In the last regular meet of the season, Friday and Saturday in Ketchikan, Sitka High’s track and field athletes put up solid times, continuing this year’s high performing streak with many first and second place finishes.
As a unit, Sitka’s girls took first place by a wide margin out of seven teams gathered from across the region, while the boys squad came in second behind Juneau-Douglas.
Speaking to the Sentinel at practice Tuesday, Coach Jeremy Strong said the seniors are the backbone of a team that for years has punched above its weight competing against teams from larger schools.
The coach said the seniors were "the rock you build the house on."
.“Having quality seniors with lots of experiences made a big difference in not just the lives of the coaches, but also the lives of all the people below them. They've really done a good job of continuing the tradition,” Strong said.
The 22 seniors who graduated Monday will still be with the squad through the regional meet at Juneau this weekend and the state championship a week later in Anchorage.
Strong said the team is now focused on “figuring out relays and making sure everybody's healthy. A lot of sickness, a lot of little injuries here and that can start to get in people's heads as you get closer to the end. And we just want to make sure it feels good.”
At Ketchikan, Sitka's Leilynn Swain won the 400 meter race in 1:06 and Clare Mullin finished first in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meter events, winning in 2:15, 5:10 and 10:50 respectively. Her 3,200 meter time was a personal record, and with the regional and state meets still ahead, the recently-graduated senior has her sights on the state record in the 800.
Right behind Mullin in the weekend distance races was Marina Dill, also a senior, who placed third in the 1,600 in 5:40 and second in the 3,200 in 11:39.
“I've always loved the 32, and that was one event that I was hoping to improve on," Dill said. "What really went well in that race was just seeing everyone cheer, and I love seeing that. That's always something that definitely makes me run faster and move faster.
"And also I had my friend Hayla (Trigg, another senior) yelling from the side with my splits and letting me know if I needed to kick it or move faster. And also seeing Clare in front of me, definitely, I tried to stay with her in the first two (laps), and then I started getting tired. It was just nice to have her there.”
Dill said she tries for a PR every time she runs the 3,200, and will aim for that mark again in the regional and state meets. She said she'll keep running at the University of Alaska Anchorage, where she plans to study early childhood education.
“I'm going to be so sad to leave this team. I've gotten to know everyone and see everyone improve in their events, and that's definitely something that it's great to see people achieving things, and seeing people's reactions when they hit a PR, and seeing all these new runners coming in and doing events, and seeing how they react to how challenging and difficulty they didn't realize running was until actually being in a meet, because practice is one thing, but being in a meet is like a whole different spectrum,” she said.
In the 100 meter dash, Adalyna Moore was third in 13.15 seconds, and took second in the 200 in 28.09. Aliyah Merculief was fourth in the 800 in 2:39, placing seventh in the 1,600 meters and sixth in the 3,200.
Emma Heuer won the 100 meter hurdles in 17.53 seconds, and Natalie Hall was second in the 300 meter hurdles in 51.44.
The Lady Wolves won the four-by-100 relay in 54.66 seconds, with Hayla Trigg, Leilynn Swain, Gwen White and Emma Heuer on the track; Trigg, Jade Kubik, Addie Moore and Natalie Hall teamed to win the four-by-200 meter race in 1:51. Hall, Swain, Kubik and Moore placed first in the four-by-400 in 4:27.
Madison Dill, also a senior, got second in the shot put by hurling the 4 kilo sphere 30 feet 1 inch.
“I've been learning how to do spin throw for shot put, and this is my first year trying it, and it's been really successful for me,” Madison Dill said.
“I feel like just my release and my speed I'm getting on my spin – that's helping me throw a lot farther than just a normal stand throw. A spin, for me, it's a lot easier, because I have back problems, so spin is a lot easier on my back than doing the glide,” she said.
She placed fourth in discus, followed closely by Sitka’s Desirae Hutton.
In the high jump, Emma Heuer took first by leaping 14 feet 7.5 inches, and placed third in the high jump. Jade Kubik got second in the high jump, 8 inches short of Heuer’s jump.
Melody Peacock and Taylor Cushing scored third and fourth respectively in triple jump, and both set new PRs in the event.
In the boys sprints, Calder Prussian, a junior, got second in both the 200 and 400 in 23.43 and 51.62 seconds respectively. His time in the 400 was a PR.
Senior Connor Hitchcock placed first in 1,600 meter race in 4:27, and also won the 3,200, this time in 9:26, both PRs. He placed third in the 800 in 2:03, and joined Justin Hames, Trey Demmert and Zach Martens to win the four-by-800 relay in 9:07.
Trey Demmert got fifth in the 1,600 in 4:44 and Zach Martens set a new PR in the 3,200 by crossing the line in 10:21 for fourth place.
Rowan Olney-Miller won the 110 meter hurdles in 16.21 seconds, registering a personal record in the process.
In the four-by-400 meter relay, Prussian, Andrew Mullin, Trey Demmert and Ethan Clark got second in 3:46, four seconds behind the Juneau team.
“I think we did good, but I know we definitely could have done better. I think I, personally, could have done a lot better, too,” said senior Ethan Clark. “I think I ran last year, I ran a 54 split, and then this year, I ran like a 58, so I'm just trying to get back.”
Clark is recovering from an injury this season, and said he’s glad to be back on the track for the close of his senior year. He also got sixth in the 300 meter hurdles in 47.88 seconds.
“I'm getting there, trying to get back to where I was last season,” he said. At regions, he'll be looking to qualify for the hurdling event at state.
