Kenai boys, SoHi girls win Kenai Invite track meet

The Kenai Central boys and the Soldotna girls track and field teams both cruised to easy team victories Saturday at the Kenai Invite, held on the new track adjacent to the school.

The Kenai boys piled up 141 points on the strength of six event wins, which bettered the 76 points of runner-up Anchorage Christian Schools. Wasilla placed third with 73 points, and Nikiski was fourth with 52.

The Soldotna girls accumulated 125 points with five event victories, better than the 89 that runner-up Homer had. Grace Christian was third with 65 points and Kenai was fourth with 53.

With cold, windy weather, there wasn’t much room for improvement on personal records, but a few hardy athletes still managed new season highs.

Soldotna’s Makayla Wong put up the best throw in the shot put this year, even in the gusty conditions. The senior took the top spot in the state with a heave of 34 feet, 8 inches.

Skyview coach Rob Sparks noted that throwing on a windy day could go either way in helping or hurting the throwing competitions. In the discus event, throwing into the wind could provide extra lift for the discus, much the same way the wing of an airplane does.

Saturday, the throwing events were held on the south end of the track, and competitors were tossing with the wind to their backs. For the shot put, that could have been an aid.

The boys 1,600 meters provided a bit of drama for the day. In what is becoming a recurring theme, the Theisen brothers from Kenai raced side-by-side on the final lap, and Jordan managed to outsprint his brother Jonah for the win, beating him by two-tenths of a second with a time of 4:31.68.

“Me and him usually get it the last half of the race,” Jonah said. “I don’t like it. It hurts.”

After a first half that featured a tightknit battle up front among four runners, the Theisens both managed to distance themselves from Homer’s Pedro Ochoa and Austin Monzon of ACS to battle for the win amongst themselves.

“That wind was a pain, especially down the backstretch,” Jordan said.

On Friday, Jordan won the boys 3,200 in a time of 9:58.20, nipping Jonah by .83 seconds, but Jonah got the last laugh on Saturday in the boys 800, claiming the gold in 2:03.41 while Jordan finished second.

Both Theisens said they are working to claim the Kenai Central school record in the boys 3,200, which is approximately 9:45 held by Trevor Baldwin. Jonah holds the faster time of the two brothers with a 9:49.10 from last week’s Homer Invite.

The bulk of the Kardinals’ remaining points came from freshman Josh Jackman and senior Lucas Casebeer. Jackman won the boys 200 and finished second in the boys 400, 110-meter hurdles and long jump. Casebeer won the boys triple jump and finished second in the 100 and was a part of the boys 400-meter relay that finished second.

The Soldotna girls took a number of sprint victories. Lindsey Wong emerged victorious in the girls 200-meter dash with a time of 28.05 seconds, marginally faster than the 28.12 that Nikiski’s Kerry Ross ran.

The younger Wong also took first in the girls 800-meter relay, as the Soldotna team of Wong, Natalie Johnson, Dani McCormick and Daisy Nelson put up the third-fastest time in the state with a 1:54.21, which is less than three-tenths of a second behind the state best.

McCormick cruised to the victory in the girls 800 with a time of 2:24.73, and sophomore Daisy Nelson took the girls 100.

Soldotna’s Olivia Hutchings finished second in the girls 1,600 with a time of 5:28.90 — although she nearly didn’t race at all.

The sophomore said she had just gotten off a flight from Anchorage Saturday morning after a night of high school prom. A scramble to get to the track didn’t deter her, though.

“I wanted to get into the 5:19 range, but I was having some trouble in my race,” Hutchings said. “I just kept seeing black, so I guess this just wasn’t my weekend to do that.”

Skyview cruised to the girls 400-meter relay victory by almost a full two seconds over Grace Christian, although it was nearly 1.5 seconds slower than their season best, which is third-fastest in the state.

“It was just a little breezy,” joked second-leg runner Hayley Ramsell, who got the full brunt of the wind on the backstretch. “It was pretty tough.”

