Soldotna girls, Homer girls take Region 3 team titles

The Soldotna girls and Homer girls took team titles Friday and Saturday at the Region 3 track and field meet at Palmer High School.

The Soldotna girls won the Division I meet with 140 points, while runner-up Colony had 106. The Stars won for the fifth straight year.

The Homer girls won the Division II meet with 127 points, while runner-up Anchorage Christian had 118, Kenai Central was third with 116, Seward was sixth with 72 and Nikiski was seventh with seven.

Soldotna’s Katelyn Morrison was the Region 3/Division I girls athlete of the year, while Homer’s Eryn Field was the Region 3/Division II girls athlete of the year, and Homer’s Seamus McDonough was the Region 3/Division II boys athlete of the year.

Homer’s Bob Ostrom was the Region 3/Division II coach of the year.

For Division I boys, Colony won with 118 points, while the Soldotna boys had 73.

For the Division II boys, Grace Christian won with 140 points, while Homer was third at 114, Kenai was fourth at 101, Nikiski was fifth at 69 and Seward was sixth at 47.

The Stars compete against Kodiak, Palmer, Wasilla and Colony in Region 3/Division I track. Soldotna is the second smallest of those schools.

“It’s a sense of accomplishment for the kids,” SoHi head track coach Phil Leck said. “When you look at Region 3 and the sports we compete against the large schools, it’s the same conference in volleyball and basketball.

“It shows how difficult it is, and the girls have won five in a row and the boys are very competitive as well.”

Leck said if athletes performed to their seeds coming into the meet, Colony would have won.

“For our girls to compete like they did and really win the track meet was awesome,” Leck said.

Morrison won the high jump at 5 feet, 0 inches, the long jump at 15—9.5 and the 100 hurdles at 16.99 seconds. She also was second in the triple jump at 32—6.25.

Morrison had won the meet at 5—0 when Leck had her stop jumping because the long jump was going on at the same time. At 5—3, Morrison has the top Division I mark in the state by 2 inches.

Leck said Morrison’s big meet was even more special due to the death of her jumps coach, Dan Gensel, on May 14 at 66. Leck said Gensel coached Morrison for three years in the high jump.

“It was definitely harder on her than any of the other kids,” Leck said. “To see her come out and do what she did was very impressive.

“It was a cool moment for her.”

Ostrom also said all of his girls performed really well and that’s why the Mariners were able to win the team title.

“It’s a little bit of a surprise we came out on top,” he said. “I knew it was going to be pretty close.”

The Homer girls got a victory from the 1,600 relay of Field, Beatrix McDonough, Brightly Thoning and Gracie Miotke at 4:27.43.

Field also finished second in the 400 at 1:03.87, second in the 800 at 2:36.46 and fifth in the 200 at 28.51.

“Eryn Field showed what she can do in the 200 clear up to the 800,” Ostrom said. “She made the finals and scored points in all of those events and showed her depth.”

Seamus McDonough had a big day for the Homer boys. McDonough won the 1,600 at 4:27.00, the 3,200 at 9:31.64, and joined Lukyan Dax, Jonah Mershon and Lance Seneff to win the 1,600 relay at 3:35.27. McDonough also was second in the 800 at 1:59.56.

Ostrom said McDonough is close to the school record in the 1,600, and that 1,600 relay also is close to a school record.

“We’ve been working on getting his sprint speed up and that’s been starting to show and pay off,” Ostrom said

Division I

In addition to Morrison, Annie Burns also had a big day to help the Stars to the title, winning the 400 in 1:03.18 and finishing second in the 800 at 2:32.69.

She also was joined by Sophia Jedlicki, Sasha Brott and Anaulie Sedivy in winning the 1,600 relay in 4:26.71, and by Kaytlin McAnelly, Brott and Tania Boonstra in winning the 3,200 relay in 10:13.24.

The Stars swept the relays, with Mandi Sisley, Emma Glassmaker, Angelina Chavarria and Sarah Brown winning the 400 relay in 52.68, and Sisley, Glassmaker, Anaulie Sedivy and Brown winning the 800 relay in 1:51.14.

Glassmaker also won the 100 at 13.42 and finished second in the 200 at 28.33.

Sedivy won the 300 hurdles at 48.57.

Jedlicki also was third in the 400 at 1:03.95, third in the 1,600 at 5:43.06 and second in the 3,200 at 12:20.00.

Boonstra also was sixth in the 800 at 2:39.68, fourth in the 1,600 at 5:43.06 and third in the 3,200 at 12:22.00.

