Libby's Farmer, Andersen win medals at state track and field championships

Two Libby High School athletes brought home three medals from last weekend’s Montana High School Association Class A Track and Field Championships.

Held at Legends Stadium in Kalispell, freshman Capri Farmer claimed two medals, including a silver, while junior Tristan Andersen grabbed the third precious medal.

Farmer was fourth in the 1,600-meter run Friday and was second in the 3,200-meter run Saturday afternoon.

“No PRs (personal records), but I’m very happy to come here and get two medals,” Farmer said Saturday. “I was feeling a little under the weather last week and I think it carried over, but still pretty pleased to get two medals.”

Friday, Farmer ran in a tough group that included champion Peyton Frame of Custer County. Frame’s time of 5:02.45 was 11.2 ahead of Farmer’s 5:13.65. The senior also won the 800-meter run.

Saturday’s race featured another matchup between Farmer and Polson sophomore Morgan Delaney. Between track and cross country, they have already engaged in a number of very competitive races.

Delaney won the Class A cross country title last fall in 18:35.3. Farmer was fourth in 19:16.2.

In the 2024 Class A Track and Field Championships, Delaney was fourth and Farmer, as an eighth-grader, was fifth.

Farmer led for a few laps before Delaney took over in the last few and won in 11:28.82. Farmer’s second-place time was 11:35.24.

“Finishing in the top two was my goal and I ran my own race, so I’m happy about this weekend,” Farmer said.

Andersen won his medal Saturday morning with a top throw of 164 feet, 4 inches. He was also fifth in the event at state in 2024.

Andersen competed in front of a crowd not often seen at the javelin. 

But with Corvallis senior Hunter Loesch leading the way, the event drew a large spectator’s gallery.

While Loesch didn’t set a meet record, his top throw of 209 feet, 4 inches was more than enough to win it. Loesch made headlines during the regular season after a throw of 214 feet, 8 inches in early May put him top the nation’s list of best throwers.

For the handful of other state qualifiers from Libby and Troy, many were on the periphery of contending for a medal with most of them underclassmen with future chances of collecting state hardware.

Libby sophomore Sidnie Thompson was seventh in the javelin with a weekend-best throw of 108 feet, 5 inches, just two inches outside of a medal finish.

Senior Bergen Fortner capped her varsity career with a 20th place finish in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 5 1/2 inches.

Sophomore Cody Watson, a two-time state qualifier after placing 14th in the 3,200 a year ago, enjoyed a pair of top 10 finishes in 2025.

Watson was ninth in the 3,200 in 10:12.5 and 10th in the 1,600 run in 4:37.13.

The Logger boys 4x400-meter relay team was 16th in 3:39.30. The quartet included freshman Aden Parish, sophomore Colter Anderson, junior Gabe Kosters and senior Rowen Sherbo.

For Troy, junior Nolan Morrison was 10th in the 800-meter run in 2:02.90 in the state Class B Championships in Missoula. Morrison’s time was about three seconds from a medal finish.

Junior teammate Jaylee Meyers had a pair of 19th-place finishes in the 800- and 3,200-meter runs. Her time in the 800 was 2:43.17 and 13:42.99 in the 3,200.

    Libby's Tristan Andersen was fifth in the Montana High School Association Class A javelin throw Saturday, May 24, 2025, at Legends Stadium in Kalispell. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)
  

    Libby's Capri Farmer, running with Polson's Morgan Delaney, was second in the Montana High School Association Class A 3,200-meter run Saturday, May 24, 2025, at Legends Stadium in Kalispell. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)