With the pleasant weather conditions on display at Ed Hollier Field Saturday in Kenai, runners might have expected to see sizzling times at the Kenai Peninsula Borough track and field meet, but perhaps the sun was playing tricks.
What the fans in the stands did see, however, was good competition, and the day wasn’t short on story lines.
The Kenai Central boys cruised to the team title on their home turf with 113 points, 48 better than dual runner-ups Skyview and Homer. The Kards won seven events out of 17 total.
On the girls side, Soldotna took the team title with 176 points — also picking up seven event victories — to better Kenai Central by 34 points.
“We have to say that our running community here in Kenai is strong,” said Kenai coach Joe Trujillo. “We have former athletes that are coming in to help us out and help coach our kids, and it’s great.”
The day started out with a thriller, as the Soldotna and Homer girls 3,200-relay teams battled it out to the final meters.
Soldotna, a team that ran a blistering 9 minutes, 38.38 seconds, at last weekend’s Anchorage Invite — only three seconds off the state record — mixed it up Saturday by switching out Dani McCormick and Daisy Nelson and replacing them with Molly Erickson and Hannah Pothast.
“It was just for event reasons, some of them were doing multiple events,” said Soldotna coach Phil Leck. “We wanted to maximize our team points for this meet, and I give those two girls a lot of credit.”
The Stars led nearly the entire race, but Homer’s anchor leg Aurora Waclawski began reeling in Nelson on the final lap and just nipped her at the line in a dead sprint to give the Mariners the win with a time of 10:13.73, only a tenth of a second quicker than SoHi.
“That’s why she runs that leg,” explained third-leg runner Molly Mitchell with a laugh.
Senior Tayla Cabana and sophomore Ziza Shemet-Pitcher joined Waclawski and Mitchell (both sophomores) for a one-off relay team. All four girls said they wouldn’t be running the 3,200-meter relay at next week’s region meet.
“But having all those people there cheering was big,” Waclawski said.
SoHi’s Nelson went on to have a big day, even after the agonizingly close second-place finish. Nelson was edged by .03 seconds by Kerry Ross of Nikiski in the girls 100, but then won the girls 200 (27.32 seconds), 400 (1:01.83) and triple jump (33—3.5) events.
Kenai junior Allie Ostrander also had a big day, sweeping the girls distance events in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. And she completed the trifecta after a morning soccer game in which she helped Kenai to a 1-0 victory over Wasilla.
After topping the field in the 1,600 with a time of 5:00.96, Ostrander won the 800 in 2:16.96, going stride-for-stride with SoHi’s Olivia Hutchings for the first lap before pulling away on the second.
“I’m happy with it,” Ostrander said. “I felt pretty strong through much of it, and Olivia Hutchings was right there to push me and that was good.”
Ostrander said her coach told her to go hard in the 800, try to hit five minutes flat in the 1,600 and hold back in the 3,200. And hold back she did.
In a race that she typically dominates in, Ostrander ran side-by-side with SoHi’s Sadie Fox for the first three laps (of eight), and held a pedestrian pace until she decided to pick up her speed and cruise to the win by over a minute, running a time of 11:47.52.
“My coach wasn’t even going to put me in, but we wanted the (team) points,” Ostrander said. “He said just to take it easy today.
“We were having a good conversation the first three laps, it was fun.”
The Kenai boys piled up a large number of points off the distance events, too. As has become the norm for 2014, the Theisen brothers swept the distance events, with Jordan taking the 800 (2:02.17) and the 3,200 (10:38.10), and Jonah winning the 1,600 (4:38.78).
Like Ostrander in the girls 3,200, Jordan Theisen restrained himself from running his typical pace, keeping cool in a five-man pack at the front and surging to the lead as the group approached the bell lap. Theisen beat Seward’s Matthew Moore by just over seven seconds.
Kenai senior Lucas Casebeer swept the two sprinting events with wins the boys 100 (11.95 seconds) and 200 (24.29).
Cook Inlet Academy junior Madison Orth helped to give the smaller schools some coverage, sweeping the girls hurdles events, and senior teammate Zach Taplin swept the boys throwing events, especially imposing his dominance in the discus with a toss of 141—01 — 24 feet and 6 inches farther than second-place Riley Smithwick, also of CIA.
The boys 1,600-meter relay race bookended the day with exciting finishes. Only two teams faced off, but the show was spectacular, as Skyview and Kenai traded places on track.
In the end, Skyview anchor leg Micah Hilbish managed to pass and outsprint Kenai anchor leg Jonah Theisen by .53 seconds to give the Panthers a victory in 3:45.39.
Kenai Peninsula Borough track championships
GIRLS
Team results — 1. Soldotna, 176 points; 2. Kenai Central, 142; 3. Homer, 66; 4. Skyview, 37; 5. Nikiski, 36; 6. CIA, 35; 7. Seward, 18; 8. Ninilchik, 5.
