Kenai Central’s Emma Beck tosses the shot put Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Emma Beck tosses the shot put Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

SoHi track and field sweeps Kenai Invitational

The Soldotna girls and boys track and field teams swept the Kenai Invitational on Saturday at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School.

The Stars girls scored 255 points, while runner-up Homer had 128, Kenai had 100, Seward had 36, Ninilchik had five and Nikiski had two.

On the boys side, Soldotna scored 236, while Homer had 127, Kenai had 89, Nikiski had 58, Seward had 39, Ninilchik had five and Cook Inlet Academy had three.

Coaches across the board were pleased with the improvement of teams as the late spring recedes and athletes get more time at the track and field facilities.

Seward coach Solomon D’ Amico said the trick is getting in the needed workouts without causing injury.

“There have been tougher seasons,” he said. “This maybe isn’t the toughest one ever, but it’s pretty tough.”

SoHi coach Phil Leck is happy with the improvement after his team had its first full week on a track.

“We still have a lot to improve on, but we’re taking the right steps,” he said.

The SoHi girls won 11 of the 17 events.

Katelyn Morrison won the 100-meter hurdles, the triple jump and the high jump. In the high jump, Morrison hit 5 feet, 1 inches, for the second time this season, tying her for the best mark in the state.

Sarah Brown also had a huge day for SoHi, winning the 100, 200, 400 relay and 800 relay.

Joining her on the 400 relay was Emma Glassmaker, Anaulie Sedivy and Mandi Sisley. The 800 relay was Angelina Chavarria, Brown, Sisley and Sedivy.

Leck also was happy with Glassmaker getting second in the 100 and 200.

Annie Burns also got more than one individual win for SoHi, taking the 800 and 1,600.

Sophia Jedlicki won the 400, and teamed with Tania Boonstra, Laurel Johnson and Delanie Wagers to take the 3,200 relay.

On the boys side, Kevin Steger won the shot put and discus for the Stars.

“Lots of throwers were good today,” Leck said. “We’ve improved a lot on the throws in the past two weeks.”

Wyatt Faircloth won the 110 hurdles, and teamed with Leigh Tacey II, Andon Wolverton and Jeren Nash to win the 400 relay.

William Klein, in the 300 hurdles, and Issac Chavarria, in the triple jump, also had individual victories for Soldotna.

The 3,200 relay of Isaiah Dickson, Brendon Jones, Parker Richards and Gauge Gunning also won for the Stars.

Homer coach Bob Ostrom also said his team benefited from a first week of practice on the track and was able to turn that into runner-up team finishes.

“We got the ice knocked off it this week, so we’re getting out and training finally,” he said.

The boys were able to pick up four individual wins. Lukyan Dax won the 400, Seamus McDonough won the 1,600, Ethan Styvar won the 3,200 and Joe Gordon won the long jump.

“He’s been doing (Native Youth Olympics) stuff,” Ostrom said of Gordon. “He hasn’t been to any meets, but has been coming to some practices.

“We finally get him for a meet, and I think all the NYO stuff is paying off.”

Ostrom also was thrilled with the 1,600 relay victory of Dax, McDonough, Lance Seneff and Jonah Mershon.

On the girls side, individual victories came from Daisy Walker in the 3,200 and Gracie Miotke in the 300 hurdles. Miotke also teamed with Brightly Thoning, Beatrix McDonough and Eryn Field to win the 1,600 relay.

Ostrom said Walker, a sophomore, has improved a lot since cross-country season.

“This is a big jump for her, for sure,” he said. “She skied well, and trained all winter running and skiing.”

Kenai coach Joe Shirley said his team also is feeling the increased track time.

“It’s amazing what a week of practice on the track does,” he said. “We had a lot of PRs today.”

Emma Beck led the Kenai girls by winning the shot put and discus. Although the Kardinals compete at Division II, Beck’s Saturday toss of 120—9 is the best in the state at any division.

Shirley also said it was nice to get Emilee Wilson back from NYO. Wilson was second in the 800, long jump and triple jump.

Reagan Graves led the Kenai boys by winning the 100, 200 and 800 relay with Greg Fallon, Robert Hayes and Ransom Hayes. Fallon also won the 800.

