Homer took second place in the Region III/3A girls meet, falling just behind the individual power of Anchorage Christian Schools. The championship meet was held Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22 at Colony High School. Homer’s boys took fifth place at the meet.

“Our deficit is in throwing because ACS has super strong throwing and we can beat ACS on numbers of quality runners,” said Homer High School track and field head coach Bill Steyer. “We scored better overall than them in running events.”

Next up for Homer, 16 girls and 12 boys will compete in the state championships at Dimond on May 27-28. The girls qualified for a total of 43 events, while the boys qualified for 22. Homer’s girls track and field team came in second to ACS in 2015 and are eager to put up a fight for the title over the weekend.

 “This year we’re good enough to make them nervous,” Steyer said.

Region championships at Colony

ACS took the title with 144 points, while Homer was runner-up at 135. Nikiski tied for fourth, while Seward was seventh.

Tanner Ealum won the 100, 200 and 400 for ACS, while Elizabeth Balsan won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. The Lions also got individual wins in the discus and shot put.

Homer’s lone individual win came from Lauren Evarts in the 100 hurdles at 16.43, but the Mariners did take three of the four relays, and added a runner-up in the 1,600 relay. ACS, with help from Balsan and Ealum, won that event.

In the 400 relay, Cheyenne Gillette, Angie Cardoza, Sarah Wolf and Kaylee Veldstra ran 53.02 for Homer.

In the 800 relay, Alia Bales, Wolf, Evarts and Veldstra combined for 1:51.95. In the 3,200 relay, Audrey Rosencrans, Alex Moseley, Ziza Shemet Pitcher and Aurora Waclawski combined for 10:19.97 and the win.

Arianne Parrish had the lone automatic qualification for the Nikiski girls, covering 16 feet, 4.25 inches for the long jump crown.

On the boys side, ACS rolled to the title with 204 points, while Grace Christian was next at 89. Seward was third, Nikiski was fourth and Homer was fifth.

Hunter Kratz had a huge meet for the Seahawks, winning the 800 in 2:05.34, the 1,600 in 4:39.33 and the 3,200 in 10:09.53.

Nikiski’s brother combo had the other two automatic individual qualifications of the meet. Luke Johnson won the shot put with a heave of 45 feet, 4 inches, while Ian Johnson nabbed the discus with a toss of 131 feet, 9 inches.

Homer and Seward also notched relay wins.

In the 800 relay, Homer’s Croft, Luciano Fasulo, Zane Boyer and Jake Richter won at 1:37.81. A false start in the 100-meter race disqualified Jake Richter from competing in the event at states, Steyer said. However, Richter qualified for the 200-meter race at states, along with teammate Teddy Croft.

Homer News reporter Anna Frost contributed to this report.

Region III/3A Championships results

BOYS

Team scores: 1. ACS, 204; 2. Grace, 89; 3. Seward, 66; 4. Nikiski, 60; 5. Homer, 59; 6. Valdez, 26; 7. Cordova, 10; 8. Houston, 6; 9. Redington, 4.

100 — 1. Holden Quinn, ACS, 11.83; 2. Teddy Croft, Hom, 12.11; 3. Matthew Minium, Nik, 12.43; 4. Nathan Ashworth, Red, 12.46; 5. Josh Roach, Gra, 12.48; 6. Patrick Perry, Nik, 12.52.

200 — 1. Holden Quinn, ACS, 22.92; 2. Frederick Onochie, ACS, 23.16; 3. Teddy Croft, Hom, 24.26; 4. Uri Simmers, ACS, 24.29; 5. Jake Richter, Hom, 24.41; 6. Anders Limstrom, Gra, 25.04.

400 — 1. Frederick Onochie, ACS, 51.05; 2. Sylvanus Edi, ACS, 52.38; 3. Uri Simmers, ACS, 53.27; 4. Zach Howard, Val, 54.88; 5. Zane Boyer, Hom, 56.71; 6. Riley Martin, Gra, 57.04.

800 — 1. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 2:05.34; 2. Paxson Berry, Sew, 2:05.40; 3. Blake Bennett, ACS, 2:06.69; 4. Thomas Zweifel, Sew, 2:09.10; 5. Luciano Fasulo, Hom, 2:09.98; 6. Robert Schaezlein, Gra, 2:10.37.

1,600 — 1. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 4:39.33; 2. Blake Bennett, ACS, 4:41.04; 3. Zach Hamberger, Cor, 4:45.11; 4. Luciano Fasulo, Hom, 4:46.09; 5. Zach Young, Gra, 4:52.33; 6. Cameron Sheldon, Gra, 4:54.39.

