The Thunder Mountain High School boys and girls won first place in the Capital Invitational track and field meet on Saturday at TMHS.
The Falcons boys scored 110 points to topple Ketchikan (108 points), Sitka (92 points) and Juneau-Douglas High School (66 points).
The TMHS girls led all teams with 152 points, edging Sitka (128 points), and JDHS (112 points).
TMHS coach Scott May sees a close Region V Championships meet (May 18-19, at TMHS) brewing between the three 4A boys teams.
“I think it’s anybody’s meet,” May said. “We were counting ourselves out at the beginning of the season but I think we have a chance and I think (JDHS) has a chance and I think Ketchikan has a chance.”
Here are some of the JDHS and TMHS highlights from this weekend’s meet.
Sprints
After running the seventh-fastest qualifying time in the 100-meter dash, JDHS junior Bailey Wery Tagaban came in second in the finals on Saturday. The junior reached the finish line in 13.72 seconds, just 0.02 seconds behind Skagway’s Jennifer Hansen.
TMHS’ Tzadi Hauck (13.85), Mary Neal Garcia (14.37) and Chayla Ault (14.46) finished fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Falcons senior Erick Whisenant won his second 100-meter dash of the season. Whisenant finished in first in 11.99 seconds, TMHS freshman Ali Beya was second in 12.04 seconds, and Ketchikan’s Lester Credito was third in 12.05 seconds.
Whisenant and Beya again went 1-2 in the 200-meter dash and only .06 seconds separated them this time.
TMHS senior Mikayla May came in second in the girls 200 behind Sitka junior Joei Vidad.
Distance
JDHS sophomore Sadie Tuckwood remained undefeated on the season in the 1600 and 3200-meter races. In the 1600 on Saturday, Tuckwood took the lead in the first 200 meters and lapped several runners en route to her 5 minutes, 21 seconds win. Fellow Crimson Bear sophomore Anna Iverson came in second and TMHS senior Erin Wallace came in third.
Tuckwood’s blistering 11:05 in the 3200 on Friday is the fastest in the state this season and the second-fastest in school history.
TMHS freshman Hannah Deer, Tuckwood’s biggest challenger in the 1600 last weekend, saved her energy for the 400 and 800-meter dashes.
Thunder Mountain’s Hannah Deer and Sitka’s Tatum Bayne race in a tight 400-meter dash at the Capital Invitational today. The Falcons girls tallied 152 points for first place in the meet. pic.twitter.com/6qmZqfIwum
— Empire Sports (@akempiresports) May 6, 2018
In the 400, Deer and Sitka senior Tatum Bayne ran side-by-side over the final 200 meters, but Deer outkicked Bayne in the homestretch to win in 1:02.
“I had a lot of people rooting for me which is awesome and they told me, ‘The last 100, your legs are going to feel like Jell-O — but just push through it, don’t even think about it,’” Deer said.
The freshman apparently employed the same tactic in the 800-meter race later in the afternoon. Deer took the lead in the final 25 meters from Petersburg senior Erin Pfundt, clocking a 2:28.
Falcons teammate Josh McAndrews also shined in the 400 and 800: taking first in the 400 and second in the 800 meters.
“I feel like each race is repetition, so each race I get better,” said McAndrews, who is in his first season with the Falcons.
JDHS junior Arne Ellefson-Carnes won his second 1600-meter run of the season, putting on the jets just after rounding the first lap.
He said he wanted to pick up the pace early on after coming in third in the 3200 meters less than 24 hours earlier.
“I didn’t want the mile to come down to the last 400 meters,” Ellefson-Carnes said. “So I just didn’t ever want to be in a comfortable pace where you sprint the last 400. I decided I might as well try to take it here since I didn’t do place-wise as well as I wanted to do in the 32(00).”
The tactic paid off as Ellefson-Carnes maintained the lead for the rest of the race, winning in 4:42. Sitka’s Skyler McIntyre and Dominic Bociocco came in second and third, respectively. TMHS sophomore Tucker Kelly, JDHS junior Shadrach Stitz and Skagway junior Danny Brady finished all within a second of one another, each clocking a 4:51.