“We worked him pretty hard this week to begin with,” Shirley said of Graves. “And then a lot of technical stuff the last few days.

“It’s amazing to see what just a week out here, and decent weather, does.”

Shirley also said it was nice to have 300 hurdler Matthew Krol back. Krol finished second.

Seward got victories from Olin Liljemark in the high jump and Maddie Haas in the long jump.

D’ Amico said Liljemark was competing in the high jump for just the second time and improved 4 inches to go 5—8. The coach said Haas did a great job of overcoming adversity after not having the hurdles race she wanted.

D’ Amico also like the PRs in the discus from John Van Buskirk and Ozzy Deel.

Nikiski coach Billie Denison also said increased practice time on the track led to a lot of PRs and some podium finishes. She also said athletes were able to adjust better this week to the cold temperatures of the morning.

In the long jump, the Nikiski boys had four of the top six — Walter Haybeck in second, Dwight Mullins in fourth, Taisei Horiyasu in fifth and Thayne Quiner in sixth.

Quiner also was second in the high jump, while Braeden Porter was third and Truit McCaughey fourth in the shot put.

Kenai Invitational

Saturday at Kenai Central High School

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Soldotna, 255; 2. Homer, 128; 3. Kenai, 100; 4. Seward, 36; 5. Ninilchik, 5; 6. Nikiski; 2.

100 meters — 1. Brown, Sol, 13.35 seconds; 2. Glassmaker, Sol, 13.43; 3. Tapley, Ken, 13.64; 4. Grieme, Ken, 13.76; 5. Im, Hom, 13.98; 6. Shaeffer, Sol, 14.15.

200 — 1. Brown, Sol, 28.60; 2. Glassmaker, Sol, 28.84; 3. Tapley, Ken, 29.22; 4. Sedivy, Sol, 29.24; 5. Brott, Sol, 29.84; 6. Prescott, Hom, 30.18.

400 — 1. Jedlicki, Sol, 1:04.05; 2. Field, Hom, 1:05.70; 3. McDonough, Hom, 1:06.04; 4. Thoning, Hom, 1:07.91; 5. McCorison, Nin, 1:10.50; 6. J. Ingalls, Sew, 1:11.49.

800 — 1. Burns, Sol, 2:32.03; 2. Wilson, Ken, 2:34.02; 3. Field, Hom, 2:39.08; 4. McDonough, Hom, 2:41.94; 5. Guernsey, Sew, 2:45.54; 6. Whittom, Sol, 2:53.74.

1,600 — 1. Burns, Sol, 5:42.50; 2. Walker, Hom, 5:42.60; 3. Boonstra, Sol, 5:46.72; 4. Brott, Sol, 6:00.36; 5. Booz, Hom, 6:10.11; 6. Guernsey, Sew, 6:14.15.

3,200 — 1. Walker, Hom, 12:04.96; 2. Jedlicki, Sol, 12:29.02; 3. Boonstra, Ken, 12:37.62; 4. Booz, Hom, 13:41.99; 5. Wagers, Sol, 13:59.41.

100 hurdles — 1. Morrison, Sol, 16.91; 2. Miotke, Hom, 17.50; 3. Chavarria, Sol, 17.69; 4. Andrews, Sew, 18.23; 5. Fischer, Sol, 19.42; 6. Dow, Sew, 20.18.

300 hurdles — 1. Miotke, Hom, 49.46; 2. Sedivy, Sol, 49.48; 3. McAnelly, Sol, 52.73; 4. Hershberger, Ken, 54.48; 5. Andrews, Sew, 54.72; 6. Fischer, Sol, 57.13.

400 relay — 1. Soldotna (Glassmaker, Brown, Sedivy, Sisley), 53.72; 2. Kenai, 54.54; 3. Seward, 56.75; 4. Homer, 56.92.

400 throwers relay — 1. Soldotna (Roberts, Pontius, Shaeffer, Werner), 1:00.72; 2. Kenai, 1:02.67.

800 relay — 1. Soldotna (Chavarria, Brown, Sisley, Sedivy), 1:53.50; 2. Homer, 2:00.78; 3. Homer, 2:08.51.