Anchor leg Kaylee Fisher said the team was missing one of their usual teammates, Jessie McNamara, but Heather Tolliver did well as a fill-in.

“After the 4-by-2, we were kind of nervous about the 4-by-1,” Fisher said.

Fisher also finished second in the girls 100-meter dash.

“I think we all really like each other,” said Haille Landess said. “Other girls relay teams bicker a lot, and we bicker a lot too, but it’s like a fake bicker. We’d do anything for each other.”

Cook Inlet Academy also had a multiple-event winner in senior Zach Taplin, who claimed gold in both the boys discus and shot put events. Taplin reached 46 feet, 9.25 inches in the shot, and 134 feet, 8 inches in the discus. Both distances are ranked third in the state.

Kenai Invite

GIRLS

Team results — 1. Soldotna, 125 points; 2. Homer, 89; 3. Grace Christian, 65; 4. Kenai Central, 53; 5. Wasilla, 49; 6. Skyview, 45; 7. Cook Inlet, 28; 8. Palmer, 26; 9. Nikiski, 20; 10. ACS, 20.

100 — 1. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 13.28; 2. Kaylee Fisher, Sky, 13.31; 3. Kerry Ross, Nik, 13.38; 4. Christina Ellis, Gra, 13.56; 5. Haille Landess, Sky, 13.57; 6. Lexi Pepperd, Was, 13.69.

200 — 1. Lindsey Wong, Sol, 28.05; 2. Kerry Ross, Nik, 28.12; 3. Kyla Whannell, Ken, 28.47; 4. Jessie McNamara, Sky, 28.48; 5. Ryen Dougherty, Nik, 28.60; 6. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 28.67.

400 — 1. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 1:03.91; 2. Ziza Shemet-Pitcher, Hom, 1:06.04; 3. Lindsey Wong, Sol, 1:06.09; 4. Emily Werner, Sol, 1:06.10; 5. Kyla Whannell, Ken, 1:06.85; 6. Krista Green, Gra, 1:07.19.

800 — 1. Dani McCormick, Sol, 2:24.73; 2. Cheyenne Applegate, Gra, 2:29.28; 3. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 2:31.14; 4. Mariah Burroughs, Was, 2:32.31; 5. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 2:34.84; 6. Sadie Fox, Sol, 2:37.94.

1,600 — 1. Mariah Burroughs, Was, 5:23.42; 2. Olivia Hutchings, Sol, 5:28.90; 3. Molly Mitchell, Hom, 5:32.69; 4. Alex Mathis, Was, 5:32.82; 5. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 5:36.53; 6. Sadie Fox, Sol, 5:41.04.

3,200 — 1. Alex Mathis, Was, 11:52.30; 2. Molly Mitchell, Hom, 12:08.97; 3. Sadie Fox, Sol, 12:24.05; 4. Courtney Stroh, Ken, 12:38.55; 5. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 13:27.06; 6. Sami Contraras, Pal, 13:27.35.

100m hurdles — 1. Madison Orth, CIA, 16.37; 2. Tayla Cabana, Hom, 16.99; 3. Kayla Rowe, Gra, 17.01; 4. Casey Neill, Sky, 19.32; 5. Megan Herrera, Was, 19.34; 6. Beverly Schindler, Ken, 19.51.

300m hurdles — 1. Kayla Rowe, Gra, 50.44; 2. Tayla Cabana, Hom, 50.98; 3. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 55.91; 4. Alexis Quick, ACS, 56.51; 5. Lauren Jones, Hom, 57.47; 6. Casey Neill, Sky, 57.81.

400m relay — 1. Skyview (Fisher, Tolliver, Ramsell, Landess) 54.76; 2. Grace, 56.49; 3. Wasilla, 56.85; 4. Palmer, 56.94; 5. ACS, 57.44; 6. Kenai, 1:00.66.

800m relay — 1. Soldotna (Johnson, McCormick, Wong, Nelson) 1:54.21; 2. Kenai, 1:56.81; 3. Skyview, 1:58.21; 4. Homer, 1:59.81.

