The Thunder Mountain High School track and field team took home four golds, two silvers and a bronze medal at the ASAA state track and field meet at Dimond High School in Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.
Falcons senior Naomi Welling won the 300-meter hurdles with a blistering state record time of 43.49 seconds, a full half a second faster than her 44.01 Region V record set only a week earlier. Welling was spurred on by the second place finisher Jordyn Bruce of Eagle River, who closed on Welling down the stretch and supplied the needed motivation to push Welling to her record time. Bruce also surpassed the previous state record with her 43.80 time.
Not being able to turn around and see Bruce, Welling depended on the crowd to help her to the record and the gold.
“It was a little bit easier to tell by the cheers what was happening,” Welling said. “I could hear my mom screaming at the end of the race and I knew I had to push a little harder.”
Welling said the race “definitely felt like the fastest I’ve ever run.”
A mere 40 minutes later, she turned around and won the 800-meter, completing a brutal double most athletes wouldn’t venture to attempt, let alone win. The 70 degree Anchorage heat challenged athletes to stay hydrated and avoid fatigue, but Welling dug deep to come away with the incredible double.
She depended on pure adrenaline in the second race.
“Honestly, about 10 minutes before the 800 I was getting nervous because my breathing was too high, but when I was about to start I felt I should just go for it,” Welling said.
She also took the top spot in the triple jump with 38 feet and five and three-quarter inches, seven inches further than the second place finisher.
TMHS’ sprinters placed in three events at the meet, with the 4X100-meter relay team taking the top spot. A relay team of Adam Ramsey, John Somerlot, Kyle Schramm and Aiden Hildebrand won the top spot after Ramsey, Somerlot, Hildebrand and Luke Paden took second in the 4X200-meter relay.
Coming into the state championship meet, the boys were ranked first in the 4X200, and though they were proud to finish second, the group was a bit disappointed in their handoffs.
“A medal is a medal, but there were some things that we didn’t practice enough,” Hildebrand said. “I took off a bit early on the handoff. … I’m still happy we’re on the podium.”
The boys took advantage of their second shot at gold with the 4X100-meter relay. Did it feel a bit like redemption?
“A tad bit,” Hildebrand said.
The 4X100 was a close race, with Thunder Mountain pulling out a time of 43.73 seconds over Service High School’s 44.37.
“I couldn’t see how close they were but I heard everyone behind me. I was freaking out, it was crazy,” Somerlot said.
TMHS distance runner Erin Wallace also had a great showing at state, earning a third place finish in the girls 3200-meter run and a second place finish in the 1600.
“First few laps I felt pretty comfortable and I felt that I could go faster,” Wallace said. “In the fourth lap, I thought, you know, I haven’t found my kick yet but maybe I will today and I just pushed my hardest to the finish line.”
Wallace beat her previous personal record in the 3200 by three seconds (11:47.53). She got edged out of second in the final meters of the race by Kodiak High School’s Zoe Bigly, who beat Wallace by only eight-hundredths of a second.
“That was also a pretty interesting race. We were all going back and forth a lot,” Wallace said. “On my sixth lap I remember thinking I had a lot of energy left, … I was so dead at the end of that.”
Boys results:
100 Meters: Brett Morman 10.95 South Anchorage; 2. Dillon Pratt 11.06 Chugiak; 3. Aidan Hildebrand 11.34 Thunder Mountain
200 Meters: 1. Brett Morman 22.00 South Anchorage; 1. Dillon Pratt 22.00 Chugiak; 3. Jack Martensen 22.38 Service
