The Soldotna track and field team nabbed medals in three events and set two school records at Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon, from Thursday through Sunday, June 19 to 22.
Nike Outdoor Nationals is a premier high school meet held at Hayward Field, which hosted the world track and field championships in 2022, and has been the site of numerous United States national championships and Olympic trials.
Tyce Escott, an incoming senior at SoHi who is the third-fastest 100-meter runner in Alaska prep history, got the ball rolling for the Stars to attend the meet.
When Escott hit a provisional time early in the season, he asked for head coach Phil Leck’s help with filling out paperwork should Escott hit a qualifying time.
Escott hit that time, and soon the 400-meter relay of Escott, Lokeni Wong, James Innes and Brenden Jones signed on as well.
When Soldotna’s girls won three of the four relays at the Division I state track meet, assistant coach Krista Arthur got eight girls to attend as well.
Leck said he got to SoHi in 2012 and this is the first group since then to attend Nike Outdoor Nationals.
“Their love of the sport is something that’s really awesome,” Leck said of the athletes that went to Eugene. “They were able to go down there and compete at Hayward Field and see the facilities.
“It was really the opportunity of a lifetime for those kids.”
Leck also gave credit to Arthur for taking time out of her summer to accompany the team.
“She doesn’t have a kid in the game down there, she just loves the sport of track and field,” Leck said. “I just can’t thank her enough for going down there with those kids and showing them such an awesome time.”
The girls 400 relay of Anaulie Sedivy, Sophia Jedlicki, Shiloh Zichko and Sarah Brown earned a medal and got a school record.
There are two high school divisions at the meet — championship and emerging elite. While the meet doesn’t have the depth of a true national championship, many of the top prep athletes in the country were in attendance.
The Stars 400 relay came into the emerging elite final with the third best time after running 50.28 seconds in their prelims.
The group took fifth in the final at 50.03, with the top six getting medals.
The relay also reset a school record and posted the No. 9 time in Alaska prep history, according to records originally kept by Kodiak’s Marcus Dunbar and now maintained by Arielle Himelbloom of the Alaska Sports Report.
West Valley of Fairbanks also was in the race and finished second in 49.36, running the No. 3 time in Alaska prep history.
The SoHi girls 800 relay of Lucy Uhlir, Jedlicki, Zichko and Brown also set a school record.
Leck said that relay was set to have the top time of the emerging elite, but was moved up to the championship.
“They moved them up with the best of the best, and I think they just got an awesome opportunity to compete,” Leck said.
The group finished 13th at 1:43.84, resetting a school record and posting the No. 3 time in Alaska prep history.
West Valley was 12th in 1:43.68 for the No. 2 time in Alaska prep history.
Leck said all the members of that relay return to the Stars next season.
“As soon as they walked off the track, they said, ‘We’re coming back next year, and we’re going to be All-Americans,” Leck said. “You couldn’t ask for anything more than that.
“That gives them motivation. It shows them what real talent really looks like. They’re really talented, but what’s really out there?”
The girls 3,200 relay of Annie Burns, Katie DeBardelaben, Sasha Brott and Jedlicki finished second in emerging elite at 9:39.79.
Leck said Jedlicki was behind going to the final leg and actually took the lead — maybe a little too eagerly — before falling back to second.
The squad still ran the No. 8 time in Alaska prep history, with the No. 1 time in Alaska prep history still belonging to the 2015 SoHi team at 9:27.39.
Leck said all of his runners were trained to peak in late May for regions and state, so performances like that of the 3,200 relay were all the more impressive.
“None of them were probably at their peak condition,” he said. “It was just gutsy.”
It was a similar story for the boys 400 relay. At regions this season, that squad set the fastest time ever run on Alaska soil at 43.05.
At Nike Outdoor Nationals, the team came into the emerging elite final with the fourth best time at 43.50 after a preliminary round that was run in the pouring rain that dampened the meet from time to time.
The group then earned medals by taking fifth in the final at 43.44.
“We trained to peak at the right time, regions and state,” Leck said. “So it’s kind of hard to get the kids back into training mode.”
That also was the case with Escott, who was 33rd in the emerging elite prelims with his time of 11.09 and didn’t make the finals. Escott’s PR is 10.80, run at the region meet on May 24.
The Soldotna girls team of Jedlicki, Zichko, Brott and Burns finished the meet by taking 24th in the 1,600 relay at 4:07.08.
At regions, the same group had gone 4:02.30 for the second fastest time in Alaska prep history put up by runners from the same school.
Leck said the group was a little exhausted by that point of the meet. In particular, Jedlicki, who holds the school record in the 400, was running her fifth race of the meet.
The final SoHi connection to race at the meet was Brandon Newbould, a 2000 graduate of SoHi and now a coach at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. Newbould was 11th in the coaches mile at 5:02.84.
Soldotna’s 400-meter relay of Sarah Brown, Anaulie Sedivy, Sophia Jedlicki and Shiloh Zichko competed at Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, from June 19 to 22, 2025. (Photo provided)
Soldotna’s 800 relay of Shiloh Zichko, Sophia Jedlicki, Lucy Uhlir and Sarah Brown competed at Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, from June 19 to 22, 2025. (Photo provided)
Assistant coach Krista Arthur plus the 3,200-meter relay of Sasha Brott, Annie Burns, Sophia Jedlicki and Katie DeBardelaben at Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, from June 19 to 22, 2025. (Photo provided)
