Soldotna girls, boys track and field teams sweep SoHi Invite

The Soldotna girls and boys track and field teams swept the 21-team SoHi Invite on Friday and Saturday at Soldotna High School.

On the boys side, Soldotna scored 163.5 points to defeat the 139 of Colony, SoHi’s Region 3 and Division I rival. The Homer boys were fifth, behind fellow Region 3 and Division II competitors Mountain City Christian Academy in third and Grace Christian in fourth. The Grizzlies were boosted by Robbie Annett winning at 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Also from the Kenai Peninsula, Seward was eighth, Kenai Central was ninth and Nikiski was 12th.

On the boys side, the Stars won with 177.5 points while Colony had 141.5. The Mariners scored 112 points and were the only Division II team to score more than 60.

Seward was sixth and the Kardinals were 10th.

Soldotna head coach Phil Leck said he was happy with the meet for a number of reasons.

For starters, his boys won nine of 17 events, while his girls won seven of 17. SoHi took seven of the eight relays.

“All around, it was pretty spread out, from the throws to the jumps to the hurdles to the sprints to the distance,” he said. “All-around quality.”

The coach said it was nice to beat the Knights after finishing second to them at the Homer Invitational, but added that saga is far from over.

“We were missing a few kids, they were missing a few kids,” Leck said. “It’ll be a battle.”

The coach also was happy with everybody it took to deliver a championship-style meet, with Friday prelims and Saturday finals, in an efficient manner.

“Thanks to Soldotna for putting on a great meet,” Kenai head coach Jesse Settlemyer wrote in a text message.

Even though Friday lightning pushed the 200 and some 800 prelims to Saturday, everybody was still on the road by 4:45 p.m.

Leck said Homer’s Derek Bynagle, with help from Homer head coach Bob Ostrom, did a great job running the timing.

Tyce Escott and Wyatt Faircloth led the SoHi boys by winning four events.

Escott set personal records in winning the 100 in 11.00 seconds and the 200 in 22.65. Leck said Escott’s 100 time is the fastest for a Kenai Peninsula athlete since Kenai’s Josh Jackman ran a 10.94 in his senior year in 2017.

Faircloth won the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, while James Innes won the 400.

In the 400 relay, Faircloth, Escott, Innes and Brenden Jones combined for the victory, while Faircloth, Jones, Escott and Ethan Anding won the 800 relay.

Luke Miller won the shot put for Soldotna, while Anding, Innes, Jones and Parker Richards won the 1,600 relay.

On the girls side, Sarah Brown, Sophia Jedlicki and Annie Burns all had big meets.

Brown won the 100 and combined with Mia Hannevold, Lucy Uhlir and Samantha Piscoya to win the 400 relay, and Sasha Brott, Shiloh Zichko and Uhlir to win the 800 relay.

Jedlicki won the 200 and took second in the 400. She combined with Brott, Burns and Zichko to win the 1,600 relay, and Burns, Brott and Kathryn DeBardelaben to win the 3,200 relay.

Burns also won the 800.

Ostrom and Homer assistant Lucas Parsley said the meet continues a season of success for the program. The Mariners have 65 out for the team, almost double from last season.

Ostrom said the athletic department and other sports programs are pushing track and field right now.

Gracie Miotke won the 100 hurdles for Homer. She then doubled the 400 and 300 hurdles in less than 10 minutes, finishing third in the 400 and sixth in the 300 hurdles.

“The lactic hit in and caught up to her,” Parsley said, explaining that Miotke did that because she is chasing the school record in the 400.

Reilly Sue Baker won the long jump in 16 feet, 3.5 inches, while Brightly Thoning was second. Those two now have the top two marks in Division II. Baker also had PRs in the high jump and triple jump.

Parsley said Claira Booz also had a big meet, finishing sixth in the 800, seventh in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200, plus running the team’s fastest split in the 3,200 relay. Booz had PRs in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Also, Ostrom said Molly Evans had PRs in the 100 and 200. She took third in the 100.

For the boys, Ostrom said a few highlights were Timmy Cisney and Brayden McClenning both getting over 100 feet in the discus.

Tait Ostrom did an 800-300 hurdles double, taking seventh in the 800 and fifth in the hurdles. Parsley said the coaches just wanted to get a time for Ostrom in the 800.

