JDHS girls win Region V track championship over Kayhi

Published 9:30 pm Saturday, May 24, 2025

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Ida Meyer won the first running event of the two-day Region V Track and Field Championships at Thunder Mountain Middle School, notching the top Division I time in Friday’s combined DI and DII combined 3,200 meters, and setting the stage for the Crimson Bears’ team title win over Ketchikan.

Meyer won the DI girls race in 11:53.07, with Crimson Bears’ senior Pacific Ricke and junior Lua Mangaccat second and third, respectively. Sitka senior Clare Mullin won the DII portion in a race-best time of 11:17.94.

“I think today I kind of disassociated myself a little bit,” Meyer said. “I was kind of just going lap by lap, just running and kind of just chilling by myself a little bit, and that was fun. I was just trying to go out with Clare and the others, and just stick with them. I kind of just fell into my own pace, which is kind of what I practice, kind of around a 1:30 lap.”

Meyer and her teammates hugged after.

“That has kind of been a tradition this season,” Meyer said. “The group hug at the end and at the beginning. We’re here for each other out on the track and there for each other when we are finished, just everywhere in life.”

Sitka’s Mullin led a sweep of Wolves in the DII portion of the 3,200, with senior teammates Marina Dill and Aliyah Merculief in a field of seven.

“Key is just focusing on staying steady really,” Mullin said. “You don’t want to blow out all your energy in the first 800. I was actually pacing Marina through this race and that was actually really fun. I like doing that. It is nice to be able to encourage someone to get a PR and she PR’d by 10 seconds. It changes it up a little bit, and makes racing fun and exciting. You get to celebrate with your teammates, too.”

Mullin earned the DII Girls Overall Outstanding Competitor Award as she also won DII events of 800 meters (2:18.46), 1,600 meters (5:09.75) and the 4×800 relay (10:32.72) with senior teammates Dill and Merculief and junior Jadelynn Kubik.

JDHS freshman Bella Connally set the stage for a career of possible state titles as she won the girls’ 100- and 200-meter races in 12.70 and 26.32, respectively, defeating KTN senior Clara Odden in the 200 for key team points.

“It’s amazing,” Connally said after the 100. “It’s crazy. Just, oh my gosh, I don’t know what to say. I always think they are just right there behind me and I need to run faster. Key for me was remembering to focus, stay low and just drive through the whole race.”

After the 200 she said, “This one is definitely harder. I feel so dead at the end. It pushes me even more when my teammates are racing right with me. Just them right there. Pushing me to go faster. So much fun.”

JDHS freshman Addie Hartman and Shandies Frommherz finished second and third in the 100, earning points for the Crimson Bears, and Frommherz and freshman Mya Hayes went third and fourth in the 200.

Petersburg freshman Cadence Flint won the first event of the meet, the DII girls’ high jump with a personal best of 4’08”.

“It feels pretty good since I have been working pretty hard for that goal,” Flint said. “I really had to figure out how to run against the wind and not worry about it in my ears, and I really had to focus on not looking at how high up the bar was. My goal all year has just been to clear 4-8. I’ve been working on it all year, doing it at every meet and just slowly working my way up to 4-8. I do a lot of plyometric workouts at practice and work on a lot of sprinting to build up speed to jump.”

JDHS senior Maxie Lehauli led a sweep of Crimson Bears in the DI girls’ shot put, placing first ahead of classmate Ayla Keller and JDHS juniors Meliame Tupou and Issy Martin.

Lehauli is the first JDHS team captain from Juneau’s Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi Alternative High School and this was her first year every participating in a track and field event.

“Yes, it feels…it’s crazy,” Lehauli said. “I thought at first, ‘Oh, there are no student-athletes that go to Yaaḵoosgé, maybe I’ll be the first one.’ Then Jesse (coach Stringer) was like, ‘Oh, you can be captain, would you consider being captain?” I, of course, said yes. That is so cool.”

Lehali threw the shot 32’03.75” for the region title.

“It feels good, yeah. It felt like practice again with my teammates,” Lehauli said of the sweep. “It just felt like practice where we could just goof off with each other. The key for shot put is just consistency, concentration, showing up to practice, taking this seriously, yeah — and drive to consistently keep going to practice because before this I didn’t think I was going to take it serious and now here I am. I don’t know, I say it is the coaches and the way they coached me. I didn’t know anything at all and they taught me to be what I am right now.”

