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Southeast track and field athletes finish season strong at state
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 hours ago
- 17 min read
JDHS senior Richard Tupou, sophomore Bella Connally place second in events to lead Crimson Bears
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears track and field team finished their season Saturday with a respectable showing at the Alaska School Activities Association state championships at Anchorage’s Dimond High School.
“It has been an absolute treat and honor to get to grow as a coach alongside so many amazing TM and JD student athletes over the years,” retiring JDHS head coach Brandi Adams said. TM refers to the former Thunder Mountain High School. “To have a thrower PR and place on the podium for what is my last season coaching amplified the bittersweet feelings.”
JDHS senior Richard Tupou threw a personal best 150 feet in the boys’ Division I discus to place second, and Crimson Bears sophomore Bella Connally ran a personal best 12.33 in a photo finish for second in the girls’ DI 100 meters.
“I am not exactly satisfied with it, but I am happy with it,” Tupou said. “Second place is better than I thought I was going to finish so that is good. That is my personal record. I just felt good throwing that day. I didn’t feel nervous at all. I didn’t expect to PR, I was just happy to be at state and it showed. We will see how it goes after I come home from my mission. I hope maybe I can throw at BYU at Provo (Utah). I still have one more meet next week, the Brian Young, so we’ll see what comes out of that. I am hoping for the school record of 155, so that will be the goal next week. And I am very excited about my mission, very excited.”
Connally was step-for-step with Dimond junior Nevaeh Watkins in the girls’ 100 meters. The duo led the field from off the blocks and never gave each other a fraction of an inch, with the finish needing the judges’ electronic photo to decide Watkins’ 12.32 over Connally’s 12.33. Five speedsters ran under 13 seconds with Chugiak freshman Sienna Johnson hitting a PB 12.37, Bartlett freshman Mya Smothers a PB 12.74, South Anchorage senior Anna Green 12.82 and Kodiak junior Melia Gilbert 12.94.
“This season has meant a lot,” Connally said. “Honestly just trying to get better…It is so nice to have my brother James helping. He is one of my biggest supporters. He is always there for me, for me to talk to.”
Dimond’s Watkins would earn the DI female outstanding competitor of the championships as she added wins in the 200 meters with a PB 25.59 (Connally fifth in a PB 26.22), the 100 hurdles in 15.34, and a third place in the high jump with 5’0” (1st Chugiak sophomore Autumn Larson 5’3”).
Eagle River senior Luke Shaw was the male outstanding competitor, winning the 800 in a PB 2:01.75 and the 1600 in a PB 4:20.71 (15. JDHS junior Zach Bos 4:50.02).
Wrangell senior Boomchain Loucks closed out his stellar Wolves’ season by sweeping the DII boys distance events, winning the 3,200-meter race on Friday in nine minutes and 37.24 seconds, and Saturday’s 1,600 meters in 4:19.55 and the 800 meters in 1:57.16. He was named the DII male outstanding competitor of the meet.
“So many people helped get me here,” Loucks said. “My coach Mason (Villarma), coach Laura Davies, my mom, my family, my school, my community, just everybody in Wrangell pretty much…My mom Christy Gardner has done so much for me. She has done everything. She is my whole world. I would not be here without her and her support. And I just love Wrangell High School, I would not trade it for a big Anchorage high school or a down south high school. I miss it right now. One of the first things I want to do is get up to the Stikine hot tubs with friends, that is a lot of fun.”
Tri-Valley senior Taylor Eddington was named the DII female competitor of the meet with wins in the 100 (12.66), 200 (25.61), 100 hurdles (15.14) and 300 hurdles (43.79). Tri-Valley, like Petersburg, Sitka and Wrangell, has no track. Eddington also plays on the varsity hockey team.
“Track to me just means being better than you were the day before,” Eddington said. “Because it is all about times. You have run the time one race and then your goal in the next one is to break it. You are only going against yourself. Like, everyone is different, but it is you against your time. I have told myself, you beat me (laughs), tons of times, but at the end of the day, just go faster, right? It is pretty awesome to win these events. I had only won two gold and two silvers before, pretty incredible to win all four. Senior year, couldn’t have asked for a better ending. It is great, coming from a school with 40 kids in the school, like, my graduating class this year was seven kids. It is so small, like, coming from a school with no track and not a lot of facilities, but doing all these big things with 4A schools like Dimond and Chugiak. It is just crazy. Like, no one even knows where Tri-Valley is or what that is, so that is really awesome. I train in the school hallways. Do block starts against the door. I run with eighth-inch spikes on the carpet in the hallway and I only go over two hurdles at a time.”
