By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
JUNEAU - The Sitka High boys track team put in a strong showing at the Capital Invite in Juneau, winning the field with 146 points, with Juneau-Douglas 2nd (94.5), Ketchikan 3rd (88.5), Thunder Mountain 4th (77),Haines 5th (42), Petersburg 6th (35), and Skagway 7th (32).
Senior Jacob Gagner won the 400 with a personal record of 54.94, and classmate Skyler McIntyre won the 1600 with a PR 4:32.62, and the 3200 with a PR and school record 9:34.50. McIntyre had pressure from junior teammate Dominic Baciocco and JDHS senior. Arne Ellefson-Carnes in the two races.
Sitka junior Dominic Baciocco, senior Skyler McIntyre, and senior Jacob Gagner gather at the end of the 800 meter run with race winner Dalton Hoy of Juneau-Douglas. Baciocco placed second, McIntyre third, and Gagner fourth.
Senior Garrison Lass won the high jump with a 6 foot 1 inch bend over the bar and junior Rheece Heim hit a personal best in the triple jump with 39 feet 4.50 inches with senior teammate Aedon Dumag placing second.
The final event of the meet had a tired group of Sitka runners winning the 4x400 relay. Buxton, Baciocco, Carson Grant, and Gagner won in 3:44.99.
Gagner had won the 400 earlier, and run in the 800 and 200 before joining the relay for his fourth event in a row, Buxton had finished second in the 200 and 400, and Baciocco ran the long distances.
“It’s great to be on a relay with those guys,” Buxton said. “I have been doing the 4x4 for a long time but that group is something special. Three seniors and one junior.”
Senior Joe Pate is also a part of that relay but was out for the meet.
“It is just the adrenaline,” Buxton said. “Whenever I get up to that starting line and I get the baton I am thinking I just have to run for my team and I have got to go. Then I hand off to the next person and hopefully I give them some of that adrenaline.”
Sitka coach Jeremy Strong said the team’s goal at the meets is to feel good.
“We tell them to be the best version of themselves on any given day,” Strong said. “That is going to look different yesterday than it looks today. So yesterday was great, everybody PR’d, but today is a different day. We have to come out, warm up, we will all be tired and sore so we have to take it day-by-day and kind of isolate ourselves from what the end of the season is supposed to look like. So they can just be in the moment. If they can do that they will progressively get better every time they compete.”
Event Winners and/or Top Sitka Placings:
100 - 1. TMHS soph. Ali Beya 11.78; 5. sr. Thomas Bailey 12.58; 13. soph. Jemar Diga PR 12.21; 22. Carlos PR 12.92; 24. fr. Aidan Bailey PR 12.93; 28. soph. Sean Schmitt PR 13.14; 35. fr. Chatham Clark PR 14.35; 38 sr. John Morrow 15.66; 40. sr. David Williams 26.82.
200 - 1. Beya 23.84; 5. sr. Tabor Buxton 25.41; 6. so. Levi Danielson PR 25.42; 7. Gagner PR 25.94; 8. T. Bailey PR 26.48; 10. sr. Garrison Lass PR 25.62; 12. Diga PR 26.08; 15. soph. Noah Blackmon PR 26.23; 19. fr. Gaige Rosas PR 26.78; 22. jr. Asa Demmert PR 27.39; 24. Schmitt PR 27.51; 27. fr. Dalton Voron PR 27.66; 28. fr. Sergio Carlos PR 27.75; 35. Clark PR 31.05; 36. Morrow 32.88.
400 - 1. Gagner PR 54.94; 2. Buxton 55.58; 6. Rosas PR 57.30; 13. Demmert PR 59.54; 16. Carlos PR 1:00.33.
800 - 1. JDHS sr. Dalton Hoy 2:05.68; 2. Baciocco PR 2:05.96; 3. McIntyre 2:07.25; 4. Gagner PR 2:10.65; 5. Demmert 2:13.19; 10. jr. Derek Bartlett 2:15.08.
1600 - 1. McIntyre PR 4:32.62; 3. Baciocco PR 4:34.82; 10. Bartlett PR 5:04.00.
3200 - 1. McIntyre PR 9:34.50; 2. Baciocco PR 9:35.18.
110 hurdles - 1. KTN sr. Christopher Carlson PR 17.57; 5. so. Levi Danielson 20.49.
300 hurdles - 1. KTN sr. Ivers Credito PR 44.16; 7. Danielson PR 47.73; 10. Bartlett PR 50.39.
Shot put - 1. HNS soph. Wesley Verhamme PR 45-04; 9. sr. Aedon Dumag 35-04.50; 10. Lass PR 33-11; 14. Voron PR 31-00.75; 15. T. Bailey PR 30-09.75; 16. sr. Dhariel Rodrigo PR 30-05; 19. Blackmon 27-07.50; 23. fr. Alex Johnson PR 25-00.75; 29. Williams PR 9-10.
Discus - 1. KTN sr. Brendan Wong PR 123-02; 10. Heim PR 94-07; 13. Lass 82-04; 17. Rodrigo 73-01; 19. Voron 69-00; 21. Johnson PR 65-05.
High Jump - 1. Lass 6-01.
Long Jump - 1. PSG soph. Julian Cumps PR 18-10.25; 2. Dumag SR 18-06.50; 4. Heim PR 17-08.50; 5. Diga PR 17-07; 14. A. Bailey PR 15-06.25.
Triple Jump - 1. Heim PR 39-04.50; 2. Dumag SR 38-03.
4x100 - 1. JDHS 47.47; 3. (Dumag, Diga, Heim, A. Bailey) 48.85; 8. (Carlos, Clark, Voron, Schmitt) 54.11.
4x200 - 1. (Danielson, Rosas, Carson Grant, Buxton) 1:41.96; 4. (A. Bailey, Blackmon, Schmitt, T. Bailey) 1:46.41.
4x400 - 1. (Buxton, Baciocco, Grant, Gagner) 3:44.99.
4x800 - 1. JDHS 9:01.39.
Sitka senior unified athlete John Morrow throws the shot put during the Capital Invite in Juneau. (Sentinel Photos by Klas Stolpe)