1600m relay — 1. Homer (Waclawski, Shemet-Pitcher, Evarts, Cabana) 4:34.19; 2. Wasilla, 4:34.47; 3. Kenai, 4:52.20; 4. Skyview, 5:06.61.

3200m relay — 1. Palmer (Bohman, Osiensky, Graham, Contraras) 10:53.47; 2. Soldotna, 11:01.49; 3. Homer, 11:33.65; 4. Kenai, 11:54.23; 5. Skyview, 12:50.53.

Shot put — 1. Makayla Wong, Sol, 34’08”; 2. Ashley Logan, Gra, 33’0.5”; 3. Kiana Hendricks, Sol, 32’4.75”; 4. Annie Quinn, Sol, 30’5.5”; 5. Sylvia Tuisaula, Was, 29’10”; 6. Jonna Laitinen, Pal, 29’4.5”.

Discus — 1. Jonna Laitinen, Pal, 93’08”; 2. Kiana Hendricks, Sol, 86’02”; 3. Ashley Logan, Gra, 82’00”; 4. Abby Beck, Ken, 81’06”; 5. Kendal Taplin, CIA, 76’01”; 6. Annie Quinn, Sol, 74’02”.

High jump — 1. Kiana Harding, Ken, 4’08”; 2. Dallas Dickerson, Ken, 4’08”; 3. Lindsey Wong, Sol, 4’06”; 4. Crystal Crane, Hom, 4’06”; 5. Hollie Duncan, ACS, 4’04”; 6. Claire McElroy, Sol, 4’04”.

Long jump — 1. Tayla Cabana, Hom, 15’6.25”; 2. Kayla Rowe, Gra, 14’11.75”; 3. Madison Orth, CIA, 14’05”; 4. Arianna Parrish, Nik, 14’05”; 5. Crystal Crane, Hom, 14’1.25”; 6. Kiana Harding, Ken, 13’11”.

Triple jump — 1. Madison Orth, CIA, 32’9.5”; 2. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 30’10.75”; 3. Kayla Rowe, Gra, 29’8.5”; 4. Hayley Ramsell, Sky, 28’5.5”; 5. Andrea Wagner, Was, 27’11.75”; 6. Makayla Wong, Sol, 27’3.25”.

BOYS

Team results — 1. Kenai Central, 141 points; 2. ACS, 76; 3. Wasilla, 73; 4. Nikiski, 52; 5. Palmer, 39; 6. Homer, 34; 7. Soldotna, 30; 8. Grace, 28; 9. Cook Inlet, 27; 10. Skyview, 19; 11. Wasilla Lake Christian, 5.

100 — Michael Todd, ACS, 11.79; 2. Lucas Casebeer, Ken, 12.01; 3. Mosiah Renk, Was, 12.03; 4. Drew Gibbs, Sol, 12.39; 5. Frew Winkle, Gra, 12.42; 6. Christianno Lopez, ACS, 12.46.

200 — 1. Josh Jackman, Ken, 23.57; 2. Michael Todd, ACS, 23.72; 3. Seth Carstens, Nik, 24.94; 4. Jake Palmberg, WLC, 25.11; 5. Alec Burris, Was, 25.30; 6. Alex Glidden, Pal, 26.16.

400 — 1. Nate Simmers, ACS, 53.35; 2. Josh Jackman, Ken, 54.66; 3. Micah Hilbish, Sky, 54.78; 4. Justin Gentz, Was, 56.14; 5. Josh Wolfe, Was, 57.26; 6. Preston Weeks, Sol, 57.31.

800 — 1. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 2:03.41; 2. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 2:04.76; 3. Travis Cooper, Ken, 2:06.09; 4. Austin Monzon, ACS, 2:06.32; 5. Hayden Foster, Pal, 2:08.98; 6. Michael Todd, ACS, 2:10.60.

