Athletes from around Southeast will be competing in the Region V Track & Field Championships at Thunder Mountain Middle School’s Falcons Field on Friday and Saturday.
Roughly 219 athletes from around the Panhandle will be competing in both Division I and DII races.
The winner of each individual event across the five Alaska regions and the next best 11 times or distances from across five regional tournaments qualify for the state championships May 30-31 at Anchorage’s Dimond High School. The winner of each region’s relay events plus the next three fastest relay times also qualify.
Action starts Friday at 11 a.m. with the high jump prelims and finals. Saturday events start at 9 a.m.
Following are some brief top combined division time listenings to date.
For the boys Ketchikan senior Trey Colbert is among three in the state with the second-highest high jump mark of 6’0” with Sitka senior Rowan Olney-Miller, sophomore teammate Ashton Peterson and Skagway junior Royce Borst ranked seventh-11th with 5’10. JDHS junior Carter Harralston leads the Crimson Bears with 5’4. (State Leader is Colony So. Maverick Rodriquez at 6’1). For the girls Petersburg freshman Cadence Flint and SIT jr. Emma Heuer are at 4’6 and KTN jr. Payton Hagan 4’4. JDHS sr. Ayla Keller is at 3’6 (SL so. Nevaeh Watkins, DMD, 5’6).
At 12:30 p.m. the shot put and triple jump prelims and finals begin. PSG sr. Angus Olsen has thrown the shot 43’5” and JDHS sr. Eero Woolford 42’1.5 and classmate Ben Lukas 40-3.25 for boys (SL jr. Deuce Alailefaleula, Bartlett, 53’4.75). For girls SIT sr. Madison Dill ranked eighth in state with 32’4 with JDHS sr. Maxie Lehauli ninth at 32’3.75 (SL jr. Jieaya Siatini Williams, Mountain City Christian Academy, 40’11).
JDHS sr. Johnathyn Kestel is ranked fourth in the state with a triple jump of 42’5 for the boys (SL sr. Kenneth Motton, Colony, 44’1.75). For girls KTN so. Ryan Elerding is at 31’5 and Haines sr. Ari’el Godinez Long 31’3. JDHS fr. Freyja Shelton-Walker has jumped 27’3 (SL jr. Izabela Sullivan, West, 35’4.25).
Friday running events begin at 3 p.m. with the 3,200 finals. For girls SIT sr. Marina Dill is ranked seventh with a time of 11:57.18 and JDHS sr. Acey Wall and Bailey Roguska are looking to qualify (SL so. Ashlyn Paynter, Eagle River 11:25.53). For boys SIT sr. Connor Hitchcock has the second-fastest time in the state with 9:37.99 (SL sr. Robbie Annett, Grace Christian, 9:26.16) and JDHS sr. Owen Woodruff has a 10:28.53.
[Official starting times for all events (PDF)]
KTN sr. Jason Lorig has the state’s fastest 100 time of 10.91 for boys and SIT jr. Calder Prussian is seventh with 11.34 and JDHS sr. Finley Hightower has gone 11.45. Lorig is third-ranked in the 200 with 22.68 (SL jr. Tyce Escott, Soldotna, 22.45) and JDHS’ Kestel has hit 23.98.
JDHS fr. Bella Connally is ranked seventh in state in the girls 100 with 12.81 (SL jr. Anna Green, South, 12.57) and 12th in the 200 at 26.83 (SL sr. Sarah Dittman, DMD, 25.93). KTN sr. Clara Odden, SIT jr. Natalie Hall are among region contenders.
SIT sr. Clare Mullin has state best times for girls in the 800 in 2:10.73 and 1,600 in 4:53.22 and is second-ranked in the 400 at 58.36 (SL sr. Alliyah Fields 57.91, Chugiak). JDHS sr. Ida Meyer, JDHS fr. Sigrid Eller, JDHS’ sr. Pacific Ricke, KTN sr. Carol Frey and Odden, HNS’ Godinez Long and sr. Ashlyn Ganey, and SIT’s Dill and jr. Leilynn Swain are region contenders.
For the boys JDHS sr. Nick Iverson is state third-ranked in the 800 with 1:59.66 (SL Annett 1:57.17) and second in the 1,600 with 4:28.80 (SL Annett 4:19.69) and KTN so. Henry Vail is ranked fifth in the 400 with 51.57 (SL so. Logan Reinheller, West Valley 50-40). SIT’s Hitchcock and JDHS sr. Sage Janes are among region champion contenders.
Region hurdle contenders for girls include SIT’s Heuer (100 H 17.40) and Hall, KTN’s Odden (300 H 48.56) and Claire Ruaro, PSG’s fr. Lexie tow and JDHS fr. Addie Hartman, jr. Isabella Reyes-Boyer, jr. Kira Tupou and sr. Laina Mesdag among others (SL 100 so. Watkins, DMD 15.30 / SL 300 sr. Gracie Miotke, Homer, 45.61).
Boys hurdlers include JDHS region favorite Hightower (300 H 43.65) and classmate Ferguson Wheeler, SIT’s Olney-Miller (110 H 17.00), KTN jr. Jozaiah Dela Cruz and PSG jr. Noah Pawuk (SL 110 H sr. Tyler Drake, BAR, 14.83 / SL 300 Drake 40.79).
HNS sr. Emma Dohrn is a discus favorite at 99-09.50 (SL jr. Jieaya Siatini Williams, MCCA, 129’) and JDHS jr. Meliame Tupou has thrown 87-06 for the girls. Top region boy contenders are JDHS jr. Richard Tupou who is ranked sixth in the state at 146’ and PSG sr. Kaden Duke with 143’ (SL so. Benjamin Hiestand, Chugiak 169’11).
Girls Long Jump (SL Dittman, 17’10.75) region contenders are JDHS sr. Cailynn Baxter with 16’1” and SIT’s Heuer, HNS’ Godinez Long and PSG jr. Freya Tucker. KTN’s Lorig is a region contender for the boys with 20’7.25 (SL sr. Ariel Sanchez, West, 22’4) and JDHS’ Kestel is at 20’1.5.
Relay events often decide the team championships as the final race is the 1,600 relay. For boys (SL Soldtona 3:32.24) Sitka has run 3:41.33 and JDHS 3:42.94, once again they are in two separate divisions. For girls (SL DMD 4:04.08) Sitka is at 4:21.47, KTN 4:25.48 and JDHS 4:41.35. Boys 4×100 (SL SOHI 43.46) have JDHS with 44.81 and KTN with 45.05; Girls 4×100 (SL SOHI 50.70) have JDHS at 53.44, KTN 53.45 and SIT 54.66. Boys 4×200 (SL Chugiak 1:30.68) have KTN at 1:36.28 and JDHS 1:37.00; For girls (SL DMD 1:45.68) SIT has gone 1:51.84, KTN 1:53.00 and HNS 1:59.31.
JDHS is a favorite in the girls 4×800 relay with a 10:28.93 (SL Chugiak 9:28.18) and PSG has gone 11:12.73. For boys Sitka has run 9:07.77 (SL Kodiak 8:18.68) and PSG 9:43.24 among others.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stole@juneauempire.com.