All-state cheerleader Keller put the shot 31’07.50” for a PR.

“I think it is so cool I was able to do that with my own power,” Keller said. “Instead of just winning regions, I made it to the top 16 of the state and that is just really exhilarating to be able to hit 31 when I have been trying to hit that all three years that I have been doing track. So it is super special.”

Martin won the discus on Saturday with a throw of 88’08”.

“I knew I had to work for it because a few of my friends were on my heels,” Martin said. “But I also really wanted them to win, too. At the same time I have been working on this for a long time and so have they.”

Martin started throwing the disc as a freshman.

“My freshman year, pretty much the first time I threw, I knew I liked discus and I have been trying to beat the school record for a while, which I am not even close,” she said. “It is like over 126 and my PR is 90 right now so hopefully by next year…It is just so fun. It just goes so far and I am definitely better at it than shot, but I still like them both. I actually didn’t use the spin until last year and then I did hurt my knee over the summer playing another sport and when I got back I went straight back to the disc…I feel like I can throw farther and my friends and parents think I can, too. It is more of just keep practicing and not getting too nervous during the competition.

JDHS senior Cailynn Baxter won the girls’ triple jump Friday with 31’06.75” and the long jump on Saturday with 15’07.25”.

“This was my first meet doing triple jump so I was just kind of winging it,” Baxter said. “I had a goal in mind (33 feet) and I think I will get that at state. The hardest part is all the phases. It really takes a toll on my ankles and stuff. Like, long jump is just one jump, but you have to do three things for triple jump.”

JDHS freshman Freyja Shelton-Walker scored with a third-place finish in the event and credited Baxter.

“It was really cool and fun to watch because I have seen her do it at practice,” Shelton-Walker said. “But I have never actually seen her do it in a meet. And so it is very inspiring to see her set her mind to something and do it. It is really cool to learn from our seniors and it is nice to be able to see other people do it and it is really inspiring.”

Sitka junior Jadelynn Kubik won the DII long jump with a PR. 15’00.00 in just her third meet competing in that event.

“It feels good,” Kubik said. “I was very excited to be doing this good. I feel like my teammates push each other. Of course, we want to win ourselves, but we also want to push the other person to do their best…I don’t know that much about long jump, but my coaches said to do a lot of speed on the runway.”

The girls’ 800 meters on Friday came down to a lean at the finish as Kayhi senior Carol Frey held off JDHS freshman Sigrid Eller, winning 2:33.03 to 2:33.05.

“I was really happy I kept up with Carol,” Eller said after the finish, breathless, with a smile across her face. “Even though she kind of kept up with me. It was really fun and even if I don’t make it to state it has been so fun. I am so excited for everything that is happening next year and this year…I was anemic during cross-country season so a lot of races were really hard. I think that every race I feel better in is a good race and it is so fun to race with all these awesome girls who are so supportive and nice. It is just such a good team and such a good sport.”

Frey, also exhausted, said, “Honestly, I was just waiting to kick at the end. I’m battling allergies right now, there’s a lot of pollen here. At state I really, really want to break 2:30. Like, really bad, because that is what I have been hitting this year so I’m hoping at state there will be girls that are a lot faster and I am hoping to PR. It will be my last race of the season, I’m a senior, so…”

Frey earned the DI Overall Girls Outstanding Competitor Award for the meet as she also earned wins in the 4×200 and 4×400 relays. Sitka’s Mullin won the DII honor.

Ketchikan freshman Claire Ruaro won the girls’ 100-meter hurdles in 18.02, just ahead of JDHS’ Hartman in 18.06.

“I feel great,” Ruaro said. “It’s my first year. I’ve never done hurdles ever in my life. It’s like a new experience. I love it. Key is moving your arms and concentration and all I care about is getting over it. I am definitely going to work my hardest to get better with my three-stepping at state.”

Hartman said the hurdles are fun because “everyone is really supportive of each other, even the Ketchikan girls cheer for me in different events. We support each other. I was mostly just trying to get over it, because that is mostly what hurdles are, and they are just a fun activity to do.”

Ketchikan’s Odden won the girls’ 300-meter hurdles in 48.58, with Ruaro second in 51.58 and sophomore teammate Ryan Elerding third in 55.17.

