SoHi sweeps team titles at soggy borough track meet

Despite the wet and chilly conditions at Justin Maile Field on Saturday, there were a few fiery performances at the Kenai Peninsula Borough Track and Field championships.

With a persistent rain drizzling down for most of the afternoon, the Soldotna girls and boys swept the team championships. The SoHi boys dominated with a points haul of 235.25, beating runner-up Kenai Central’s total of 135.75 and Homer’s 109.5, while the SoHi girls won with 223.5 points, ahead of the 165 that Kenai amassed and the 123 that Homer won.

But as the Stars were racking up the points, it was a Kenai Central athlete that grabbed headlines. Senior Josh Jackman went 4 for 4 in his events Saturday, beating the field in the boys 100- and 200-meter sprints and the long and triple jumps.

Jackman served notice that the Alaska state boys 100-meter record is in jeopardy by blazing to a time of 10.94 seconds, a KCHS school record that is also just a skosh off the official state mark of 10.90 seconds, set in 1995 by Soldotna’s Joel Knight.

“It was awesome, I was super excited,” Jackman said. “I knew that I could do it, I just didn’t think it would happen today.”

With the cooler conditions combining with Jackman’s ability to peak at the right time of the season, the Kenai senior is gunning for a state title in a running race, no matter what his time is. Jackman already owns a state title in the long jump.

“I would really just like to win state in a running event,” he said. “I just want to win it first, then see if I happen to get the state record.”

Jackman also set a personal best in the long jump, reaching 23 feet, 4 inches, to beat his old mark by an inch, but said the 200 was the hardest event of the day for him, particularly as it was scheduled late in the day with the wind and rain blowing into his face at the far end of the track.

“It’s cold out and the weather’s awful,” Jackman said.

Jackman wasn’t the only four-peat athlete of the day Saturday. Soldotna senior Abraham Van Hout picked up four victories in the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, as well as the winning 400 and 800-meter boys relays. Van Hout currently owns the second-fastest 110-meter hurdle time in the state, and the fifth-fastest 300-meter mark, and had no trouble winning Saturday’s races, beating Kenai sophomore Jarett Wilson both times.

“I like to use (the rain) to my advantage,” Van Hout said. “We’re not always going to have clear, sunny days and 100 percent great weather.”

Van Hout said the longer hurdle race presented a challenge with the rain that was hailing in from the western end of the track.

“I was trying to find the adjustment, looking up or down, squinting a little bit,” he said.

Also making a statement Saturday was Homer sophomore Kaylee Veldstra, who swept the girls 100 and 200 sprints. Veldstra has showcased her speed all spring, and currently ranks eighth in the state in the 100.

“I think my form got better,” Veldstra said. “Last year was really bad, so we worked on that, and my starts too. We put a lot of work in my block starts.”

Veldstra said her coaches have taped her opening takeoffs from the blocks in order to review her form in slow motion, dissecting every little movement to add efficiency.

Veldstra is going for the Homer school record, which is 12.7, and her best yet has been 12.83 from last year.

“It’s from 1983, so it’s old,” Veldstra said.

The Kenai girls secured three of the four relays, winning the 400-, 800- and 3,200-meter relays, with Alyssa Bucho, Hayley Maw and Tekaiya Rich joining forces on the two shorter events. The trio also took up three of the top four spots in the individual 100-meter dash and three of the top six in the 200.

Similarly, in the boys relays, Soldotna won three of the four events in claiming the 400, 800 and 3,200 relays. Logan Schrader, Abraham Van Hout and Koby Vinson joined in on the shorter two events.

Soldotna junior Wendell Tuisuala swept the boys throwing events, winning the shot put on a 41 foot, 6 inch, heave and the discus with a 144 foot, 10 inch, blast. Tuisaula’s younger sister, freshman Ituau, also won the girls shot put with a throw of 34 feet, 2 3-4 inches.

While the borough meet features the best high-schoolers the peninsula has to offer, Saturday also belonged to middle school athletes, who were ending their season. The eye-popping time of the day belonged to Kenai Middle School eighth-grader Maison Dunham, who won the boys 1,600 with a new Kenai Peninsula Borough middle school record of 4:49.90. In comparison, the time was faster than anything 2015 Kenai Central graduates Jonah and Jordan Theisen ran in their middle school careers, according to several Kenai Middle track coaches. Jonah Theisen holds the peninsula boys high school record of 4:16.86, set his senior year.

Kenai Peninsula Borough Championships

Saturday

at Soldotna High School

BOYS

Team scores — 1. Soldotna, 235.25; 2. Kenai Central, 135.75; 3. Homer, 109.5; 4. Nikiski, 74; 5. Seward, 27.5; 6. Cook Inlet Academy, 6.