Coach Ostrom also said a highlight was freshman Silas Hunter getting a PR in the 100 and 200.

Settlemyer also was happy with his team’s effort.

“We are proud of the entire team,” he wrote. “We had PRs across the board and too many to list.”

Some PRs that stood out to the coach were Delen Byrd finishing third in the 110 hurdles at 17.22, Matthew Krol taking fourth in the 110 hurdles at 17.93, Ben Roberts running 12:08.38 in the 3,200 for a 20-second PR, Aidan Jackman tying for fourth in the long jump at 18—3 and Jason Johnson tying for ninth in the long jump at 18—1.5, Daniel Bettis with a 10-foot PR of 101—6 in the discus, and Sophie Tapley taking sixth in the 100 with a PR of 13.32.

Settlemyer also said Elliot Stockton’s 400, Bryleigh Williams’ 200, Patrick Miller’s long jump and the throws by Meriedi Morrison and Afton Roberts stood out.

Olin Liljemark led Seward by winning the high jump with a new personal best of 6—0. Liljemark continues to lead all high jumpers in the state.

First-year Seward head coach Ryan Bringhurst said the impact of former head coach Solomon D’ Amico’s work with Liljemark is still being felt.

The Seahawks have 35 out for their team and added the meet was filled with PRs.

“It’s been amazing,” Bringhurst said. “We’ve had some good coaches and a lot of volunteers. There’s really good momentum for the team.”

While Seward had a new turf field installed last fall, the track is not yet in due to the rainy weather in Seward. Bringhurst said the situation is still much better than last track season, because the artificial turf is a nice training surface.

The coach said Ronan Bickling had a great meet by taking second in the 100 and 200.

Bringhurst also said the girls have a nice group of 400 runners, led by Olive Jordan taking fifth in the event. The 1,600 relay of Regan Siebert, Selah Brueckner, Hannah Leatherman and Jordan was fourth.

The coach also said Maddie Haas has been good in the 300 hurdles, taking second Saturday.

Nikiski coach Billie Denison has about 20 out for her team this season.

Sophomore Ryder Maguire continues to be a solid performer for the team, taking sixth in the 1,600 and eighth in the 400 on Saturday.

Denison is excited to welcome senior jumper Ethan Ellis back to the team. Ellis jumped as a freshman.

“We’ve been waiting for him to come back to track,” Denison said.

Ellis hit PRs in the long jump and triple jump at the SoHi Invite. Denison said it continues a trend of setting big PRs every weekend.

The coach also is excited about newcomer Rex Wittner, a sophomore. Like Ellis, Wittmer is improving rapidly, taking sixth with a PR in the shot put and 19th with a PR in the discus.

SoHi Invite

Friday, Saturday

at Soldotna High School

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Soldotna, 163.5; 2. Colony, 139; 3. Mountain City Christian Academy, 70; 4. Grace Christian, 65; 5. Homer, 57; 6. Wasilla, 52; 7. Palmer, 50; 8. Seward, 33; 9. Kenai Central, 30.5; 10. Bethel, 16; 11. Delta Junction, 12.5; 12. Nikiski, 7; 13. Nome-Beltz, 5.5; 14. Redington, 1.

Unified team scores: 1. Soldotna, 39; 2. Colony, 24.

100 meters — 1. Tyce Escott, Sol, 11.00 seconds; 2. Ronan Bickling, Sew, 11.35; 3. Sawyer Wilhelm, Pal, 11.55; 4. Reed Craner, Pal, 11.57; 5. Hayden Shafer, Col, 11.63; 6. Gorbin Gerkin, Pal, 11.76.

100 unified — 1. Partner, 14.04; 2. Garick Imperato, Col, 21.81; 3. Jacoby Moore, Sol, 44.81.

200 — 1. Tyce Escott, Sol, 22.65; 2. Ronan Bickling, Sew, 23.10; 3. Reed Craner, Pal, 23.50; 4. Brenden Jones, Sol, 23.63; 5. Joe Gordon, Hom, 23.68; 6. Hayden Shafer, Col, 23.78.