Eddington set a new state record for the 300 hurdles in Friday’s preliminary race, clocking 43.31 and shaving 0.18 off the old mark set in 2016 by Naomi Welling from Juneau’s now defunct Thunder Mountain High School. Welling won multiple state titles and competed collegiately at Brigham Young University.
East Anchorage junior Katahdin Staples won the boys’ 3,200 in a PB 9:20.82 (13. JDHS Bos 10:12.57.
JDHS junior Kaia Mangaccat ran a PB 11:20.23 in the girls’ 3,200 to place third and a PB in the 1,600 with 5:12.51 to place fourth.
“My strategy was just to stick behind the girl in first place so I could draft,” Mangaccat said of the 1,600. “Just kick on the last lap. In this race it is really hard to make yourself push as hard as you can for four laps. It is really scary.”
West Anchorage junior Kendall Barnett won the girls’ 1600 in 5:06.35 and Eagle River junior Ashlyn Paynter won the 3,200 in 11:15.77 with Barnett second in 11:17.71.
Sitka senior Calder Prussian won the DII boys’ 100 in a PB 11.19 (4. PSG jr Jakob Preisler 11.51; 6. SIT so Andrew Mullin 11.65; 9. PSG jr Ben Kandoll 11.77) and the 200 in a PB 22.44 (3. PSG Preisler 22.94; 6. SIT Mullin 23.36; 8. SIT sr McLaughlin 23.67).
“Oh, I feel great,” Prussian said. “That was the fastest I have ever run. It felt amazing. I think this means a lot to my coach. Our facilities are so limited and so, it is just all my coach, he has maxed out what our facilities can do and our athletes really perform because of it. We train to sprint on the dirt, and then we have a little hallway in the school for when it is snowing. So this means a lot. And it also shows our freshmen that this is possible coming from a dirt track. I am super excited that I will be running track at Olympic College in Washington. I want to start in engineering, but my main goal is just to do some prereqs.”
Prussian has won the 200 three years in a row.
“Super surprised with the first one, even last year I was super surprised,” he said of the changes between the years. “Had a tough season last year. I think what has changed is my training, more time in the weight room. But also a lot more trust in myself. Like my coach and I tried out a bunch of different things and seen what works and it ended up helping a lot of people on our team too. I think just a lot more confidence in myself and in my coach and in my teammates pushing me. It is mutual, we all push each other. I think that are most of the changes, confidence in my coach, my team and myself.
Prussian and Zander Dumag, Sander Sudnickov-Remington and Finn Mullin won the 4x100 relay state championship in 45.04. Prussian, Francis Myers, Derek Wilson and James Nellis were second in the 4x400 relay with 3:38.33 (1. Mountain City Christian Academy 3:32.29) to secure the boys team title. After the final event Prussian made it a point to thank every meet official and volunteer.
There were a lot of streaks in the two-day state championship meet.
Unalakleet senior Ourea Busk ran a 58.78 to win the DII girls’ 400 meters for the fourth straight year.
“I feel like, in the beginning, it was just a race that I would run,” Busk said of her career. “It is my favorite one. It felt good because I was good at it. But then, in these last few years, I feel like it is more than just a race. I feel like it is kind of like part of my identity, like, ‘she runs the 400.’ You know, that kind of thing. It is a motivation thing to stay competitive. For me I feel like this race means more to me when I do it because everyone believes in me, they are counting on me to win, and I know that everyone would be proud of me for it.”
Ketchikan junior Henry Vail won the DI boys’ 400 in a PB 49.67 with a lean in front of West Anchorage senior Ansel Alexander in 49.73 and Chugiak senior Matthew Varney in 50.34.