1,600 — 1. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 4:31.68; 2. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 4:31.88; 3. Pedro Ochoa, Hom, 4:40.91; 4. Austin Monzon, ACS, 4:43.52; 5. Daniel Serventi, Gra, 4:46.96; 6. Colton Pulver, Was, 4:52.14.

3,200 — 1. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 9:58.20; 2. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 9:59.03; 3. Daniel Serventi, Gra, 10:11.35; 4. Pedro Ochoa, Hom, 10:21.43; 5. Colton Pulver, Was, 10:33.04; 6. Ty Marshall, Was, 10:38.09.

110m hurdles — 1. Brady Southwick, Pal, 16.72; 2. Josh Jackman, Ken, 17.02; 3. Shouya Watanabe, Pal, 18.41; 4. Kenneth Frick, Was, 18.87; 5. Caleb Drumm, Was, 18.97; 6. Jonathan Railing, ACS, 20.13.

300m hurdles — 1. Connor Seay, Hom, 44.42; 2. Kenneth Frick, Was, 44.84; 3. Brady Southwick, Pal, 45.08; 4. Noah Leaf, CIA, 45.56; 5. Jonathan Railing, ACS, 46.24; 6. Jake Palmberg, WLC, 46.27.

400m relay — 1. Wasilla (Otto, Comer, Wolfe, Renk) 48.32; 2. Kenai, 48.69; 3. Nikiski, 49.46; 4. Palmer, 49.57; 5. Homer, 49.81; 6. CIA, 51.10.

800m relay — 1. ACS (Simmers, Lopez, Lopez, Todd) 1:36.79; 2. Wasilla, 1:39.70; 3. Palmer, 1:40.06; 4. Kenai, 1:40.55; 5. Skyview, 1:45.00; 6. Homer, 1:45.08.

1600m relay — 1. Soldotna (Larrow, Meyer, Swedberg, Weeks) 3:49.90; 2. Wasilla, 3:50.83; 3. Grace, 3:53.82; 4. Skyview, 3:56.63; 5. Palmer, 3:57.12; 6. Kenai, 3:59.83.

3200m relay — 1. Kenai (Lee, Mole, Theisen, Cooper) 8:40.30; 2. Grace, 8:59.40; 3. Skyview, 9:11.17; 4. Homer, 10:24.40.

Shot put — 1. Zach Taplin, CIA, 46’9.25”; 2. Luke Johnson, Nik, 42’7.25”; 3. Nate Simmers, ACS, 42’3.25”; 4. Mason Lloyd, Ken, 40’11”; 5. Tom Randall, Ken, 40’10”; 6. Randy Kohutek, ACS, 40’0.5”.

Discus — 1. Zach Taplin, CIA, 134’08”; 2. Nate Simmers, ACS, 122’01”; 3. Luke Johnson, Nik, 122’00”; 4. Marshall Comer, Was, 112’11”; 5. Riley Smithwick, CIA, 112’00”; 6. Adam O’Guinn, Sky, 111’06”.

High jump — 1. Seth Carstens, Nik, 6’00”; 2. Austin Monzon, ACS, 5’08”; 3. Luke Johnson, Nik, 5’04”; 4. Josh Laker, Gra, 5’02”; 5. Zach Bronson, ACS, 5’02”; 6. August Kilcher, Hom, 5’00”.

Long jump — 1. Seth Carstens, Nik, 18’10.5”; 2. Josh Jackman, Ken, 18’2.5”; 3. Kenneth Frick, Was, 17’11.25”; 4. Caleb Wolfe, Was, 17’7.25”; 5. John Shank, Hom, 17’6.5”; 6. Drew Gibbs, Sol, 17’6.5”.

Triple jump — 1. Lucas Casebeer, Ken, 37’4.75”; 2. Preston Weeks, Sol, 36’0.5”; 3. Drew Gibbs, Sol, 35’11.25”; 4. John Shank, Hom, 35’09”; 5. Brady Southwick, Pal, 35’02”; 6. Caleb Wolfe, Was, 33’2.25”.