400 — 1. James Innes, Sol, 52.55; 2. Lukas Underhile, MCCA, 52.93; 3. Kenneth Hopkins, Col, 53.37; 4. Brady Bevard, Del, 54.09; 5. Anthony White, Del, 55.07; 6. Joshua Woko, MCCA, 55.71.

800 — 1. Robbie Annett, Gra, 2:03.83; 2. Johannes Bynagle, Hom, 2:06.52; 3. Gabriel Black, Col, 2:09.96; 4. Gabriel Carey, Was, 2:10.68; 5. Theodore Stamoolis, Col, 2:13.03; 6. Noah James-Tagaban, Col, 2:13.07.

1,600 — 1. Robbie Annett, Gra, 4:24.42; 2. Gabriel Black, Col, 4:47.76; 3. Ned Peters, Bet, 4:48.29; 4. Theodore Stamoolis, Col, 4:48.80; 5. Easton Roads, Gra, 4:52.05; 6. Ryder Maguire, Nik, 4:52.86.

3,200 — 1. Robbie Annett, Gra, 9:32.21; 2. Johannes Bynagle, Hom, 9:51.19; 3. Ned Peters, Bet, 10:01.50; 4. Breyden Nottingham, MCCA, 10:16.00; 5. Trygve Vang-Thompson, Col, 10:22.61; 6. Ollie Dahl, Sol, 10:29.86.

110 hurdles — 1. Wyatt Faircloth, Sol, 15.62; 2. William Klein, Sol, 16.43; 3. Delen Byrd, Ken, 17.22; 4. Matthew Krol, Ken, 17.93; 5. Chris Jones, Gra, 18.08; 6. London Ramirez, Col, 18.32.

300 hurdles — 1. Wyatt Faircloth, Sol, 41.82; 2. Jayden Yeager, Sol, 44.39; 3. William Klein, Sol, 44.42; 4. Delen Byrd, Ken, 45.23; 5. Tait Ostrom, Hom, 45.37; 6. Lukas Underhile, MCCA, 45.61.

2,000 steeplechase — 1. Stephen Hafen, Was, 6:32.39; 2. Jude Rozeboom, Hom, 6:54.25; 3. William Edgerton, Was, 6:55.45; 4. Hunter Belliston, Col, 6:57.85; 5. Steven Wakefield, Was, 7:01.15; 6. Trygve Vang-Thompson, Col, 7:01.64.

400 relay — 1. Soldotna (Faircloth, Escott, Innes, Jones), 44.34; 2. MCCA, 46.07; 3. Colony, 46.39; 4. Wasilla, 46.64; 5. Homer, 47.52; 6. Kenai, 48.27.

400 throwers relay — 1. Soldotna (Myrick, Miller, Innes, Williams), 49.60; 2. MCCA, 51.56; 3. Colony, 54.53; 4. Homer, 56.28; 5. Soldotna, 57.94; 6. MCCA, 59.40.

800 relay — 1. Soldotna (Faircloth, Anding, Jones, Escott), 1:33.67; 2. Colony, 1:36.18; 3. MCCA, 1:37.66; 4. Homer, 1:38.42; 5. Colony, 1:40.28; 6. Palmer, 1:40.71.

1,600 relay — 1. Soldotna (Anding, Innes, Jones, Richards), 3:35.27; 2. Wasilla, 3:38.28; 3. Grace, 3:40.98; 4. Palmer, 3:45.48; 5. Soldotna, 3:46.26; 6. Homer, 3:46.65.

3,200 relay — 1. MCCA (Matthew, Nottingham, Underhile, Carter), 8:35.41; 2. Soldotna, 8:42.39; 3. Wasilla, 8:54.66; 4. Homer, 9:01.13; 5. Bethel, 9:06.37; 6. Grace, 9:11.17.

Shot put — 1. Luke Miller, Sol, 47—4.25; 2. Kenton Phelps, Col, 46—2.25; 3. Grant Ousley, Col, 44—7; 4. Theo Huff, Sol, 43—2.75; 5. Kenai Lepule, Sol, 40—11.75; 6. Rex Wittmer, Nik, 40—8.

Shot put unified — 1. Jacoby Moore, Sol, 6—4.

Discus — 1. Andrew Richardson, Col, 142—8; 2. Kenton Phelps, Col, 137—6; 3. Theo Huff, Sol, 130—3; 4. Nolan Garner, Pal, 129—10; 5. Gavin Stoddard, Gra, 128—11; 6. Tyrus Fischer, Col, 127—4.

