of 36'9.25", which is an identical distance to how far her M-ette teammate posted in the triple jump and Tessa Robertson of Bigfork, who took sixth, had a toss of 36'8.25".

Jada Nicholson proved that Sophia Stiles wouldn't be the only freshmen to place at state. Nicholson who had cleared 4'8" and tied for fifth, also proved she could jump over many boys that are her age.

Mustang Jase Bishop was the only Mustang to make the final heat. His throw in the qualifying round was 153.10, he did not place in the final heat.

"I felt that the M-ettes really had a good season and we were hoping to score some more points at state than we did, but the competition level was very high.

Schye went on to say that in other classes Malta would've placed a lot higher.

"Our boys team was just hampered by injuries throughout the year, particularly in the latter half of the year," Schye said. "It didn't allow us to score well team-wise and place and qualify at this meet the way we thought we would."

The future does look bright for Malta, who will have key under-classmen returning.

Darby Schye, who will be a senior next year who will look to fight for the crown in shot put next year.

Stiles will also look to continue her reign as triple jump champ.