By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
A week before the Region V track and field meet, Sitka High Wolves won another first place finish in the final regular meet of the season against seven other Southeast teams.
Sitka’s girls and boys took first by a wide margin in team scores, and snagged top spots in many individual events in the weekend competition at Ketchikan.
Sitka High runners compete in the one-mile race earlier this year in Sitka. Silas Demmert is on the right, with Annan Weiland and Connor Hitchcock running beside him. Demmert will race for Seattle Pacific University next year. (Sentinel photo)
Rainy weather made running difficult, Sitka senior Anna Prussian told the Sentinel Monday, but the team pushed through.
“For girls, we have a really solid group this year. We’ve got a few freshmen who have joined, and they’ve been putting down some really solid times. We’ve got a mix of jumpers, sprinters and distance kids who are all really competing really well,” she said. “It’s looking good for state. But there’s some big competition up there as well, especially with the private schools. So I think it’s kind of a toss up until we get there.”
The state championship will be in Anchorage on the last weekend in May.
Prussian took second in the 800 meter race in 2:34, and finished third in the mile and two-mile events in 5:27 and 11:52 respectively. As one of the Wolves’ top distance competitors after four years of training under coach Jeremy Strong, Prussian was happy with the results in her events.
“I really want to get an 11:40 this season. That’s my goal,” Prussian said. “I was really happy with my mile though, and my 800 – which I haven’t run much this year. But I think my favorite race this weekend probably was the four-by-400 relay that I was on. I think I got a PR in my split. And the team, everyone on it, ran really well.”
Prussian ran shoulder to shoulder with sophomore Clare Mullin, who won the one-mile event in 5:22 and took sixth in the two-mile in 12:09. Mullin also competed in the long jump, taking third place as Sitka’s top girl in the event. In the 800, Marina Dill, also a sophomore, finished fourth in 2:35.
Competing in the sprints, freshman Emma Heuer claimed third in the 100-meter dash in 13.56 seconds; third again in the 200 in 28.41 seconds; and second in the high jump. Also in the 100, Ada Parker finished fifth, while Natalie Hall took fifth in the 200. In both the 100 and 300 meter hurdles, Hall earned third.
In the 400 meter event, Leilynn Swain got fifth place in 1:13. Jessica Christner, a senior, took second in the discus, with Katlian Rhoads in fourth.
With the final competitions of the season fast approaching, Prussian thinks her team is in good shape.
“I think everyone’s really excited about how they’re performing. So that definitely brings good energy and helps them perform better,” she said.
Running for the boys, senior Silas Demmert was first in the one-mile in 4:34 and repeated that performance in the two-mile, finishing in 10 minutes flat.
“This is the best we’ve looked for the three years I’ve been on the track team,” Demmert said. “The boys team hasn’t been known for our successes at state – and that’s just being honest – and that’s OK. But I think we got a lot of new people this year, and they’re young. And what’s really exciting is that they’re young and competing at a high level.”
Sophomore Connor Hitchcock competed alongside Demmert in the long events, finishing 10 seconds behind Demmert and placing second in the two-mile run. He finished third in the mile in 4:43.
Another sophomore, Silas’ younger brother Trey, was third in the two-mile, completing Sitka’s sweep of that event.
In the sprints, Noah Bustamente finished second in the 100-yard dash in 11.66 seconds, with freshman Calder Prussian placing fifth and senior Caleb Hutton eighth. The younger Prussian was third in the 200 in 24.09 seconds, and Dezi Olney-Miller was less than a second behind for fifth. Ketchikan’s Phoenix Boles took fourth in that event.
In the 300 meter hurdles, David Davis was second, Angelo Elefante fifth. In the 100 meter hurdles, Davis was third and Elefante fourth.
Junior Edward Richards was fourth in the shot put, and fifth in discus.