“I was really trying to focus on going over the hurdles,” Odden said. “Not stuttering over them. Trying to focus on not stuttering at all. Just looking at the hurdles as something I am trying to get over, not a bad thing. For state I just need to keep working on getting over them. I can run a decently timed 300, but I am bad at the hurdles, though. I just really have to make sure I comfortable going over all of them. But region champion feels good, got another one.”

Odden also ran the anchor leg for Ketchikan’s win over JDHS in the meet’s final 4×400 relay with a time of 4:23.80.

Kayhi ran Frey, Elerding, Ruaro in the first legs and held a slight advantage, but JDHS ran junior Siena Farr, senior Pacific Ricke, and speedsters Meyer and Hartman for their 4:28.19 finish.

“Oh, I’m hurting pretty bad,” Odden said after the relay. “I knew I had to go. There were girls on our team that wouldn’t have a place at state if we didn’t win so I had to make sure they had a shot. I think I had a 1:01, which matched my PR. It hurt so bad. I was just sprinting because I saw that I had 75 meters to make up, either I sprinted or I didn’t do anything, so it was get ahead and hope I can hang on.”

The 2025 ASAA/First National Bank of Alaska Track and Field State Championships are Friday and Saturday at Anchorage’s Dimond High School.

REGION V CHAMPIONSHIPS GIRLS RESULTS

Team Scores

Division I

Girls

1) Juneau-Douglas 86, 2) Kayhi 47.

Division II

Girls

1) Sitka 253; 2) Haines 107; 3) Petersburg 106; 4) Craig 21; 5) Skagway 10.

Individual Scores

Division I Girls Finals 100 meters 1) Bella Connally (JD) 12.70; 2) Addie Hartman (JD) 13.66; 3) Shandiin Frommherz (JD) 13.67; 4) Lydia Goins (JD) 15.14; 5) Lauren Tucker (Kayhi) 15.32; 6) Aly Trugon (Kayhi) 15.91; 7) Lillian Fernandez (Kayhi) 15.93 200 meters 1) Bella Connally (JD) 26.32; 2) Clara Odden (Kayhi) 27.31; 3) Shandiin Frommherz (JD) 28.44; 4) Mya Hayes (JD) 31.08; 5) Lauren Tucker (Kayhi) 31.62; 6) Kaylor Koelsch (JD) 32.39; 7) Aly Trugon (Kayhi) 33.53; 8) Lillian Fernandez (Kayhi) 34.18 400 meters 1) Carol Frey (Kayhi) 1:06.60; 2) Kaia Mangaccat (JD) 1:08.59; 3) Payton Hagan (Kayhi) 1:14.24; 4) Lauren Tucker (Kayhi) 1:15.12; 5) maddy Gass (Kayhi) 1:15.42 800 meters 1) Carol Frey (Kayhi) 2:33.03; 2) Sigrid Eller (JD) 2:33.05; 3) Lua Mangaccat (JD) 2:44.43; 4) Aliyah Glover (Kayhi) 2:46.28; Adele Fanning (JD) 2:48.00; 6) Sunna Shane (JD) 2:48.69; 7) Sarah Kleeman (Kayhi) 2:54.19; 8) Payton Hagan (Kayhi) 2:56.68 3200 meters 1) Ida Meyer (JD) 11:53.07; 2) Pacific Ricke (JD) 12:28.42; 3) Lua Mangaccat (JD) 12:42.43; 4) Aliyah Glover (Kayhi) 13:38.94; 5) Maddy Gass (Kahi) 13:47.74; 6) Sarah Kleeman (Kayhi) 13:54.49; 7) Amy Wolf (JD) 14:06.55 100 hurdles 1) Claire Ruaro (Kayhi) 18.02; 2) Addie Hartman (JD) 18.06; 3) Mariah Colbert (Kayhi) 18.67; 4) Isabella Reyes-Boyer (JD0 19.24; Kira Tupou (JD) 19.45; 5) Kiera Arnold (Kayhi) 19.78; 7) Lains Mesdag (JD) 19.88 300 hurdles 1) Clara Odden (Kayhi) 48.58; 2) Claire Ruaro (Kayhi) 51.82; 3) Ryan Elerding (Kayhi) 55.17; 4) Serena Crupi (JD) 55.74; 5) Kira Tupou (JD) 56.27; 6) Kiera Arnold (Kayhi) 56.28; 7) Kaia Mangaccat (JD) 57.67