“I don’t think people understand how much this takes out of you,” a breathless Vail said after the state championship run. “It is not about the stamina, it is about how fast you can get around the track. A lot of people train aerobic instead of anaerobic. Sure, you are dying, but you are not trying to sustain another lap, you are just going for one. I know I am going to suffer, I am going to hate that last 100. Happy to have Ansel next to me pushing me along. Happy to have that fight in me. So happy for that 49. I have been chasing that all year. It feels so good to have this for Ketchikan. I have trained for this, just sprinting really, 300’s, 200’s, hill sprints, just making sure my legs can go full out without giving out. I have been training for this all year, no offseason. Going for it.”
Getting to state is most of the battle for athletes and not all will take home a state title, but bring home the experience.
JDHS junior Isaiah Galletes-Fale placed 13th in the boys’ shot put with 38’10” and senior Meliame Tupou placed 14th in the girls’ shot with 29’07.75 and 16th in the girls discus with 80’11.” Chugiak junior Benjamin Hiestand won the boys’ DI discus with 168’03.00 and Bartlett senior Deuce Alailefaleula won the boys’ DI shot with 53’03.50. Lathrop senior Lilly Davidge won the DI shot (38’06.00) and South senior Emilee Anderson the discus (129’06.00).
“It was fun,” M. Tupou said. “It was cool to be able to see all the different girls throw and just how serious they take it and their level of performance. I felt very honored to be able to be a part of that. Throwing in general has taught me that hard work and dedication will pay off, and I will use that throughout my whole life. And also something that Brandi (Adams) has taught us is good sportsmanship, being kind to everyone around you, representing your school well and putting on a good face. And making sure that people know that this is who you are, this is what we believe in, and we are a kind school.”
Grace Christian senior Chris Jones won the DII 110 hurdles in 15.75. Petersburg senior Noah Pawuk made the podium in fourth with 16.70. East Anchorage jr Matthew Jackson won the DI boys hurdles in 15.74.
“This feels really good,” Pawuk said. “I missed the podium by .01 last year so it feels really good to recycle that. I am pretty proud of myself. It is a PR by a whole second so it feels really good to finish out my career with that kind of race. Not a school record, and didn’t beat my dad’s time, he’s got it with 16.4. But I am just happy to be on the podium. It feels pretty good.”
Homer sr Tait Ostrom won the DII boys 300 hurdles in 40.76 and Dimond sr Malachi Coski the DI 300 hurdles in a PB 40.06.
Skagway senior Royce Borst won the DII boys high jump with 6’2.00 and Dimond junior Tavarious Wrice the DI boys high jump with 6’4.00.
The West Valley Wolfpack girls and Soldotna Stars boys won the DI team sportsmanship awards, and the Delta Junction Huskies girls and Valdez Buccaneers boys the DII team sportsmanship awards.
The Soldotna Stars girls and boys won the DI academic team awards (girls 3.85, boys 3.54), and the Unalakleet Wolfpack girls (3.994) and Grace Christian boys the DII academic awards.
TEAM PLACINGS
DI boys: State title - Chugiak 116, runner-up - Colony 72 (Soldotna 70.5, Dimond 66, East Anchorage 46, West Anchorage 39, Kodiak 26, West Valley 25.5, Bartlett 25, South Anchorage 24, Eagle River 21, Ketchikan 12, Wasilla 9, JDHS 8, Palmer 6, Lathrop 4, Service 3).
DI girls: State title - Chugiak 136, runner-up - Dimond 72 (SOHI 62, COL 45.5, SOUTH 45, WEST 41, SER 33.5, LATH 26, JDHS 25, KOD 20, WV 16, PMR14, ER 13.5, EAST 13.5, WAS 9, BART 6.)
DII boys: State title - Sitka 102.5, runner-up - Mountain City Christian Academy 54 (Homer 97, Grace Christian 54, Valdez 43, Kenai Central 34, Petersburg 31, Wrangell 30, Monroe Catholic 28, Delta Junction 18, Seward 15, Cook Inlet Academy 14.5, Skagway 13, Craig 10, Haines 9, Su Valley 6, Houston 6, Birchwood Christian 5, Holy Rosary Academy 4, Hutchison 4, Nome-Beltz 1).
DII girls: State title - Homer 157, runner-up Seward 69. (GC 56, Tri-Valley 46, DJ 45, Unalakleet 40, SIT 39, MCCA 37, SV 32, MON 24, Redington 10, KEN 10, PSG 5, VAL 3, Dillingham 2, HUTCH 1, Ninilchik 1).