Hurdles/Throws/Jumps
Falcons junior Audrey Welling took first in the long jump with a jump of 14 feet, 8 inches. Welling was also first in the 100-meter hurdles and second in the 300-meter hurdles. Wery Tagaban won first in the triple jump.
Capital Invitational
Team Scores
Boys — 1) TMHS 110; 2) Ketchikan 108; 3) Sitka 92; 4) JDHS 66; 5) Petersburg 42; ) Thorne Bay 38; 7) Skagway 30; 8) Gustavus 20; 9) Haines 12.
Girls — 1) TMHS 152; 2) Sitka 128; 3) JDHS 112; 4) Petersburg 57; 5) Skagway 35; 6) Ketchikan 15; 7) Haines 10; 8) Gustavus 4.
Top-3 Results
Girls 100 Meter Dash — 1, Hansen, Jennifer, Skagway, 13.70. 2, Wery Tagaban, Bailey, JDHS, 13.72. 3, Clifton, Bailey, Sitka, 13.76.
Girls 200 Meter Dash — 1, Vidad, Joei, Sitka, 27.25. 2, May, Mikayla, TMHS, 28.92. 3, Hansen, Jennifer, Skagway, 29.37.
Girls 400 Meter Dash — 1, Deer, Hannah, TMHS, 1:02. 2, Bayne, Tatum, Sitka, 1:04. 3, Clifton, Bailey, Sitka, 1:05.
Girls 800 Meter Run — 1, Deer, Hannah, TMHS, 2:38. 2, Pfundt, Erin, Petersburg, 2:39. 3, McKenna, Katherine, JDHS, 2:43.17.
Girls 1600 Meter Run — 1, Tuckwood, Sadie, JDHS, 5:21. 2, Iverson, Anna, JDHS, 5:48. 3, Wallace, Erin, TMHS, 5:57.
Girls 3200 Meter Run — 1, Tuckwood, Sadie, JDHS, 11:05. 2, Cowan, Maia, Petersburg, 11:53. 3, Iverson, Anna, JDHS, 11:56.
Girls 100 Meter Hurdles — 1, Welling, Audrey, TMHS, 16.87. 2, Bartolaba, Haley, Sitka, 17.21. 3, Kranz, Madison, Sitka, 17.94.
Girls 300 Meter Hurdles — 1, Bartolaba, Haley, Sitka, 49.23. 2, Welling, Audrey, TMHS, 51.29. 3, Kranz, Madison, Sitka, 52.10.
Girls 4×100 Meter Relay — 1, Sitka, 55.17. 2, TMHS, 55.31. 3, JDHS, 55.63.
Girls 4×200 Meter Relay — 1, Sitka, 1:54. 2, TMHS, 1:58. 3, Skagway, 2:32.
Girls 4×400 Meter Relay — 1, Sitka, 4:35. 2, Ketchikan, 4:54. 3, TMHS, 4:59.
Girls 4×800 Meter Relay — 1, JDHS, 10:36. 2, Petersburg, 11:14. 3, Sitka, 11:56.
Girls High Jump — 1, Hansen, Jennifer, Skagway, 4-02. 2, Coonrad, Kendra, Petersburg, 4-02. 3, Sloan, Gabby, TMHS, 4-02. 4, Frayley, Ayah, JDHS, 4-02.
Girls Long Jump — 1, Welling, Audrey, TMHS, 14-08. 2, Garcia, Mary Khaye, TMHS, 14-00.25. 3, Kivisto, Kianna, Petersburg, 13-10.
Girls Triple Jump — 1, Wery Tagaban, Bailey, JDHS, 32-06. 2, Kivisto, Kianna, Petersburg, 32-00.75. 3, Hauck, Tzadi, TMHS, 30-09.
Girls Shot Put — 1, Kish, Ciara, TMHS, 28-10.25. 2, Olsen, Ashley, Sitka, 26-09.75. 3, Rehder, Trinity, JDHS, 26-01.25.