100 meters — 1. Kerry Ross, Nik, 13.30; 2. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 13.33; 3. Haillee Landess, Sky, 13.51; 4. Angie Cardoza, Hom, 13.64; 5. Arianne Parrish, Nik, 13.70; 6. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 13.97.
200 — 1. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 27.32; 2. Kyla Whannell, Ken, 27.36; 3. Lindsey Wong, Sol, 27.43; 4. Kerry Ross, Nik, 27.82; 5. Ryen Dougherty, Nik, 28.24; 6. Haillee Landess, Sky, 28.56.
400 — 1. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 1:01.83; 2. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 1:02.52; 3. Dani McCormick, Sol, 1:02.92; 4. Emily Werner, Sol, 1:06.13; 5. Julieanne Wilson, Ken, 1:09.30; 6. Samantha Kalarchik, Ken, 1:10.08.
800 — 1. Allie Ostrander, Ken, 2:16.96; 2. Olivia Hutchings, Sol, 2:21.29; 3. Dani McCormick, Sol, 2:30.48; 4. Courtney Stroh, Ken, 2:48.58; 5. Ashley VonBorstel, Sew, 2:58.87; 6. Heather Morton, Sky, 2:59.35.
1,600 — 1. Allie Ostrander, Ken, 5:00.96; 2. Molly Mitchell, Hom, 5:30.73; 3. Sadie Fox, Sol, 5:49.93; 4. Courtney Stroh, Ken, 5:56.26; 5. Molly Erickson, Sol, 6:03.41; 6. Hannah Pothast, Sol, 6:04.02.
3,200 — 1. Allie Ostrander, Ken, 11:47.52; 2. Sadie Fox, Sol, 12:53.13; 3. Josephine Braun, Sew, 13:12.47; 4. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 13:21.14; 5. Hannah Pothast, Sol, 13:25.17; 6. Audrey Russell, Hom, 13:44.60.
100m hurdles — 1. Madison Orth, CIA, 16.85; 2. Beverly Schindler, Ken, 18.04; 3. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 19.17; 4. Casey Neill, Sky, 19.30; 5. Sierra Baldwin, Sol, 19.88; 6. Myah Smith, Sol, 20.59.
300m hurdles — 1. Madison Orth, CIA, 52.76; 2. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 53.01; 3. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 53.19; 4. Beverly Schindler, Ken, 54.18; 5. Casey Neill, Sky, 56.31; 6. Lauren Jones, Hom, 57.35.
400m relay — 1. Kenai (Coghill, Harding, McKinstry, Whannell) 54.05; 2. Nikiski, 54.26; 3. Skyview, 54.71; 4. Soldotna, 59.16; 5. Ninilchik, 1:06.08.
800m relay — 1. Soldotna (Wong, McCormick, Johnson, Werner) 1:52.66; 2. Kenai, 1:54.24; 3. Homer, 1:57.40; 4. Skyview, 1:58.64.
1,600m relay — 1. Soldotna (McCormick, Wong, Hutchings, Werner) 4:21.72; 2. Kenai, 4:35.09; 3. Homer, 4:42.35; 4. Skyview, 5:03.10.
3,200m relay — 1. Homer (Cabana, Shemet-Pitcher, Mitchell, Waclawski) 10:13.73; 2. Soldotna, 10:13.83; 3. Kenai, 11:36.33; 4. Seward, 11:55.77; 5. Skyview, 13:41.65.
Shot put — 1. Makaela Wong, Sol, 33’0.75”; 2. Kiana Hendricks, Sol, 31’02”; 3. Annie Quinn, Sol, 29’05”; 4. Abby Beck, Ken, 28’10.25”; 5. Jordan Finney, Nin, 26’08.25”; 6. Mikayla Clark, Nin, 26’07.25”.
Discus — 1. Abby Beck, Ken, 96’02”; 2. Kiana Hendricks, Sol, 90’-07”; 3. Laura Kromrey, Sew, 89’04”; 4. Makaela Wong, Sol, 86’02”; 5. Annie Quinn, Sol, 81’01”; 6. Kendall Taplin, CIA, 72’06”.
High jump — 1. Lindsey Wong, Sol, 4’09”; 2. Kiana Harding, Ken, 4’08”; 3. Crystal Crane, Hom, 4’04”; 4. Claire McElroy, Sol, 4’02”.
Long jump — 1. Arianne Parrish, Nik, 14’10”; 2. Julieanne Wilson, Ken, 14’5.5”; 3. Madison Orth, CIA, 14’2.5”; 4. Crystal Crane, Hom, 13’10”; 5. Hayley Ramsell, Sky, 12’09”; 6. Heather Tolliver, Sky, 12’00”.
Triple jump — 1. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 33’3.5”; 2. Madison Orth, CIA, 31’10”; 3. Kiana Harding, Sol, 30’10.5”; 4. Hayley Ramsell, Sky, 30’8.5”; 5. Margaret McGlothen, Sol, 25’00”.
BOYS
Team results — 1. Kenai, 113 points; T2. Skyview, 65; T2. Homer, 65; 4. Nikiski, 56; 5. Seward, 53; 6. Seldovia, 48; 7. Soldotna, 42; 8. CIA, 38; 9. Ninilchik, 6.