4×100

1) Juneau-Douglas (Bella Connally, Addie Hartman, Cailynn Baxter, Shandiin Frommherz) 51.69; 2) Kayhi (Kiera Arnold, Mariah Colbert, Lillian Fernandez, Lauren Tucker) 58.48

4×200

1) Kayhi (Mariah Colbert, Claire Ruaro, Carol Frey, Clara Odden) 1:53.28; 2) Juneau-Douglas (Nevaeh Alexander, Ingrid Higdon, Kaylee Koelsch, Laina Mesdag) 2:10.15

4×400

1) Kayhi (Carol Frey, Ryan Elerding, Claire Ruaro, Clara Odden) 4:23.80; 2) Juneau-Douglas (Siena Farr, Pacific Ricke, Ida Meyer, Addie Hartman) 4:28.19

4×800

1) Juneau-Douglas (Siena Farr, Sigrid Eller, Kai Mangaccat, Sunna Shane) 10:47.90; 2 Kayhi (Aliyah Glover, Sarah Kleeman, Payton Hagan, Maddy Gass) 11:32.06 Shot Put 1) Maxie Lehauli (JD) 32-03.75; 2) Ayla Keller (JD) 31-07.5; 4) Meliame Tupou (JD) 29-01.75; 4) Issy Martin (JD) 25-06.5; 5) Brooklyn Williams (Kayhi) 21-11.75; 6) Sarah Wehmiller (Kayhi) 18-00.75 High Jump 1) Payton Hagan (Kayhi) 4-06 Triple Jump 1) Cailynn Baxter (JD) 31-06.75; 2) Ryan Elerding (Kayhi) 31-05.5; 3) Freyja Shelton-Walker (JD) 26-07.5; 4) Mya Haynes (JD) 25-11.25

Discus

1) Issy Martin (JD) 88-08; 2) Maxie Lehauli (JD) 83-08; 3) Amelia Lockwood (JD) 82-00; 4) Mariah Colbert (Kayhi) 76-06.5; 5) Meliame Tupou (JD) 73-06; 6) Sarah Wehmiller (Kayhi) 63-04.5; 7) Brooklyn Williams (Kayhi) 57-11.5

Long Jump

1) Cailynn Baxter (JD) 15-07.25; 2) Lydia Goins (JD) 12-10.75; 3) Freyja Shelton -Walker (JD) 11-07.75

Division II Girls Finals/Top 8

100 meters

1) Adalyna Moore (Sitka) 13.29; 2) Sarah Jones (Haines) 13.75; 3) Hayla Trigg (Sitka) 13.99; 4) Freya Tucker (Petersburg) 14.19; 5) Leilynn Swain (Sitka) 14.22; 6) Faith Horner (Craig) 14.54; 7) Ashley Eilenberger (Petersburg) 14.54; 8) Marla Whittington (Craig) 14.80

200 meters

1) Adalyna Moore (Sitka) 27.38; 2) Natalie Hall (Sitka) 28.52; 3) Sarah Jones (Haines) 29.03; 4) Freya Tucker (Petersburg) 29.85; 5) CC Elliot (Haines) 30.29; 6) Melody Peacock (Sitka) 30.34; 7) Lilly Robinson (Haines) 30.86

400 meters

1) Leilynn Swain (Sitka) 1:07.05; 2) Gabrielle Whitacre (Petersburg) 1:08.50; 3) CC Elliot (Haines) 1:09.94; 4) Maelle Boitor (Petersburg) 1:12.45

800 meters

1) Clare Mullin (Sitka) 2:18.46; 2) Marina Dill (Sitka) 2:31.01; 3) Ari’el Godinez Long (Haines) 2:33.45; 4) Aliyah Merculief (Sitka) 2:41.99; 5) Cadence Flint (Petersburg) 2:47.52; 6) Arielle Tucker (Petersburg) 2:54.59; 7) Zia Hulebak (Petersburg) 3:03.96; 8) Sophia Long (Haines) 3:06.79

1600 meters

1) Clare Mullin (Sitka) 5:09.75; 2) Marina Dill (Sitka) 5:28.81; 3) Aliyah Merculief (Sitka) 5:51.09; 4) Arielle Tucker (Petersburg) 5:53.75; 5) Camelia Bell (Haines) 6:02.39; 6) Maria Toth (Petersburg) 6:18.97; 7) Zia Hulebak (Petersburg) 6:21.20