Girls Discus Throw — 1, Davis, Jessica, Sitka, 95-09. 2, Kish, Ciara, TMHS, 78-04. 3, Wheeler, Becca, Haines, 75-05.
Boys 100 Meter Dash — 1, Whisenant, Erick, TMHS, 11.99. 2, Beya, Ali, TMHS, 12.04.3, Credito, Lester, Ketchikan, 12.25.
Boys 200 Meter Dash — 1, Whisenant, Erick, TMHS, 24.72. 2, Beya, Ali, TMHS, 24.78.3, Goebel, Gavin, Skagway, 25.12.
Boys 400 Meter Dash — 1, McAndrews, Josh, TMHS, 55.44. 2, Beam, Bradey, TMHS, 56.56.3, Buxton, Tabor, Sitka, 56.81.
Boys 800 Meter Run — 1, Pate, Joseph, Sitka, 2:03. 2, McAndrews, Josh, TMHS, 2:11. 3, Brady, Danny, Skagway, 2:11.
Boys 1600 Meter Run — 1, Ellefson-Carnes, Arne, JDHS, 4:42. 2, McIntyre, Skyler, Sitka ,4:45. 3, Baciocco, Dominic, Sitka, 4:46.
Boys 3200 Meter Run — 1, Baciocco, Dominic, Sitka, 9:44. 2, McIntyre, Skyler, Sitka, 9:45. 3, Ellefson-Carnes, Arne, JDHS, 9:47.
Boys 110 Meter Hurdles — 1, Tripple, Titus, Thorne Bay, 16.62. 2, Taylor, Isaac, Petersburg, 17.91. 3, Carlson, Christopher, Ketchikan, 19.35.
Boys 300 Meter Hurdles — 1, Tripple, Titus, Thorne Bay, 43.41. 2, Suzuki, Shafer, TMHS, 46.06. 3, Credito, Ivers, Ketchikan, 47.16.
Boys 4×100 Meter Relay — 1, Ketchikan, 48.02. 2, JDHS, 48.51. 3, TMHS, 48.73.
Boys 4×200 Meter Relay — 1, TMHS, 1:40. 2, Thorne Bay, 1:46. 3, Ketchikan, 1:46.
Boys 4×400 Meter Relay — 1, Sitka, 3:47. 2, Ketchikan, 3:53. 3, TMHS, 4:02.
Boys 4×800 Meter Relay — 1, JDHS 8:51. 2, TMHS, 9:09. 3, Ketchikan, 9:34.
Boys High Jump — 1, Taylor, Isaac, Petersburg, 5-06. 2, Lass, Garrison, Sitka, 5-04. 3, Suzuki, Shafer, TMHS, 5-02. 4, Mathews, Hunter, Ketchikan, 5-02.
Boys Long Jump — 1, Luhr, Aiden, Petersburg, 18-08. 2, Dulay, Grant Alphege, Ketchikan ,18-01. 3, Dumag, Aedon, Sitka, 17-08.25.
Boys Triple Jump — 1, Taylor, Isaac, Petersburg, 40-09. 2, Dumag, Aedon, Sitka, 38-06. 3, Meyer, Nolan, Ketchikan, 36-03.
Boys Shot Put — 1, Tua’au, Matthew, Gustavus, 47-07.75. 2, Wong, Brendan, Ketchikan, 41-02. 3, Tripple, Titus, Thorne Bay, 39-11.
Boys Discus Throw — 1, Tua’au, Matthew, Gustavus, 127-04. 2, Rhoads, Joey, Ketchikan, 118-11. 3, Wong, Brendan, Ketchikan, 118-00.
Juneau-Douglas High School junior Steven Ireland-Haight races in the 300-meter hurdles preliminaries on Friday at the Capital Invitational track and field meet at TMHS. (Richard McGrail | Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain High School senior Josh McAndrews sprints his way to the fastest qualifying time in the 400-meter dash (55.03 seconds) on Friday at the Capital Invitational track and field meet at TMHS. McAndrews raced in the 400 finals on Saturday. (Richard McGrail | Juneau Empire)