Also in the top six for the Stars were Brown in fourth in the 100 at 13.57; Brown in third in the 200 at 28.34; Brott in fifth in the 400 at 1:05.95; Laurel Johnson in sixth in the 400 at 1:08.72; Chavarria in third in the 100 hurdles at 17.43; Hallie Fischer in fifth in the 100 hurdles at 18.19; McAnelly in fourth in the 300 hurdles at 52.24; Meg Roberts in fifth in the shot put at 28—10; Katie Nye in sixth in the shot put at 28-8.5; McAnelly in third in the triple jump at 32—3; Juliet Innes in second in the discus at 105—5; and Sisley in sixth in the long jump at 14—5.25.

The Soldotna boys were led by individual victories from Leigh Tacey II and Wyatt Faircloth.

Tacey II won the 400 in 51.96 and was third in the 200 at 23.71. He joined James Innes, Faircloth and Jaren Nash for victory in the 800 relay at 1:31.52, and Elijah Jedlicki, Nash and Innes for victory in the 1,600 relay at 3:37.64.

Faircloth won the 300 hurdles at 41.83 and was second in the 110 hurdles at 16.10.

Also for the Stars, Kevin Steger was second in the shot put at 45—8.5 and third in the discus at 140—8.

Also in the top six for Soldotna were Andon Wolverton in third in the 100 at 11.57, Jared Williams in sixth in the 100 at 11.81, Innes in third in the 400 at 52.86, Jedlicki in fourth in the 800 at 2:07.62, Finnley Loop in sixth in the 800 at 2:08.01, Jacob Strausbaugh in fourth in the 3,200 at 10:45.68, William Klein in fifth in the 110 hurdles at 17.36, Klein in sixth in the 300 hurdles at 45.18, Luke Miller in fourth in the shot put at 44—3.5, Ala Tuisaula in sixth in the shot put at 42—4.25, and Isaac Chavarria in fifth in the high jump at 5—4.

Division II

Also for the Homer girls, Miotke won the 300 hurdles at 48.61. Miotke also was second in the 100 hurdles at 17.20 and fourth in the 200 at 28.16.

Beatrix McDonough also was third in the 400 at 1:05.74 and third in the 800 at 2:36.79.

Thoning also was second in the high jump, third in the 800 relay with Jasmine Lurus, Immi Im and Alana Prescott at 1:56.19, and fourth in the 400 at 1:06.69.

Also in the top six for Homer were Natalie Keintz in sixth in the 800 at 2:44.58; Claira Booz in fourth in the 1,600 at 6:01.81; Booz in the 3,200 at 13:58.00; Leah Evans in the 100 hurdles at 18.76; the 400 relay of Cassidy Carroll, Prescott, Evans and Im in fourth at 58.43; Auden Cress in third in the discus at 97—0; Talli Dalke in fourth in the high jump at 4—6; and Evans at second in the long jump at 14—5.

For the Homer boys, Dax also was second in the 100 at 11.87, second in the 200 at 23.86 and second in the 400 at 52.48.

Mershon also was fourth in the 200 at 24.65.

Seneff also was fifth in the 400 at 53.59, fourth in the 800 at 2:00.91 and second in the triple jump at 38—.5.

The Homer 3,200 relay of Alexander VanMeter, Jai Badajos, Ethan Styvar and Damon Weisser also got a win at 9:20.48.

Also in the top six for the Homer boys were Ethan Styvar in sixth in the 3,200 at 11:00.56; Joe Gordon in fourth in the long jump at 17—9.25; and Gordon in third in the triple jump at 37—8.5.

The Kenai boys got a huge day from Reagan Graves. Graves won the 100 at 11.72 and the 200 at 23.49. He then won the 400 relay at 46.45 with Daniel McRorie, Robert Hayes and Ransom Hayes, then joined the same group for a victory in the 800 relay at 1:35.71.

Gregory Fallon also came up big for the Kardinals, winning the 400 in 52.05 and the 800 in 1:59.46. He joined McRorie, Irving Riggle and Jack Laker to take fourth in the 1,600 relay at 3:51.83.

Also in the top six for the Kards were Laker in sixth in the 400 at 54.80; Ransom Hayes in third in the 300 hurdles at 44.12; Davion Swain in sixth in the 300 hurdles at 47.72; Adam Anglebrandt in fourth in the shot put at 38—5.25; Anglebrandt in second in the discus at 119—11; and Ransom Hayes in the high jump at 5—2.