EVENT PLACINGS (Winner, next best southeast times)
100 Meters
DI boys - 1. CHG fr Elijah Udall 11.20; 14. JDHS jr Orion Paden 11.80.
DII boys - 1. SIT sr Calder Prussian PB 11.19; 4. PSG jr Jakob Preisler PB 11.51; 6. SIT so Andrew Mullin 11.65; 9. Psg jr Ben Kandoll 11.77; 12. SIT fr Zander Sudnikovich-Remington 11.90; 15. SIT fr Koen Hirai 12.10.
DI girls - 1. DMD jr Nevaeh Watkins 12.32; 2. JDHS so Bella Connally PB 12.33; 14. JDHS so Shandiin Frommherz 13.45.
DII girls - 1. TV sr Taylor Eddington 12.66; 8. SIT sr Adalyna Moore 13.67; 9. HNS sr Sarah Jones 13.63; 16. PSG sr Freya Tucker 14.58.
200 Meters
DI boys - 1. Udall PB 22.54; 7. KTN jr Henry Vail 23.34; 12. JDHS Paden 23.87.
DII boys - 1. SIT Prussian PB 22.44; 3. PSG Preisler PB 22.94; 6. SIT Mullin 23.36; 8. SIT sr Cole McLaughlin PB 23.67; 12. SKG sr Royce Borst 24.65.
DI girls - 1. DMD Watkins PB 25.59; 5. JDHS Connally PB 26.22.
DII girls - 1. TV Eddington PB 25.61; 8. HNS Jones PB 28.11; 10. SIT Moore 28.72
400 Meters
DI boys - 1. KTN Vail PB 49.67.
DII boys - 1. MON jr Tristin Nicholson PB 51.44; 4. PSG Kandoll PB 53.08; 5. SIT sr Francis Myers 53.43; 7. HNS so Brody Ferrin 53.82; 14. HNS so Isaac Jones PB 55.79.
DI girls - 1. PMR jr Leila Petersen PB 57.56; 13. JDHS Frommherz PB 1:03.48.
DII girls - 1. UNLAK sr Ourea Busk PB 57.74; 15. HNS so CC Elliott 1:06.98; 16. SIT sr Leilynn Swain 1:09.13.
800 Meters
DI boys - 1. ER sr Luke Shaw SB 1:59.19; 13. KTN sr Carter Phillips PB 2:05.73.
DII boys - 1. WRG sr Boomchain Loucks PB 1:57.16; 5. SIT jr Zach Martens 2:06.28; 10. CRG jr Aulis Nelson PB 2:06.34.
DI girls - 1. WEST jr Kendall Barnett PB 2:16.02; 16. JDHS so Nevah Lupro 2:43.30.
DII girls - 1. DLT JCT sr Iris Haas PB 2:17.59; 14. SIT fr Lola Hitchcock 1:42.40; 15. PSG so Arielle Tucker 2:44.92.
1,600 Meters
DI boys - 1. ER Shaw PB 4:20.71; 15. JDHS jr Zachariah Bos 4:50.02.
DII boys - 1. WRG Loucks 4:19.55; 3. CRG Nelson PB 4:35.24; 9. SIT jr Derek Wilson PB 4:43.91.
DI girls - 1. WEST Barnett 5:06.35; 4. JDHS jr Kaia Mangaccat PB 5:12.56.
DII girls - 1. DLT JCT Haas 5:19.11; 10. PSG Tucker PB 5:43.47.
3,200 Meters
DI boys - 1. EAST jr Katahdin Staples PB 9:20.82; 13. JDHS Bos 10:16.56.
DII boys - 1. WRG Loucks 9:37.24; 4. CRG Nelson PB 9:51.58; 10. SIT Wilson PB 10:26.58; 16. PSG sr Gaje Ventress 10:57.12.
DI girls - 1. ER jr Ashlyn Paynter PB 11:15.77; 3. JDHS Mangaccat PB 11:20.23.
DII girls - 1. DLT JCT Haas 11:31.99; 10. PSG Tucker PB 12:25.17; 10. SIT sr Marina Marley PB 12:30.78; 13. SIT Hitchcock 12:41.96; 16. PSG so Sophia Cotta 12:50.95.