High jump — 1. Olin Liljemark, Sew, 6—0; 2. Maverick Rodriguez, Col, 5—8; 3. Barak Wagle, Was, 5—8; 4. Corbin Gerkin, Pal, 5—8; 5. Luke Elhard, Sew, 5—8; 6. Evan Denoncour, Pal, 5—6.

Long jump — 1. Jaidhen Oyao, MCCA, 19—10.5; 2. Ashton Clarkson, Gra, 19—4.5; 3. Cobin Gerkin, Pal, 18—10; 4 (tie). Zack Kemp, Sol, Aidan Jackman, Ken, 18—3; 6 (tie). Kendall Ulroan, Nom, Anthony White, Del, 18—2.5.

Long jump unified — 1. Daniel Raybon, Col, 15—9; 2. Partner, 15—4; 3. Garick Imperato, Col, 5—7; 4. Jacoby Moore, Sol, 2—2.

Triple jump — 1. Kenneth Motton, Col, 44—1.75; 2. Joshua Woko, MCCA, 42—2.75; 3. Gage Ivy, Ken, 39—7.25; 4. Zack Kemp, Sol, 39—4.75; 5. Joe Gordon, Hom, 38—6.5; 6. Trayvon Lott, Col, 38—2.25.

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Soldotna, 177.5; 2. Colony, 141.5; 3. Homer, 112; 4. Wasilla, 61.5; 5. MCCA, 60; 6. Seward, 37; 7. Grace Christian, 34; 8. Redington, 26; 9. Palmer, 24; 10. Kenai Central, 15.5; 11. Delta, 13.

Unified team scores: 1. Kenai Central, 35; 2. Colony, 14.

100 — 1. Sarah Brown, Sol, 13.08; 2. Leila Petersen, Pal, 13.08; 3. Molly Evans, Hom, 13.09; 4. Jenna Houck, MCCA, 13.13; 5. Denali Anderson-Berghoff, Col, 13.25; 6. Sophie Tapley, Ken, 13.32.

100 unified — 1. Elliot Stockton, Ken, 15.63; 2. Mattelyn Elliott, Col, 16.23; 3. Averie Wolf, Col, 20.44; 4. Pepper Noel, Ken, 20.96.

200 — 1. Sophia Jedlicki, Sol, 26.93; 2. Shiloh Zichko, Sol, 26.98; 3. Annelise Larsen, Col, 27.38; 4. Jenna Houck, MCCA, 27.53; 5. Denali Anderson-Berghoff, Col, 27.61; 6. Molly Evans, Hom, 27.87.

400 — 1. Annelise Larsen, Col, 59.80; 2. Sophia Jedlicki, Sol, 1:00.37; 3. Gracie Miotke, Hom, 1:00.76; 4. Shiloh Zichko, Sol, 1:01.66; 5. Olive Jordan, Sew, 1:02.70; 6. Maddy Miotke, Hom, 1:03.83.

800 — 1. Annie Burns, Sol, 2:23.32; 2. Sydney Simpich, Col, 2:24.42; 3. Tagan Rinner, Gra, 2:25.53; 4. Ella Hopkins, Col, 2:27.44; 5. Kathryn Cox, Sol, 2:36.00; 6. Claira Booz, Hom, 2:36.03.

1,600 — 1. Sydney Simpich, Col, 5:22.45; 2. Ella Hopkins, Col, 5:23.35; 3. Hailee Giacobbe, Was, 5:24.80; 4. Annie Burns, Sol, 5:28.20; 5. Olive Jordan, Sew, 5:36.71; 6. Katie Van Buskirk, Sew, 5:38.68.

3,200 — 1. Hailee Giacobbe, Was, 11:42.73; 2. Ella Hopkins, Col, 11:56.35; 3. Kathryn DeBardelaben, Sol, 12:06.62; 4. Claira Booz, Hom, 12:10.32; 5. Myra Kalafut, Hom, 12:11.20; 6. Indigo Leslie, Sew, 12:12.52.