400 Meters: 1. Bentiu Panoam 49.35 Bartlett; 2. Jack Martensen 49.49 Service; 3. Brandon Joyner 50.12 West Valley
800 Meters: 1. Atticus Everett 1:57.30 West Anchorage; 2. Aaron Swedberg 1:58.70 Soldotna; 3. Derek Steele 1:59.26 South Anchorage
1600 Meters: 1. Ty Jordan 4:15.78 Chugiak; 2. Derek Steele 4:23.48 South Anchorage; 3. Michael Parnell 4:30.58 Kodiak
3200 Meters: 1. Keith Osowski 9:36.99 Kodiak; 2. Derek Steele 9:42.90 South Anchorage; 3. Michael Parnell 9:45.28 Kodiak
110m Hurdles: 1. Mark Fisher 15.20 West Anchorage; 2. William Troxel 15.76 West Anchorage; 3. Brady Southwick 16.10 Palmer
300m Hurdles: 1. Mark Fisher 41.03 West Anchorage; 2. Will Balcao 41.21 South Anchorage; 3. Mason Wadsworth 41.87 Eagle River
4×100 Relay 1. Relay Team 43.73 Thunder Mountain; 2. Relay Team 44.37 Service; 3. Relay Team 44.41 West Valley
4×200 Relay: 1. Relay Team 1:30.91 West Valley; 2. Relay Team 1:31.14 Thunder Mountain; 3. Relay Team 1:32.86 Dimond
4×400 Relay 1. Relay Team 3:27.14 Bartlett; 2. Relay Team 3:29.76 West Valley; 3. Relay Team 3:30.43 Kodiak
4×800 Relay: 1. Relay Team 8:07.89 Kodiak; 2. Relay Team 8:09.58 Bartlett; 3. Relay Team 8:11.31 West Valley
Discus 1.6kg: 1. Kordell Pillans 162’00.00 Kodiak; 2. Johnathon Stephens 155’10.00 Service; 3. Ben Frick 138’03.00 Wasilla
High Jump: 1. Bryce Hellman 6’6.00 Bartlett; 2. Brandon Joyner 6’4.00 West Valley; 3. Nathaniel Fromm 6’0.00 Service
Long Jump: 1. Josh Jackman 22’02.75 Kenai Central; 2. Micah Banks 21’03.50 West Valley; 3. Nathaniel Fromm 21’03.25 Service
Triple Jump: 1. Brandon Nicholson 46’2.00 Colony; 2. Josh Jackman 42’01.50 Kenai Central; 3. Lucas Davis 41’09.50 Eagle River
Womens Results:
100 Meters: 1. Katherine Hines 12.28 South Anchorage; 2. Ariana Davis 12.49 Chugiak; 3. Cerina Bush 12.59 Chugiak
200 Meters: 1. Katherine Hines 25.45 South Anchorage; 2. Gretta Pickett 25.77 West Anchorage; 3. Jordyn Bruce 25.80 Eagle River
400 Meters Varsity Finals: 1. Daisy Nelson 59.11 Soldotna; 2. Bailey Roe 1:00.01 West Valley; 3. Brittany Taylor 1:00.67 Soldotna
800 Meters Varsity Finals: 1. Naomi Welling 2:21.51 Thunder Mountain; 2. Morgan Lash 2:23.47 South Anchorage; 3. Ruby Woodings 2:24.37 Palmer
1600 Meters: 1. Morgan Lash 5:09.15 South Anchorage; 2. Erin Wallace 5:20.86 Thunder Mountain; 3. Kylie Judd 5:25.60 Dimond
3200 Meters: 1. Peyton Young 11:42.48 Eagle River; 2. Zoe Bigley 11:47.45 Kodiak; 3. Erin Wallace 11:47.53 Thunder Mountain
100m Hurdles: 1. Jordyn Bruce 15.10 Eagle River; 2. Naomi Welling 15.18 Thunder Mountain; 3. Gretta Pickett 15.48 West Anchorage
300m Hurdles: 1. Naomi Welling 43.49 Thunder Mountain; 2. Jordyn Bruce 43.80 Eagle River; 3. Gretta Pickett 45.01 West Anchorage
4×100 Relay: 1. Relay Team 50.23 Chugiak; 2. Relay Team 50.34 South Anchorage; 3. Relay Team 51.07 Dimond
4×200 Relay: 1. Relay Team 1:46.89 Chugiak; 2. Relay Team 1:48.65 Dimond; 3. Relay Team 1:49.61 Lathrop
4×400 Relay: 1. Relay Team 4:08.86 Soldotna; 2. Relay Team 4:12.63 West Valley; 3. Relay Team 4:14.34 Eagle River
4×800 Relay: 1. Relay Team 9:51.93 Colony; 2. Relay Team 9:59.02 South Anchorage; 3. Relay Team 9:59.15 Dimond
Shot Put 4kg: 1. Alissa Pili 39’11.00 Dimond; 2. Envyi Pendergrass 39’06.50 Lathrop; 3. Tava Fereti 37’08.00 Dimond
Discus 1kg: 1. Kristina Tennesen 116’09.00 Colony; 2. Emily Pieh 109’05.00 Soldotna; 3. Annie Quinn 109’01.00 Soldotna
High Jump: 1. Ceil Dunleavy 5’6.50 Wasilla; 2. Emma Nelson 5’2.00 Chugiak; 3. Ann Gebauer 5’2.00 Service
Long Jump: 1. Emma Nelson 18’00.25 Chugiak; 2. Chase Stephens 16’05.25 Colony; 3. Allison Gonzales 15’09.50 East Anchorage
Triple Jump: 1. Naomi Welling 38’05.75 Thunder Mountain; 2. Emma Nelson 37’10.00 Chugiak; 3. Chase Stephens 34’10.50 Colony
Thunder Mountain’s Aiden Hildebrand competes in the 4×100-meter relay Saturday in Anchorage during the state track and field championships. The TMHS team finished first with a time of 43.73 seconds.
