Addison Smith had a good feeling on the way up.
When she came down, she found herself in the record books.
The Great Falls High track and field star set a meet record on Friday, May 22, at Memorial Stadium, clearing 12 feet, 9 inches in the pole vault at the Eastern AA divisional.
The senior’s personal-best vault earned her the divisional title and broke the Eastern AA meet record of 12 feet, 6 inches set by Katrina Terry of Billings West in 2017.
“It’s a weird feeling when you hit that jump, because it just feels easy,” Smith said. “It feels like you’re moving in the water. It’s an easy vault, which is weird because vault is a hard sport. I felt it going up, and I was like, ‘This is the one I’m going to clear it on.’”
Smith, who finished runner-up at the state meet last season with C.M. Russell High, extended her lead in the event in Class AA as she previously hit 12-04 on May 9. She came close to clearing 13 feet and ¼ inches on her first attempt, giving her a good look at what she hopes to accomplish in Missoula at the state meet next week on May 28-30.
“It was definitely my goal to at least get attempts at 13 (feet) today, so I can get it heading into next week with 13 kind of being my goal,” Smith said. “It was great to be able to see what that mark is like.”
Shannon Agee of Helena High set the all-class record – which must be set at a state meet – in the pole vault at 13 feet in 1998 at Memorial Stadium.
It was a great day all around for Great Falls High pole vaulters, as Bree MacDonald earned second with a personal-record vault of 11 feet, 9 inches, which is second to Smith in the AA heading into state. MacDonald has earned third in the pole vault at state the past two seasons for the Bison.
“I’m so happy for her,” Smith said of MacDonald. “She obviously had that injury earlier this season and she came back strong from it.”
Luke Allen topped the podium in the boys’ pole vault for Great Falls High, tying his personal-best mark of 15 feet. Teammate Salvator Bergeron earned a PR of 15 feet and was second to Allen by virtue of attempts.
Easton Eggehorn, who was also second in the 110 hurdles for the Bison boys, was fourth in the pole vault (13-00), while CMR’s Caleb Stevenson was fifth at 12 feet.
Bison junior Kyla Hager advanced to state in the event with a fourth-place showing (9-06) on the girls’ side, while Caimbrie Brost (sixth) and Brenna Smith (eighth) will also move on to state by way of top eight finishes.
Scarlet Harris second in both hurdles
All-State junior Scarlet Harris earned a pair of runner-up finishes at the divisional, finishing just 0.02 behind Belgrade’s Brynn Wiening at 15.33 in the 100-meter hurdles while taking second to former teammate Aizalyn Flaten of Bozeman Gallatin (44.20) with a season-best time of 45.68 in the 300 hurdles.
Flaten, an All-State athlete for both CMR and Great Falls High in previous years, continues to lead Class AA in the long hurdles.
Harris also earned fourth in the long jump with a season-high leap of 17 feet, 3 inches, and tied for third in the high jump.
CMR’s Tayah Osier was runner-up to Kate Lindsay of Gallatin (5-04) with a jump of 5-02, while also taking sixth in the long jump.
Gary LaPier of Great Falls High picked up second in the 100 to Billings West’s Westdon Kelley (10.80) at 11.11, while also taking third in the 300 hurdles.
CMR’s Ethan Young was top three in a pair of events with two personal records, finishing second in the 400 (50.15) and third in the 200 (22.89) – and now ranks ninth in the AA in the former.
Rustler sophomore Stella Damyanovich was fourth in the 1600 girls’ race with a personal best of 5:17.34 while also taking fifth in the 800 with a season-best time of 2:24.54. Emerson Hamma, an All-State finisher in the two-mile last season, was fourth in the boys’ 1600.
CMR freshman Uriah Lynn was fourth in the long jump with a personal-best jump of 20 feet, 10 inches, while Pennington Kiser was fourth in the 300 hurdles for the Bison, and Beckett Crouch was fourth in the javelin for the Rustlers (162-04).
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Great Falls High’s Addison Smith sets Eastern AA meet record in pole vault