The 400-meter relay of William Klein, Brenden Jones, Lokeni Wong and Tyce Escott of Soldotna High School won to lead the Kenai Peninsula at the Brian Young Invitational in Kodiak on Friday and Saturday, June 6 and 7.
The meet takes place the week after the state meet and can be a good chance for track and field athletes to set personal bests, but the rainy and cold weather at the meet this year dampened most performances.
Klein, Jones, Wong and Escott, running for the South Central All-Stars, ran 44.95 seconds for the win.
In top-six performances in the boys sprints, Escott finished second in the 100 at 11.03, and Seward’s Ronan Bickling was second in the 200 at 23.56 and fourth in the 100 at 11.31.
The most eye-popping time of the day went to Ketchikan’s Jason Lorig, who ran 10.69 in the 100. That’s an Alaska soil record, according to records kept by Arielle Himelbloom of the Alaska Sports Report. Lorig also ran that fast in the region meet as a sophomore. At Nike Outdoor Nationals in Oregon in June 2024, Lorig ran his PR of 10.68.
In boys middle distance, SoHi’s James Innes was third in the 400 at 51.98.
In boys distance, Homer’s Johannes Bynagle was fifth in the mile at 4:32.33 and fourth in the 3,200 at 10:21.25.
In the hurdles, Homer’s Tait Ostrom was sixth in the 110 hurdles at 17.50.
In the relays, Bickling anchored the South Central team to third in the 800 relay at 1:35.67, and Innes anchored the South Central 1,600 relay to second in 3:39.44.
In the girls sprints, Homer’s Molly Evans was fifth in the 100 at 13.04 and fifth in the 200 at 27.99, while Homer’s Gracie Miotke was sixth in the 100 at 13.16.
In middle distance, Seward’s Olive Jordan was fifth in the 400 at 1:02.72 and SoHi’s Sophia Jedlicki was fifth in the 800 at 2:23.77.
In distance, Homer’s Etta Bynagle was sixth in the mile at 5:43.30.
In the hurdles, Miotke was fifth in the 300 hurdles at 52.6.
In the relay, Evans, Jedlicki and Homer’s Jaelynn Kennon were on the South Central 400 squad that was second in 51.65 and on the 800 team that was second in 1:47.39.
In the 1,600 relay, Jordan and Sasha Brott were on the South Central team that finished third at 4:31.76, and Bynagle and Jordan were on a 3,200 team that was second in 10:20.53.
In the jumps, Kennon tied for third in the high jump at 4 feet, 6 inches.