1,600 relay — 1. Homer (Thoning, Miotke, McDonough, Field), 4:27.77; 2. Soldotna, 4:30.44; 3. Kenai, 4:56.93; 4. Homer, 5:11.61.

3,200 relay — 1. Soldotna (Boonstra, Johnson, Wagers, Jedlicki), 10:56.56.

Shot put — 1. Beck, Ken, 34 feet, 0 inches; 2. Bell, Sol, 28—8; 3. Cress, Hom, 28—1; 4. Shaeffer, Sol, 28—0; 5. Werner, Sol, 27—10; 6. McCorison, Nin, 27—4.

Discus — 1. Beck, Ken, 120—9; 2. Cress, Hom, 89—0; 3. Roberts, Sol, 81—3; 4. Werner, Sol, 79—3; 5. Bell, Sol, 75—2; 6. Graham, Ken, 72—1.

High jump — 1. Morrison, Sol, 5—1; 2. Thoning, Hom, 4—8; 3. Fischer, Sol, 4—4.

Long jump — 1. Maddie Haas, Sew, 14—11.5; 2. Wilson, Ken, 14—9; 3. McAnelly, Sol, 14—8; 4. Sisley, Sol, 14—5.5.; 5. Chavarria, Sol, 14—4.5; 6. Evans, Hom, 14—3.5.

Triple jump — 1. Morrison, Sol, 32—3; 2. Wilson, Ken, 31—8; 3. McAnelly, Sol, 31—6; 4. Sisley, Sol, 31—.5; 5. Nunn, Ken, 30—5; 6. Desermia, Sew, 29—8.

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Soldotna, 286.5; 2. Homer, 182; 3. Kenai, 97.5; 4. Nikiski, 58; 5. Seward, 39; 6. Ninilchik, 5; 7. Cook Inlet Academy, 3.

100 — Graves, Ken, 11.38; 2. Wolverton, Sol, 11.47; 3. Dax, Hom, 11.56; 4. Jared Williams, Sol, 11.88; 5. Babcock, Sol, 11.90; 6. Horiyasu, Nik, 12.09.

100 unified — 1. Heistumen, Sol, 18.23; 2. Freeman, Hom, 18.87; 3. Swaby, Ken, 24.12; 4. Braxling, Sol, 27.17; 5. White, Sol, 35.13; 6. Parkinson, Hom, 35.93.

200 — 1. Graves, Ken, 24.11; 2. Dax, Hom, 24.26; 3. Tacey II, Sol, 24.44; 4. Nash, Sol, 24.60; 5. Innes, Sol, 25.04; 6. Mershon, Hom, 25.45.

400 — 1. Dax, Hom, 53.07; 2. Innes, Sol, 53.49; 3. Faircloth, Sol, 53.87; 4. Fallon, Ken, 54.21; 5. Seneff, Hom, 54.49; 6. Tacey II, Sol, 54.58.

800 — 1. Fallon, Ken, 2:03.96; 2. McDonough, Hom, 2:05.35; 3. Seneff, Hom, 2:08.08; 4. Jedlicki, Sol, 2:09.19; 5. Jones, Sol, 2:22.07; 6. Trobaugh, Sew, 2:32.98.

1,600 — 1. McDonough, Hom, 4:31.21; 2. Loop, Sol, 5:09.37; 3. Weisser, Hom, 5:14.21; 4. Styvar, Hom, 5:16.10; 5. VanMeter, Hom, 5:35.61; 6. Chavarria, Sol, 5:36.70.

3,200 — 1. Styvar, Hom, 11:26.21; 2. Dickson, Sol, 11:40.68; 3. VanMeter, Hom, 11:58.13; 4. Gunning, Sol, 12:50.24.

110 hurdles — 1. Faircloth, Sol, 17.02; 2. Klein, Sol, 18.54; 3. Goodnight, Nik, 18.62; 4. Krol, Ken, 20.01; 5. Dillingham, CIA, 20.52; 6. Marvin, Nin, 25.19.