3200 meters

1) Clare Mullin (Sitka) 11:17.94; 2) Marina Dill (Sitka) 11:29.33; 3) Aliyah Merculief (Sitka) 12:32.12; 4) Arielle Tucker (Petersburg) 12:40.74; 5) Maria Toth (Petersburg) 13:02.32; 6) Camelia Bell (Haines) 13:03.55; 7) Zia Hulebak (Petersburg) 13:37.01

100 hurdles

1) Emma Heuer (Sitka) 17.07; 2) Lexie Tow (Petersburg) 18.67; 3) Lilly Robinson (Haines) 19.26; 4) Freya Tucker (Petersburg) 20.44; 5) Kaitlyn Tronrund (SKagway) 21.09; 6) Aurora Woods (Skagway) 22.99

300 hurdles

1) Natalie Hall (Sitka) 51.30; 2) Lexie Tow (Petersburg) 54.29

4×100

1) Sitka (Hayla Trigg, Emma Heuer, Gwen White, Adalyna Moore) 53.44; 2) Petersburg (Maelle Boitor, Ashley Eilenberger, Lexie Tow, Freya Tucker) 56.72; 3) Craig (Madison Conatser, Faith Horner, Sara Steffen, Marla Whittington) 1:01.58; 4) Skagway (Aurora Woods, Mackenzie Mixon, Lilia Lawson, Mina Yee) 1:05.71

4×200

1) Sitka (Natalie Hall, Jadelynn Kubik, Hayla Trigg, Leilynn Swain) 1:51.80; 2) Haines (Ashlyn Ganey, Sydney Salmon, CC Elliot, Sarah Jones) 1:56.27; 3) Craig (Faith Horner, Madison Conatser, Abigail Patten, Marla WHittington) 2:07.20

4×400 relay

1) Sitka (Natalie Hall, Jadelynn Kubik, Leilynn Swain, Adalyna Moore) 4:24.62; 2) Haines (Sarah Jones, Sydney Salmon, Ari’el Godinez Long, Ashlyn Ganey) 4:32.49

4×800

1) Sitka (Marina Dill, Jadelynn Kubik, Aliyah Merculief, Clare Mullin) 10:32.72; 2) Petersburg (Maria Toth, Arielle Tucker, Cadence Flint, Gabrielle Whitacre) 11:03.10

Shot Put

1) Elise Brady (Sitka) 32-00; 2) Madison Dill (Sitka) 29-09.25; 3) Abigail Patten (Craig) 26-11; 4) Emilia Anderson (Petersburg) 26-09.75; 5) Gabrielle Whitacre (Petersburg) 26-04.25; 6) Taylor Cushing (Sitka) 23-11; 7) Mary Bell (Haines) 23-05; 8) Sara Steffen (Craig) 22-07.25

Discus

1) Madison Dill (Sitka) 92-05.5; 2) Emma Dohrn (Haines) 91-07.5; 3) Elise Brady (Sitka) 87-08.5; 4) Desirae Hutton (Sitka) 79-04; 5) Emilia Anderson (Petersburg) 78-01.5; 6) Mary Bell (Haines) 76-07; 7) Sara Steffen (Craig) 69-04.5; 8) Gabrielle Whitacre (Petersburg) 65-06

High Jump

1) Cadence Flint (Petersburg) 4-08; 2) Emma Heuer (Sitka) 4-06; 3) Lexie Tow (Petersburg) 4-04

Long Jump

1) Jadelynn Kubik (Sitka) 15-00; 2) Emma Heuer (Sitka) 14-00; 3) Ari’el Godinez Long (Haines) 13-09.75; 4) Ashlyn Ganey (Haines) 13-09.5; 5) Lilly Robinson (Haines) 13-04.25; 6) Sydney Salmon (Haines) 12-08.75; 7) Gwen White (Sitka) 11-11; 8) Mina Yee (Skagway) 11;01.5

Triple Jump

1) Ashlyn Ganey (Haines) 29-11.5; 2) Lilly Robinson (Haines) 29-04.25; 3) Ari’el Godinez Long (Haines) 29-0.5; 4) Melody Peacock (Sitka) 29-00; 5) Taylor Cushing (Sitka) 28-02.5; 6) Cadence Flint (Petersburg) 27-10; 7) Mina Yee (Skagway) 25-06

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.