Records are meant to be broken.
Thunder Mountain High School senior Naomi Welling ran the fastest girls 300-meter hurdle time in state history with a time of 44.01 seconds time at the Region V championships at TMHS on Saturday.
“It’s kind of unreal right now because I am still just trying to get faster and faster,” Welling said.
Welling’s time was a quarter of a second faster than her state-record setting 44.27 seconds she logged at last year’s state meet. It counts as Alaska’s all-time record but state records can only be set at state meets.
The stellar TMHS track star and nine-time state record holder also broke Region V records in the 800-meter run (2 minutes, 17.95 seconds) and the triple jump (36 feet, 10 and three-quarters inches). Welling’s 800 meter time was three seconds faster than Juneau-Douglas High School track great Leah Francis’ previous Region V record time.
To add to the Falcons’ dominant performance this weekend, TMHS’ Aiden Hildebrand took down a 26-year-old Region V 100-meter dash record. His 11.05 seconds time took the title from Juneau-Douglas High School’s James Monroe, who set the record in 1990.
Thunder Mountain also set Region V records in the boys 4X100 and 4X200-meter relays.
“You’d think some of these marks are so incredible they’d never be broken,” said TMHS track and field coach Scott May on Saturday, adding, “In the 16 years I’ve been doing this, I have never seen as dominant a team.”
State competitors aren’t officially selected until the Alaska School Activities Association reviews region times on Sunday evening. To be invited to the state tournament, athletes need to either win their event or score a top-12 time compared to all other region meets this weekend.
Thunder Mountain High School earned spots for at least 22 athletes to the state track and field championships next Friday and Saturday in Anchorage. JDHS, winning five events, will send at least five athletes.
Final results, track:
Boys 100-meter dash
1. Hildebrand, Aiden; Thunder Mountain. 11.05
2. Ramsay, Adam; Thunder Mountain. 11.25
3. Somerlot, John; Thunder Mountain. 11.37
Girls 100-meter dash
1. Franulovich, Bernadette; Ketchikan. 13.10
2. Heaton, Aly; Thunder Mountain. 13.16
3. May, Mikayla; Thunder Mountain. 13.65
Boys 200-meter dash
1. Paden, Luke; Thunder Mountain. 23.18
2. Somerlot, John; Thunder Mountain. 23.56
3. Miller, Justin; Juneau-Douglas. 23.89
Girls 200-meter dash
1. Franulovich, Bernadette; Ketchikan 27.25
2. Heaton, Aly; Thunder Mountain 27.64
3. May, Mikayla; Thunder Mountain 28.05
Boys 400-meter dash
1. Tut, Galat; Ketchikan. 50.60
2. Paden, Luke; Thunder Mountain. 51.37
3. Smith, Masen; Thunder Mountain. 55.60
Girls 400-meter dash
1. Rodenhisler, Erika; Ketchikan. 1:02.28
2. Eshnaur, Leilani; Thunder Mountain. 1:04.67
3. Ramseth, Elizabeth; Juneau-Douglas. 1:07.26
Boys 800-meter run
1. Moritz, Ryan; Juneau-Douglas. 2:04.18
2. Goebel, Ethan; Juneau Douglas. 2:05.82
3. Landes, Ben; Thunder Mountain. 2:11.37
Girls 800-meter run
1. Welling, Naomi; Thunder Mountain. 2:17.95
2. Wallace, Erin; Thunder Mountain. 2:28. 10
3. Rodanhisler, Erika; Ketchikan. 2:33.12
Boys 1600-meter run
Dawson, Obadiah; Thunder Mountain. 4:44.84
Penrose, Jonah; Thunder Mountain. 4:45.02
Blankenship, Sylvan. Ketchikan. 4:45.16
Girls 1600-meter run
1. Wallace, Erin; Thunder Mountain. 5:24.47
2. DeMello, Desiree’; Ketchikan. 6:09.29
3. Seley, Tori; Ketchikan. 6:15.38
Boys 3200-meter run
1. Penrose, Jonah; Thunder Mountain. 10:15.79
2. Blankenship, Sylvan; Ketchikan. 10:28.10
3. Ellefson-Carnes, Arne; Juneau-Douglas. 10:33.72
Girls 3200-meter run
1. Wallace, Erin; Thunder Mountain. 11:50.10
2. Demello, Desiree. Ketchikan. 13:41.08
3. Hermann, Dunya; Thunder Mountain. 13:48. 41
Boys 110-meter hurdles
1. Crawford, Gabe; Thunder Mountain. 16.85
2. Morris, John; Thunder Mountain. 17.86
3. Tiamzon, Edric; Ketchikan. 18.58
Girls 100-meter hurdles