100 hurdles — 1. Gracie Miotke, Hom, 16.15; 2. Jenna Houck, MCCA, 16.41; 3. Hope Jackson, Gra, 16.58; 4. Samantha Piscoya, Sol, 17.18; 5. Emma Mersdorf, MCCA, 17.70; 6. Jewel Gardner, Was, 17.92.

300 hurdles — 1. Mia Bukala, Red, 48.72; 2. Maddie Haas, Sew, 52.17; 3. Jewel Gardner, Was, 52.29; 4. Samantha Piscoya, Sol, 52.75; 5. Emma Mersdorf, MCCA, 53.48; 6. Gracie Miotke, Hom, 53.73.

2,000 steeplechase — 1. Iris Haas, Del, 7:55.82; 2. Breeze Buchanan, Col, 8:39.89; 3. Ariana Cannava, Sol, 8:53.50; 4. Madeline Schrecengost, Was, 9:00.28; 5. Aubrey Hess, Pal, 9:06.74; 6. Luci Wright, Col, 9:10.99.

400 relay — 1. Soldotna (Brown, Hannevold, Uhlir, Piscoya), 51.94; 2. Homer, 52.73; 3. Colony, 54.80; 4. Soldotna, 55.07; 5. Kenai, 55.59; 6. Wasilla, 56.76.

400 throwers relay — 1. Soldotna (Hillyer, Innes, Harris, Blanning), 58.11; 2. MCCA, 1:03.20; 3. Seward, 1:03.55; 4. MCCA, 1:03.90; 5. Colony, 1:04.82.

800 relay — 1. Soldotna (Brown, Brott, Uhlir, Zichko), 1:49.24; 2. Homer, 1:52.51; 3. MCCA, 1:53.04; 4. Grace, 1:54.97; 5. Colony, 1:56.71; 6. Homer, 1:58.59.

1,600 relay — 1. Soldotna (Brott, Burns, Zichko, Jedlicki), 4:10.42; 2. Colony, 4:14.00; 3. Homer, 4:20.52; 4. Seward, 4:25.98; 5. Wasilla, 4:42.63; 6. Soldotna, 5:04.22.

3,200 relay — 1. Soldotna (Burns, Brott, DeBardelaben, Jedlicki), 10:03.50; 2. Homer, 10:38.33; 3. Seward, 11:01.95; 4. Soldotna, 11:10.48; 5. Colony, 11:36.77; 6. Homer, 11:38.41.

Shot put — 1. Jieaya Siatini Williams, MCCA, 39—3.25; 2. Layla Hays, Was, 35—.5; 3. Tonya Karpow, Col, 31—10.75; 4. Hope Hillyer, Sol, 31—1.75; 5. Kate Matthew, MCCA, 31—.5; 6. Brook Lentfer, Gra, 30—6.25.

Shot put unified — 1. Pepper Noel, Ken, 11—10.

Discus — 1. Jieaya Siatini Williams, MCCA, 123—2; 2. Layla Hays, Was, 116—11; 3. Juliet Innes, Sol, 115—5; 4. Mia Christensen, Was, 103—1; 5. Alexia Pike, Red, 102—3; 6 (tie). Willow Graham, Ken, Claire Bredberg, Was, 95—4.

High jump — 1. Avery Johnson, Pal, 5—0; 2. Halie Sandstrom, Col, 4—8; 3. Jade Wood, Col, 4—8; 4 (tie). Reilly Sue Baker, Hom, Hallie Fischer, Sol, 4—8; 6 (tie). Dominque Porter, Col, Leanna Brockman, Col, 4—6.

Lone jump — 1. Reilly Sue Baker, Hom, 16—3.5; 2. Brightly Thoning, Hom, 15—9; 3. Sophie Tapley, Ken, 15—3; 4. Hope Jackson, Gra, 15—1; 5 (tie). Sarah Brown, Sol, Hallie Fischer, Sol, 15—0.

Long jump unified — 1. Pepper Noel, Ken, 5—2.

Triple jump — 1. Mia Bukala, Red, 33—11; 2. Sophia Allen, Col, 31—5.75; 3. Hallie Fischer, Sol, 31—3.25; 4. Kathryn Debardelaben, Sol, 31—1.5; 5. Dominque Porter, Col, 30—11; 6. Caroline Klebs, Gra, 30—9.75.