100 — 1. Lucas Casebeer, Ken, 11.95; 2. Connor Seay, Hom, 12.15; 3. Austin Crosby, Sel, 12.19; 4. Ian Ashley, Ken, 12.29; 5. John Shank, Hom, 12.29; 6. Joseph Cardoza, Hom, 12.30.
200 — 1. Lucas Casebeer, Ken, 24.29; 2. Austin Crosby, Sel, 24.69; 3. Seth Carstens, Nik, 24.70; 4. Joseph Cardoza, Hom, 25.04; 5. Jackson Meyer, Sol, 25.07; 6. Zach Martin, Sew, 25.21.
400 — 1. Micah Hilbish, Sky, 53.15; 2. Zach Martin, Sew, 55.22; 3. Coltin Yancey, Sky, 55.86; 4. Jackson Meyer, Sol, 55.91; 5. Aaron Swedberg, Sol, 56.71; 6. Sky Schlung, Sky, 58.20.
800 — 1. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 2:02.17; 2. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 2:04.44; 3. Micah Hilbish, Sky, 2:07.50; 4. Levi Michael, Sol, 2:08.70; 5. Travis Cooper, Ken, 2:09.57; 6. Mac Lee, Ken, 2:11.98.
1,600 — 1. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 4:38.78; 2. Pedro Ochoa, Hom, 4:41.56; 3. Nate Mole, Ken, 5:02.39; 4. Brandon Moore, Sew, 5:06.31; 5. Tyler Thorne, Nin, 5:07.87; 6. Jared Brant, Hom, 5:09.60.
3,200 — 1. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 10:38.10; 2. Matthew Moore, Sew, 10:45.25; 3. Daniel Shuler, Sky, 10:48.72; 4. Tyler Thorne, Nin, 10:57.28; 5. Brenner Musgrave, Sky, 11:12.28; 6. Jacob Sundberg, Sky, 11:44.89.
110m hurdles — 1. Ryan Toney, Sol, 19.94; 2. Souleymane Sidibe, Sel, 20.59.
300m hurdles — 1. Connor Seay, Hom, 45.07; 2. Jonathan Kingsland, Sew, 46.12; 3. Nate Mole, Ken, 47.56; 4. Ryan Toney, Sol, 49.42; 5. Matthew Moore, Sew, 51.40; 6. Zane Boyer, Hom, 53.27.
400m relay — 1. Kenai (Ashley, Casebeer, Jackman, Randall) 48.63; 2. Nikiski, 49.06; 3. Seldovia, 49.64; 4. Skyview, 50.51; 5. Cook Inlet, 50.61; 6. Soldotna, 50.97.
800m relay — 1. Homer (Seay, Cardoza, Navrot, Shank) 1:40.56; 2. Skyview, 1:43.45; 3. Seldovia, 1:44.10; 4. Cook Inlet, 1:44.72; 5. Soldotna, 1:44.80; 6. Kenai, DNQ.
1,600m relay — 1. Skyview (Hemphill, Yancey, Schlung, Musgrave) 3:45.39; 2. Kenai, 3:45.92.
3,200m relay — 1. Kenai (Cooper, Lee, Theisen, Theisen) 8:35.96; 2. Skyview, 8:58.52; 3. Soldotna, 9:12.99; 4. Homer, 9:15.18; 5. Seward, 9:29.67.
Shot put — 1. Zach Taplin, CIA, 45’0.5”; 2. Luke Johnson, Nik, 42’7.75”; 3. Dalton Best, Sol, 41’01”; 4. Asa Quimby, Nik, 40’3.75”; 5. Adam O’Guinn, Sky, 39’8.5”; 6. Tom Randall, Ken, 39’0.75”.
Discus — 1. Zach Taplin, CIA, 141’01”; 2. Riley Smithwick, CIA, 116’07”; 3. Asa Quimby, Nik, 115’02”; 4. Luke Johnson, Nik, 112’06”; 5. Howie Hubbard, Sew, 111’08”; 6. Adam O’Guinn, Sky, 110’05”.
High jump — 1. Seth Carstens, Nik, 6’00”; 2. Jonathan Kingsland, Sew, 5’00”.
Long jump — 1. Seth Carstens, Nik, 19’01”; 2. Connor Seay, Hom, 18’11.5”; 3. Austin Crosby, Sel, 17’9.5”; 4. Calem Collier, Sel, 17’5.25”; 5. Souleymane Sidibe, Sel, 16’7.75”; 6. Mason Lloyd, Ken, 15’7.75”.
Triple jump — 1. Zach Martin, Sew, 37’4.5”; 2. John Shank, Hom, 37’01”; 3. Lucas Casebeer, Ken, 35’05”; 4. Timothy Smithwick, CIA, 35’2.5”; 5. Souleymane Sidibe, Sel, 34’10.5”; 6. Maliq McElory, Sol, 34’3.25”.