1. Welling, Naomi; Thunder Mountain. 15.16
2. Welling, Audrey; Thunder Mountain. 17.38
3. Neyhart, Lead; Juneau-Douglas. 22.35
Boys 300-meter hurdles
1. Morris, John; Thunder Mountain. 43.94
2. Tiamzon, Edric; Ketchikan 47.07
3. Meyer, Nolan; Ketchikan 47.81
Girls 300-meter hurdles
1. Welling, Naomi; Thunder Mountain. 44.01
2. Welling, Naomi; Thunder Mountain. 53.19
3. Hermann, Dunay; Thunder Mountain. 56.26
Boys 4X100-meter relay
1. Ramsey, Schramm, Somerlot, Hildebrand; Thunder Mountain. 44.22
2. Mulder, Ortiz, Ronquillo, Tiamzon; Ketchikan. 47.01
3. Bathija, Bathija, King, McKenna; Juneau-Douglas. 53.30
Girls 4X100-meter relay
1. Heaton, Landes, Welling, Price; Thunder Mountain. 54.82
Boys 4X200-meter relay
1. Ramsay, Paden, Somerlot, Hildebrand; Thunder Mountain. 1:32.03
Girls 4X200-meter relay
1. Heaton, Tompkins, May, Price; Thunder Mountain. 1:55.47
Boys 4X400-meter relay
1. Lewis, Morris, Smith, Paden; Thunder Mountain. 3:39.66
2. Blankenship, Dillard, Mulder, Rodanhislet; Ketchikan. 3:42.49
3. Miller, Machakos, Goebel, Moritz; Juneau-Douglas. 3:47.64
Girls 4X400-meter relay
1. DeMello, Franulovich, Michalsen, Rodanhisler; Ketchikan. 4:24.03
2. Eshnaur, Landes, Tompkins, Wallace; Thunder Mountain. 4:33.63
Boys 4X800-meter relay
1. Goebel, Thompson, Machakos, Moritz; Juneau-Douglas. 8:32.94
2. Blankenship, Dillard, Jackson, Reynolds; Ketchikan. 9:00.08
Girls 4X800-meter relay
1. Demello, Michalsen, O’Brien, Rodenhisler; Ketchikan. 10:33.32
2. Neal, Kimlinger, Smith, Ramseth; Juneau-Douglas. 10:54.20
3. Hermann, Hines, Smith-WIlson, Madden-Wood; Thunder Mountain. 12:36.88
Mixed 4X100 meter relay
1. Sleppy, Weinlaeder, Landes, DeGroat; Thunder Mountain. 59.10
2. Fallis, Neal, Timothy, Miller; Juneau-Douglas. 1:12.30
Final results, field:
Boys shot put
1. Tupou, Garth; Thunder Mountain. 42’ 9”
2. Weldon, Cody; Juneau-Douglas. 41’ ½”
3. McClennan, Brian; Ketchikan. 39’ 1 ½”
Girls shot put
1. Tompkins, Ava; Thunder Mountain. 32’ ½”
2. Kish, Ciara; Thunder Mountain. 29’ 6 ¼”
3. Murray, Lexi; Thunder Mountain. 22’ 11 ¼”
Boys discus
1. Tupou, Garth; Thunder Mountain. 120’ 9 ½”
2. Rhoads, Joey; Ketchikan. 117’ 3”
3. Alderfer, Austin; Juneau-Douglas. 114’ 8”
Girls discus
1. Kish, Ciara; Thunder Mountain. 84’ 8”
2. Pietz, Kassidy; Thunder Mountain. 82’ 2”
3. Hamrick, Kaia; Juneau-Douglas. 80’ 4”
Boys triple jump
1. Smith, Duncan; Juneau-Douglas. 39’ 5 ½”
2. Crawford, Gabe; Thunder Mountain. 39’ ½”
3. Acteson, Sage; Ketchikan. 37’ ¾”
Girls triple jump
1. Welling, Naomi; Thunder Mountain. 36’ 10 ¾”
2. Michalsen, Kaia; Ketchikan. 32’ 4 ¾”
3. Hermann, Dunya; Thunder Mountain. 28’ 2 ½”
Boys high jump
1. Ortiz, Trevor; Ketchikan. 5’ 8”
2. Acteson, Sage; Ketchikan. 5’ 4”
3. Crawford, Gabe; Thunder Mountain. 5’ 4”
Girls high jump
1. Tompkins, Ava; Thunder Mountain. 4’ 9”
2. Franulovich, Bernadette; Ketchikan. 4’6”
3. Benning, Leah; Ketchikan. 4’ 0”
Boys long jump
1. Ortiz, Trezor; Ketchikan. 19’ 11 ¾”
2. Crawford, Gabe; Thunder Mountain. 19’ 8 ¼”
3. Smith, Duncan; Juneau-Douglas. 18’ 6 ¾”
Girls long jump
1. Michalsen, Kaia; Ketchikan. 14’ 11”
2. Landes, Mary; Thunder Mountain. 14’ 3 ¼”
3. Welling, Audrey; Thunder Mountain. 13’ 5 ½”
Thunder Mountain’s Erin Wallace strides to a win in the girl’s 3200 meter race during the Region V Track and Field Championships at TMHS on Friday.
Sitka’s Colin Baciocco rounds a turn followed by teammate freshman Joseph Pate during the finals of the small school’s 3200 meter run during the Region V Track and Field Championships at TMHS on Friday. They held their positions to finish first and second.
Thunder Mountain High School sophmore Jonah Penrose rounds a turn followed by Ketchikan’s Sylvan Blankenship, left, during the finals of the 3200 meter run during the Region V Track and Field Championships at TMHS on Friday. Penrose and Blankenship held their positions to finish in first and second place.