300 hurdles — 1. Klein, Sol, 46.79; 2. Krol, Ken, 52.10; 3. Skaggs, Sol, 52.62; 4. Cannava, Sol, 57.69; 5. Blossom, Nin, 1:07.31.

400 relay — 1. Soldotna (Tacey II, Wolverton, Faircloth, Nash), 44.81; 2. Kenai, 48.57; 3. Seward, 48.65; 4. Soldotna, 49.12; 5. Nikiski, 49.45.

400 unified relay — 1. Soldotna (Braxling, Heistumen), 1:21.24; 2. Homer, 1:28.51; 3. Soldotna, 1:52.29.

400 throwers relay — 1. Soldotna (Williams, Miller, Bauer, Armstrong), 52.01; 2. Nikiski, 53.77; 3. Kenai, 54.10; 4. Soldotna, 59.94.

800 relay — 1. Kenai (Fallon, Ro. Hayes, Ra. Hayes, Graves), 1:40.04; 2. Soldotna, 1:41.10; 3. Seward, 1:42.62.

1,600 relay — 1. Homer (Seneff, Dax, Mershon, McDonough), 3:40.85; 2. Soldotna, 3:48.47; 3. Soldotna, 4:05.86; 4. Kenai, 4:08.98; 5. Seward, 4:17.91; 6. Homer, 4:26.49.

3,200 relay — 1. Soldotna (Dickson, Jones, Richards, Gunning), 9:43.62; 2. Homer, 10:15.64; 3. Seward, 11:12.68.

Shot put — 1. Steger, Sol, 47—7; 2. Miller, Sol, 43—10; 3. Porter, Nik, 41—10; 4. McCaughey, Nik, 39—5; 5. Montoya, Sol, 37—0; 6. Brantley, Sol, 36—8.

Shot put unified — 1. Heistumen, Sol, 57—3; 2. Freeman, Hom, 39—6; 3. Parkinson, Hom, 38—1.

Discus — 1. Steger, Sol, 123—10; 2. Anglebrandt, Ken, 118—9; 3. Montoya, Sol, 108—8; 4. Tuisaula, Sol, 108—6; 5. Armstrong, Sol, 108—1; 6. Van Buskirk, Sew, 104—8.

High jump — 1. Liljemark, Sew, 5—8; 2. Quiner, Nik, 5—4; 3. Chavarria, Sol, 5—2; 4. Jones, Sol, 5—0.

Long jump — 1. Gordon, Hom, 18—.25; 2. Haybeck, Nik, 17—9.25; 3. Wolverton, Sol, 17—8; 4. Mullins, Nik, 17—6; 5. Horiyasu, Nik, 17—4; 6. Quiner, Nik, 17—3.5.

Long jump unified — 1. Homer, 18—5.5; 2. Heistumen, Sol, 8—3; 3. Freeman, Hom, 7—7.5; 4. Parkinson, Hom, 3—3.5; 5 (tie). Swaby, Ken, White, Sol, 2—5.

Triple jump — 1. Chavarria, Sol, 38—1.75; 2. Seneff, Hom, 37—10.75; 3. Gordon, Hom, 37—3.75; 4. Wong, Sol, 35—8.5; 5. Mullins, Nik, 35—4.5; 6. Buckbee, Sol, 34—9.5.

Soldotna’s Annie Burns leads Kenai Central’s Emilee Wilson on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Annie Burns leads Kenai Central’s Emilee Wilson on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Nikiski’s Dalton Goodnight throws the discus Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Nikiski’s Dalton Goodnight throws the discus Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Leigh Tacey II, Homer’s Lukyan Dax and Kenai Central’s Reagan Graves race in the 200 meters Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Leigh Tacey II, Homer’s Lukyan Dax and Kenai Central’s Reagan Graves race in the 200 meters Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward’s Olin Liljemark races the 1,600-meter relay Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward’s Olin Liljemark races the 1,600-meter relay Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Kevin Steger throws the discus Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Soldotna’s Kevin Steger throws the discus Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Homer’s Daisy Walker and Soldotna’s Sophia Jedlicki race the 3,200 on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Homer’s Daisy Walker and Soldotna’s Sophia Jedlicki race the 3,200 on Saturday, April 29, 2023, at Ed Hollier Field at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

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