Heading into the biggest event of her young slopestyle career, 14-year-old Maggie Voisin kept her expectations low. She figured she’d be happy with anything above last place. After all, she was an eighth-grader squaring off against some of the most prominent names in the sport, including the defending X Games champion and top-ranked professional freeskier in the world.

“I told myself, ‘Just have fun – you’re doing this because you love it,’” she said, recalling her mindset heading into last week’s Association of Freesking Professionals (AFP) world championships in Whistler, British Columbia.

 

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I’ve been thinking about my dad lately. His birthday was in April and he loved spring and the promise offered of a new fishing season.

He’d get excited this time of year and start talking about the trout opener and how when he was a boy his dad had taken the kids to Kings Canyon in the High Sierra. He whined about how cold it was and that they nearly froze while sleeping in their rented cabin, even though they were all wearing long underwear.

That seemed pretty darned cold to me, a Southern California boy for whom layering up for winter meant having to wear, at Mom’s insistence, a T-shirt under my button-down dress shirt when I caught the bus for school in the morning.

 

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Zach Perrin made history yet again, but this time in his hometown.

At the cross-town track meet at Glacier High on Tuesday afternoon, the Flathead senior ran 9:06 in the 3,200, the fastest time ever in the state of Montana for a high school runner.

“It’s fun to see a kid perform that way,” said Paul Jorgensen, the longtime Hall of Fame distance coach at Flathead. “You have to appreciate it when you see it, because you don’t see that very often.”

Perrin and a couple others have previously clocked faster times than 9:06, but never on a track in Montana. Before now, the best time in the Treasure State was 9:12, set in 2001 by Flathead’s David Vidal in Libby. Flathead’s Seth Watkins set the Class AA state record — 9:16 — in Great Falls in 2001. Gordon Ruttenbur of Deer Lodge holds the all-class state record — 9:13 — set at the state meet in 1982. State records can only be set at the championship meet.

Perrin, the reigning Montana Gatorade Track Runner of the Year and 3,200 state champion, already holds the distinction of running the fastest 3,200 ever for a Montana prep. Last year at the Arcadia Invitational, Perrin ran 8:55. Flathead’s Kevin Clary owned the previous best, 9:07, which he set as a senior at Arcadia in 2000.

Earlier this month, Perrin clocked 8:57 at Arcadia. His previous best time in the state of Montana was last year in Libby when he clocked 9:12.

His feat on Tuesday occurred only three days after he ran the 800 and 1,600 in Butte at the Swede Dahlberg Invitational. Perrin set a personal best in the 800, running 1:55, and won the 1,600 in 4:27.

In the cross-town 3,200 race at Glacier's track, he ran his first four laps in 4:33 — which would be the fourth fastest 1,600 time in the state right now in just that event — and ran his last lap in 63 seconds.

“I just started clicking off laps and I was feeling smooth,” Perrin said. “It was nice that I got another goal for the year. I just feel honored to be able to do it in Kalispell with friends and family here supporting me.”

Glacier senior Troy Fraley also finished with one of the fastest 3,200 times ever achieved inside the state. Fraley clocked 9:12.

Perrin said his goal is to chase the state records in the 3,200 and 1,600 and the school record in the 800.

Vidal owns the all-class record in the 1,600 — 4:13 — set in 2001. Vidal also owns the 800 school record — 1:53 — set that same year.

 

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The Kalispell Lakers, the valley’s only remaining AA legion baseball team, hit the field April 23 for their first game of the season.

The Lakers host the Kootenai Valley Rangers in a nine-inning game at 6 p.m. Tuesday night at Griffin Field. It's a makeup game after a doubleheader scheduled for Sunday was cancelled due to weather.

Kalispell is looking to improve on last year’s finish, when the Lakers went 29-22 and earned fourth place.

The team’s annual Canadian Days tournament is May 17-19. The AA state tournament is July 31-Aug. 4 in Billings.

The Glacie Twins, which dropped from AA to A in the offseason, begin the season April 27 against Missoula. The Twins host the Ed Gallo Tournament on June 27-30 and the Glacier Twins Memorial Tournament, formerly called the Sapa-Johnsrud Tournament, is July 11-14.

The A district tournament is July 25-29 in Eureka and the state tournament is Aug. 1-5 in Helena.

For more information on the Lakers, visit the team's website. For more information on the Twins, visit here.

RELATED: Kalispell Lakers Prepare for Changes to Legion Baseball Season

 

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Whitefish Mountain Resort announced Friday it plans to purchase a chairlift and begin clearing timber for new runs and a line on the north side of the ski area.

The Flower Point project, set to begin this summer, will add roughly 200 acres of lift-served skiing, including 32 acres of cleared runs, additional gladed areas and a fixed-grip triple chairlift. The project will be constructed in two phases and be completed for the 2014-2015 winter season, according to the resort.

 

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The earth spins through space at a rate slightly faster than 24 hours per revolution. We are all stuck to its surface by gravity, unable to free ourselves from its surface except by artificial means of propulsion.

Fortunately, for those of us who live far enough north or south of the equator, the warmer rain can get cold enough to become solid and fall in the form of ice or snow. Then those who afford themselves the cost of skis, boots and lift tickets can defy gravity from time to time as they fly off of bumps in the snow, a cliff or wherever their adrenaline lets them go that day.

Anyone who has skied and been airborne for even a half-second knows the feeling of being weightless. However, we are almost weightless as we glide over snowflakes. The only boundary to skiing is the lack of snowfall leading to our enjoyment that gravity, ski lifts and snow can bring.

 

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There’s no shortage of excuses to get outdoors between now and October. It’s only a matter of picking and choosing among a long list of adventurous activities. Here are a few good reasons to stay active this spring, summer and fall:

Suit Yourself Fun Run
Kalispell, April 21
Ease into spring with this 5K or 10K that winds around the west side of Glacier High School. Participants are encouraged to walk, jog or run to support the 16 standout speech and debate competitors from Kalispell who are traveling to Alabama in June for the National Forensics League Tournament. Participants are encouraged to wear creative attire. Registration will be open on site at noon, and online at http://www.getmeregistered.com .
www.suityourselffunrun.blogspot.com

 

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Towering over opponents, Ryan led Glacier in scoring and rebounding the last two years, during which the Wolfpack were 33-6 in the regular season, Western AA champs and ranked No. 1 in Montana. Shortly after graduating this spring, Ryan will make the leap to Division I and join Gonzaga, the former top-ranked college team in the nation. Though the prospect can be “nerve-wracking,” Ryan said he looks forward to the challenge of playing for a premier team like the Zags.

 

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