For the Kenai girls, Emma Beck won the shot put at 34—8.25 and the discus at 123—1.

Emilee Wilson won the 800 at 2:31.35, the triple jump at 31—2.75 and joined Sierra Hershberger, Malena Grieme and Sophie Tapley for victory in the 400 relay at 53.12. Wilson also was third in the long jump.

Jayna Boonstra won the 3,200 for Kenai at 12:35.00 and also was second in the 1,600 at 5:56.94 and joined Cara Graves, Hershberger and Grace Kahn to finish third in the 1,600 relay.

Kenai also got a victory in the 800 relay from Hershberger, Graves, Grieme and Tapley.

Also in the top six for the Kards were Tapley in fourth in the 100 at 13.60; Grieme in fifth in the 100 at 13.77; Tapley in sixth in the 200 at 28.88; Hershberger in fifth in the 300 hurdles at 55.09; Malerie Nunn in fourth in the triple jump at 29—7.25; and Grace Kahn in fifth in the triple jump at 28—1.5.

Nikiski got a victory from Truit McCaughey in the shot put with a toss of 46—7.

Also in the top six for the Nikiski boys were Dalton Goodnight in fifth in the 110 hurdles at 18.85; the 800 relay team of James Hemphill, Taisei Horiyasu, Walter Haybeck and Thayne Quiner in third at 1:39.50; Braeden Porter in second in the shot put at 39—2; Goodnight in fourth in the discus at 110—4; Thayne Quiner in second in the high jump at 5—4; Haybeck in second in the long jump in 18—4.75; Quiner in fifth in the long jump at 17—0; Horiyasu in sixth in the long jump at 16—9.75; and Dwight Mullins in sixth in the triple jump at 34—0.

For the Nikiski girls, the 400 relay of Sara Closa, Elliana Isabell, McKenzie Flanders and Evelyn Reichert was sixth in the 400 relay at 1:00.06; and Leora McCaughey was sixth in the discus at 84—3.

Seward got a victory from Olin Liljemark in the high jump at 5—4.

Also in the top six for the Seward boys were Ronan Bickling in fourth in the 100 at 12.27; Jerick Senecal in sixth in the 100 at 12.30; Gideon Schrock in third in the 400 at 52.60; Paxton Hill in sixth in the 110 hurdles at 18.86; the 400 relay of Senecal, Bickling, Schrock and Emerson Cross in third at 47.08; the 1,600 relay of Hill, Bickling, Cross and Schrock in fifth at 3:52.26; John Van Buskirk in third in the discus at 115—6; and Liljemark in fifth in the triple jump at 35—1.75.

In the top six for the Seward girls were Nora Andrews in sixth in the 100 at 14.13; Makena Desermia in sixth in the 400 at 1:08.63; Aly Guernsey in fourth in the 800 at 2:37.21; Guernsey in third in the 1,600 at 5:57.27; Katie Van Buskirk in fifth in the 1,600 at 6:02.09; Guernsey in third in the 3,200 at 13:17.00; Van Buskirk in fourth in the 3,200 at 13:19.00; Juniper Ingalls in sixth in the 3,200 at 14:09.00; Nora Andrews in fourth in the 100 hurdles at 18.02; Stella Dow in sixth in the 100 hurdles at 19.07; Andrews in sixth in the 300 hurdles at 56.19; the 400 relay team of Dow, Jordan Hartman, Kate Norvell and Andrews in third at 56.75; the 1,600 relay of Guernsey, Van Buskirk, Desermia and Norvell in second at 4:47.33; Esme Wilder in sixth in the shot put at 27—2.75; and Maddie Haas in fourth in the long jump at 14—2.5.

In the Region 2 meet at Susitna Valley High School, Ninilchik got an automatic qualification from Carter Marvin in the 110 hurdles and Adelyn McCorison in the shot put. Marvin won the hurdles event at 24.25 seconds, while McCorison won the shot put at 36—10.25.

McCorison also was third in the 200 at 29.96, fourth in the 400 at 1:06.45 and third in the long jump at 13—9.25.

McKenzie Buhr also was fifth in the discus at 68—8 and sixth in the 200 at 34.04.

Unified

Ostrom also said the Homer unified coach was happy with how the growing team performed.

Homer unified had Stella Dye, Jasmin Lurus, Lance Parkinson, Damon Weisser, Albert Freeman and Joe Gordon at regions, while Soldotna had Jacoby Moore, Brendon Jones, Marcus Heistumen, Christian Skaggs, Sam Klein and Elias Brantley.