100 — 1. Josh Jackman, Ken, 10.94; 2. Isaac Averill, Nik, 11.14; 3. Teddy Croft, Hom, 11.34; 4. Brenner Furlong, Sol, 11.34; 5. Noah Fisk, Hom, 11.64; 6. Matthew Minium, Nik, 11.94.

200 — 1. Josh Jackman, Ken, 23.04; 2. Brenner Furlong, Sol, 23.14; 3. Noah Fisk, Hom, 24.04; 4. Andrew West, Sol, 24.24; 5. Brady Hammond, CIA, 25.64; 6. Caleb Matson, Sol, 25.74.

400 — 1. Brenner Furlong, Sol, 53.04; 2. Teddy Croft, Hom, 53.84; 3. Jared Brant, Hom, 55.54; 4. Dominik Efta, Ken, 56.04; 5. Zane Boyer, Hom, 57.14; 6. Gideon Collver, Ken, 57.34.

800 — 1. Jared Brant, Hom, 2:13.44; 2. Cy Dull, Ken, 2:14.44; 3. Jacob Davis, Hom, 2:18.64; 4. Jace Kornstad, Nik, 2:21.04; 5. Bradley Walters, Sol, 2:26.04; 6. Jack Harris, Sol, 2:28.44.

1600 — 1. Bill Rich, Hom, 4:43.00; 2. Luciano Fasulo, Hom, 4:43.59; 3. Jacob Davis, Hom, 4:49.00; 4. Zen Petrosius, Sew, 4:54.00; 5. Josh Shuler, Sol, 4:57.00; 6. Sean Vergin, Sol, 5:05.00.

3200 — 1. Lance Chilton, Sol, 10:49.37; 2. Sean Vergin, Sol, 10:54.74; 3. Josh Shuler, Sol, 11:01.04; 4. Tucker Mueller, Ken, 11:57.94; 5. Bryan McCollum, Nik, 12:58.54; 6. Gabe Smith, Nik, 13:33.24.

110H — 1. Abraham Van Hout, Sol, 16.04; 2. Jarett Wilson, Ken, 16.54; 3. Trapper Allen, Sew, 18.54; 4. Shayne Sullivan, Sew, 19.04; 5. Haiden Tryon, Sol, 19:34; 6. Corbin Wirz, Sol, 20.14.

300H — 1. Abraham Van Hout, Sol, 43.24; 2. Jarett Wilson, Ken, 43.54; 3. Koby Vinson, Sol, 47.24; 4. Corbin Wirz, Sol, 56.74.

400 relay — 1. Soldotna (Schrader, Vinson, Van Hout, Furlong), 45.84; 2. Kenai, 48.88; 3. Soldotna, 50.93; 4. Nikiski, 52.33; 5. Homer, DQ.

800 relay — 1. Soldotna (Van Hout, Vinson, Schrader, West), 1:35.54; 2. Nikiski, 1:37.54; 3. Homer, 1:40.64; 4. Kenai, 1:41.24; 5. Seward, 1:41.94; 6. Soldotna, 1:44.04.

1600 relay — 1. Homer (Boyer, Brant, Rich, Fasulo), 3:44.44; 2. Nikiski, 3:47.04; 3. Kenai, 3:47.84; 4. Soldotna, 3:53.04.

3200 relay — 1. Soldotna (Vergin, Walters, Shuler, Chilton), 9:12.02; 2. Nikiski, 9:21.57; 3. Kenai, 10:13.40.

Shot put — 1. Wendell Tuisaula, Sol, 41-06; 2. Kyle Marcuson, Sol, 40-08 1/2; 3. Seth Kruse, Ken, 39-11; 4. Ian Johnson, Nik, 36-10 1/2; 5. Galen Brantley, Sol, 36-08; 6. Trenten Freiberg, Sew, 35-11.

Discus — 1. Wendell Tuisaula, Sol, 144-10; 2. Ian Johnson, Nik, 131-08; 3. John Grossl, Ken, 128-03; 4. Galen Brantley, Sol, 118-08; 5. Cody Nye, Sol, 106-11; 6. Zen Petrosius, Sew, 103-06.

HJ — 1. Joel Carroll, Hom, 5-11; 2. Jarett Wilson, Ken, 5-06; 3. Andrew Bezdecny, Ken, 4-10.

LJ — 1. Josh Jackman, Ken, 22-04; 2. Logan Schrader, Sol, 18-11 1/4; 3. Jack Sullenger, Nik, 18-10; 4. Koby Vinson, Sol, 18-06 3/4; 5. Tyler Morrison, Sol, 17-06 1/2; 6. Ross Hanson, Ken, 17-04 1/2.

TJ — 1. Josh Jackman, Ken, 41-10; 2. Logan Schrader, Sol, 38-03 1/4; 3. Bechler Metcalf, Sol, 38-00 1/2; 4. Joel Carroll, Hom, 37-02 1/4; 5. Tyler Morrison, Sol, 36-11 1/2; 6. Caleb Matson, Sol, 36-04 1/2.