110 / 100 Hurdles
DI boys - 1. EAST jr Matthew Jackson 15.74; 16. KTN jr Blaine Garlick PB 18.52.
DII boys - 1. GC sr Chris Jones 15.75; 4. PSG sr Noah Pawuk PB 16.70; 5. SIT jr James Nellis 16.74; 9. HNS sr JC Davis 18.49; 10. SKG sr Brenden Moncibaiz. 18.57; 12. Psg jr Nolan Lutomski 18.82; 16. SIT jr Tommy Dotson 20.20.
DI girls - 1. DMD Watkins 15.34; 15. JDHS sr Isabella Reyes-Boyer. 19.51.
DII girls - 1. TV Eddington 15.82; 4. SIT sr Emma Heuer 17.32; 6. SIT sr Natalie Hall 18.02; 9. PSG so Lexie Tow SB 18.84; 14. SIT jr Zoe Tydingco PB 19.17.
300 Hurdles
DI boys - 1. DMD sr Malachi Coski PB 40.06; 16. KTN Garlick 46.64.
DII boys - 1. HMR sr Tait Ostrom PB 40.76; 2. SIT Nellis PB 41.07; 7. PSG Pawuk 44.20; 8. HNS Davis 44.91.
DI girls - 1. SER sr Emilia Zych PB 46.48; 16. KTN jr Ryan Elerding 55.29.
DII girls - 1. TV Eddington 43.79; 3. SIT Hall PB 48.55; 10. PSG Tow PB 52.95.
4x100 Relay
DI boys - 1. Chugiak 43.59.
DII boys - 1. SIT (Prussian, sr Zander Dumag, Sudnickovich-Remington, Mullin) 45.04; 3. PSG 45.37.
DI girls - 1. Chugiak 49.95; 4. JDHS (so Addie Hartman, Frommherz, so Mya Hayes, Connally) 51.05
DII girls - 1. HMR (sr Immi Im, jr Jaelynn Kennon, jr Maddy Mitose, so Molly Evans) 49.84; 2. SIT (sr Addy Moore, Swain, sr Jadelynn Kubik, Heuer) 52.77; 7. PSG 56.11.
4x200 Relay
DI boys - 1. Colony 1:31.21; 7. KTN (fr James Armstrong, fr Nick Piazza, sr Liam Woodward, Vail) 1:35.88.
DII boys - 1. MCCA 1:33.16; 3. PSG 1:34.50; 4. SIT (Mullin, Hirai, jr Marc Tomas, McLaughlin) 1:34.88.
DI girls - 1. Soldotna 1:44.05; 8. JDHS (sr Kaylee Koelsch, sr Melanie Shrader, so Nevah Lupro, so Sigrid Eller) 2:04.30.
DII girls - 1. HMR (jr Reilly Sue Baker, so Vera Bates, Im, Evans) 1:47.67; 3. SIT (Kubik, Swain, Hall, fr Leihela Sands)1:52.14.
4x400 Relay
DI boys - 1. Chugiak 3:27.38; 8. JDHS (so Carson Kautz, jr Austin Huang, fr Vince Nizich, Bos) 3:53.35.
DII boys - 1. MCCA 3:32.29; 2. SIT (Prussian, Myers, Wilson , Nellis) 3:38.33.
DI girls - 1. WEST (Barnett, sr Natalie Boothman, so Gelis Liggins, fr Chloe Hayner) 4:03.10; 8. JDHS (Hartman, Frommherz, Mangaccat, fr Clara VanKirk
DII girls - 1. Unalakleet 4:13.25; 4. SIT (Hall, Kubik, Swain, Moore) 4:21.72; 6. PSG 4:38.79; 8. HNS 4:44.05.
4x800 Relay
DI boys - 1. Kodiak 8:03.66; 8. JDHS (so Anderson Murray, jr Gage Keller, so Emmett Hightower, Bos) 9:04.59.
DII boys - 1. HMR (sr Caleb Bunker, Ostrom, sr Landon Tinsley, sr Johannes Bynagle) 8:18.68; 4. SIT (Myers, Martens, fr Owen Mork, Wilson) 8:26.74.