GIRLS

Team scores — 1. Soldotna, 223.5; 2. Kenai Central, 165; 3. Homer, 123; 4. Seward, 18; 5. Nikiski, 14.5; 6. Cook Inlet Academy, 1.

100 – 1. Kaylee Veldstra, Hom, 13.24; 2. Tekaiya Rich, Ken, 13.24; 3. Hayley Maw, Ken, 13.24; 4. Alyssa Bucho, Ken, 13.44; 5. Brittany Taylor, Sol, 13.54; 6. Tovia Bremond-Hilton, Sol, 13.84.

200 — 1. Kaylee Veldstra, Hom, 27.84; 2. Brittany Taylor, Sol, 28.04; 3. Tekaiya Rich, Ken, 28.44; 4. Hayley Maw, Ken, 28.54; 5. Tovia Bremond-Hilton, Sol, 28.64; 6. Alyssa Bucho, Ken, 29.44.

400 — 1. Addison Gibson, Ken, 1:02.34; 2. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 1:03.04; 3. Chelsea Plagge, Ken, 1:03.04; 4. Brittany Taylor, Sol, 1:03.34; 5. Marina Carroll, Hom, 1:03.44; 6. Kalyn McGillivray, Sol, 1:07.34.

800 — 1. Brooke Satathite, Ken, 2:38.94; 2. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 2:47.04; 3. Dareena Doyle, Ken, 3:07.14.

1600 — 1. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 5:31.04; 2. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 5:32.64; 3. Brooke Satathite, Ken, 5:34.84; 4. Lauren Kuhns, Hom, 5:36.44; 5. Riana Boonstra, Ken, 5:44.44; 6. Sadie Lindquist, Sew, 5:59.94.

3200 — 1. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 12:20.04; 2. Ithaca Bergholtz, Ken, 12:37.94.

100H — 1. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 16.74; 2. Sophie Thomas, Sol, 17.14; 3. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 17.24; 4. Kylie Ness, Sol, 17.84; 5. Holleigh Jaime, Sol, 18.24; 6. Savanna Wilson, Ken, 18.44.

300H — 1. Katie Kilfoyle, Ken, 50.34; 2. Sophie Thomas, Sol, 51.04; 3. Holleigh Jaime, Sol, 51.34; 4. Crystal Epperheimer, Nik, 55.24; 5. Savanna Wilson, Ken, 55.34; 6. Kylie Ness, Sol, 56.34.

400 relay — 1. Kenai (Bucho, Rich, Maw, Kilfoyle), 52.68; 2. Homer, 52.79; 3. Soldotna, 59.62.

800 relay — 1. Kenai (Bucho, Maw, Rich, Wilson), 1:55.34; 2. Soldotna, 2:00.54; 3. Seward, 2:05.84.

1600 relay — 1. Soldotna (Jaime, Thomas, McGillivray, Wurst), 4:34.44; 2. Homer, 4:37.24; 3. Kenai, 4:38.04.

3200 relay — 1. Kenai (Satathite, Bergholtz, Boonstra, Gibson), 10:35.74; 2. Soldotna, 13:13.81.

Shot put — 1. Ituau Tuisaula, Sol, 34-02 3/4; 2. Annie Quinn, Sol, 34-02; 3. Abby Beck, Ken, 33-06; 4. Bailey Leach, Sol, 31-07; 5. Anna Brock, Hom, 30-08 3/4; 6. Savannah McDonald, Sol, 30-07 1/2.

Discus — 1. Abby Beck, Ken, 107-01; 2. Annie Quinn, Sol, 95-10; 3. Emily Pieh, Sol, 94-01; 4. Ituau Tuisuala, Sol, 91-10; 5. Anna Brock, Hom, 84-00; 6. Rachel Spence, Sol, 83-00.

HJ — 1. Aliann Schmidt, Sol, 4-11; 2. Danica Schmidt, Sol, 4-08; 3. Olivia Schwenk, Sol, 4-06; 4. Marina Carroll, Hom, 4-04; 5. Denali Wurst, Sol, 4-04; 6. Kriziel Sarmiento, Sew, 4-02.

LJ — 1. Cheyenne Gillette, Hom, 15-00 1/2; 2. Natalie Johnson, Sol, 14-05; 3. Kylie Ness, Sol, 14-03 1/2; 4. Olivia Schwenk, Sol, 14-02; 5. Crystal Epperheimer, Nik, 14-01; 6. Emma Moore, Sew, 13-06 1/2.

TJ — 1. Marina Carroll, Hom, 30-01; 2. Rhythm Beckett-Cook, Hom, 28-07 3/4; 3. Denali Wurst, Sol, 28-07; 4. Aliann Schmidt, Sol, 28-06 1/2; 5. Danica Schmidt, Sol, 28-01 1/2.