DI girls - 1. Chugiak 9:52.47; 8. JDHS (Eller, Shrader, Lupro, jr Adele Fanning) 11:18.37.
DII girls - 1. HMR (sr Claira Booz, fr Ariela Garvey, fr Morgan Harness, so Etta Bynagle) 9:45.74; 6. SIT (sr Marina Marley, fr Novah Schmidt, fr Grace Hall, Hitchcock) 11:05.72.
Shot Put
DI boys - 1. BART sr Deuce Alailefaleula 53’03.50; 13. JDHS jr Isaiah Galletes-Fale 38’10.00.
DII boys - 1. VAL sr Kyle Petersen 48’00.50; 2. SIT sr Shane Tincher 43’04.50; 14. SIT fr Cedar Starbuck 34’08.00.
DI girls - 1. LATH sr Lilly Davidge PB 38’06.00; 14. JDHS sr Meliame Tupou 29’07.75.
DII girls - 1. MCCA sr Jieaya Siatini Williams 39’03.25; 11. PSG sr Gabrielle Whitacre 28’05.00; 13. PSG so Emilia Anderson 27’00.75; 15. SIT sr Taylor Cushing 26’03.25; 16. SIT so Kailee Brady 26’01.25.
Discus
DI boys - 1. CHG jr Benjamin Hiestand 168’03.00; 2. JDHS sr Richard Tupou 150’.
DII boys - 1. VAL Petersen 157’02.00; 4. HNS Davis 120’03.00; 6. SKG so Logan Ward 114’03.00; 7. SIT Tincher PB 114’02.00; 14. SIT jr Vance Ballovich 95’10.00.
DI girls - 1. SOUTH sr Emilee Anderson PB 129’06.00; 16. JDHS Tupou 80’11.00.
DII girls - 1. MCCA Williams 131’09.00; 6. PSG Anderson 91’04.00; 9. SIT Cushing PB 82’10.00; 11. HNS so Rylee Sloan 78’03.00; 15. SIT Brady 71’08.00
High Jump
DI boys - DMD jr Tavarius Wrice 6’4.00; 13. KTN so Ike Pennino 5’6.00; 13. JDHS Paden 5’6.00; NH KTN so Anthony Talaugea.
DII boys - 1. SKG sr Royce Borst 6’2.00; 4. SIT jr Ashton Peterson 5’8.00; 8. SIT fr Boyd Branch 5’4.00; 13. HNS so Wade Lloyd 5’4.00; PSG sr Tyson Reid NH; SKG jr Luca Tronrud NH.
DI girls - 1. CHG so Autumn Larson SB 5’3.00; NH JDHS Hartman.
DII girls - 1. SV jr Jessie Wentworth 5’1.00; 8. PSG so Cadence Flint 4’6.00; 13. PSG Tow 4’4.00; 13. SIT Heuer 4’4.00; Gustavus fr Jaden Kelly NH.
Long Jump
DI boys - 1. DMD sr Corde Bates 21’05.75; 13 JDHS Nizich 17’09.75.
DII boys - 1. SIT McLaughlin 20’05.75; 4. SIT Sudnikovich-Remington 19’06.75; 10. SIT Dumag 18’07.25.
DI girls - 1. COL jr Annelise Larsen 18’03.25.
DII girls - 1. HMR Kennon 17’03.00; 4. SIT Kubik PB 15’07.00; 14. HNS sr Sarah Jones 13’11.75; 16. SIT Heuer 13’08.75.
Triple Jump
DI boys - 1. COL so Hans Erickson PB 43’06.00; 11. KTN Talaugea 38’08.25.
DII boys - 1. MCCA sr Joshua Woko 42’04.75; 3. SIT McLaughlin PB 41’09.00; 4. HNS Lloyd PB 40’03.00; 5. SIT Myers 40’00.50; 12. SIT Mork 36’06.25; 15. SKG Ward 35’02.00.
DI girls - 1. CHG jr Amelia Dempsey 35’02.25; 16. KTN Elerding 29’01.00.
DII girls - 1. RED jr Mia Bukala 34’00.25; 8. PSG Flint 28’08.00; 13. SKG jr Mina Yee 26’07.75; 15. SIT Cushing 25’10.50.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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