3,200 — 1. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 10:09.53; 2. Blake Bennett, ACS, 10:19.18; 3. Alex Wuerth, ACS, 10:32.19; 4. Zach Hamberger, Cor, 10:33.68; 5. Zach Young, Gra, 10:38.70; 6. Cameron Sheldon, Gra, 10:40.08.

110 hurdles — 1. Ben Sobek, ACS, 17.20; 2. Jonathan Railing, ACS, 18.29; 3. Kalen Compehos, Val, 19.05; 4. Braden Nieder, Gra, 19.38; 5. Joey Haecker, ACS, 19.91; 6. Tommy Cha, ACS, 20.21.

300 hurdles — 1. Jonathan Railing, ACS, 43.73; 2. Tommy Cha, ACS, 43.89; 3. Ben Sobek, ACS, 46.00; 4. Hunter Patton, Hom, 46.62; 5. Joey Haecker, ACS, 47.09; 6. Trapper Allen, Sew, 48.21. 

400 relay — 1. ACS (Guillermo, Edi, Kaltenbach, Quinn), 46.17; 2. Nikiski, 47.34; 3. Homer, 47.98; 4. Grace, 51.37; 5. Valdez, 51.61.

800 relay — 1. Homer (Croft, Fasulo, Boyer, Richter), 1:37.81; 2. Grace, 1:39.71; 3. ACS, 1:40.12; 4. Valdez, 1:42.14; 5. Houston, 1:49.02; 6. Seward, 1:49.05.

1,600 relay — 1. ACS (Quinn, Simmers, Edi, Onochie), 3:30.84; 2. Seward, 3:49.33; 3. Valdez, 3:53.85; 4. Grace, 3:55.22; 5. Houston, 4:01.50; 6. Homer, 4:05.86.

3,200 relay — 1. Seward (Petrosius, Berry, Kratz, Zweifel), 8:39.81; 2. ACS, 8:50.72; 3. Homer, 8:55.99; 4. Grace, 9:05.72; 5. Valdez, 9:16.04.

Shot put — 1. Luke Johnson, Nik, 45—4; 2. Frederick Onochie, ACS, 42—0; 3. Alex Binder, Gra, 40—6.5; 4. Dakota Hupp, Nik, 39—11.5; 5. Ian Johnson, Nik, 39—5.5; 6. John Koenaman, Hou, 39—3.

Discus — 1. Ian Johnson, Nik, 131—9; 2. Luke Johnson, Nik, 129—4; 3. Alex Binder, Gra, 123—11; 4. Eli Davis, Sew, 111-10; 5. Zach Bronson, ACS, 106—6; 6. Ben Bitler, Hou, 104—7.

High jump — 1. Lane Kaltenbach, ACS, 5—10; 2. Braden Nieder, Gra, 5—8; 3. Brogan Nieder, Gra, Joel Carrol, Hom, 5—8; 5. Jonah Coats, Val, 5—6.

Long jump — 1. Lane Kaltenbach, ACS, 19—4.5; 2. Braden Nieder, Gra, 18—9; 3. Brogan Nieder, Gra, 18—3; 4. Alex Binder, Gra, 17—11; 5. Jack Sullenger, Nik, 17—11; 6. Aaron McCollum, Nik, 17—8.

Triple jump — 1. Brogan Nieder, Gra, 40—4.25; 2. Uri Simmers, ACS, 39-9.5; 3. Aaron McCollum, Nik, 38—0; 4 (tie). Joel Carrol, Hom, Braden Nieder, Gra, 37—2; 6. William Parks, ACS, 36-9.5.

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. ACS, 144; 2. Homer, 135; 3. Grace, 84; 4 (tie). Nikiski, Houston 42.5; 6. Valdez, 39.5; 7. Seward, 29; 8. Redington, 9.

100 — 1. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 12.63; 2. Kaylee Veldstra, Hom, 13.23; 3. Alia Bales, Hom, 13.81; 4. Angie Cardoza, Hom, 13.95; 5. Arianne Parrish, Nik, 13.96; 6. Sarah Newton, Gra, 14.16.

200 — 1. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 25.43; 2. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 27.90; 3. Allison VanPelt, Hou, 28.35; 4. Kaylee Veldstra, Hom, 28.45; 5. Ziza Shemet Pitcher, Hom, 28.97; 6. Zoe Langseth, Val, 28.99.

400 — 1. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 56.55; 2. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 1:02.25; 3. Ziza Shemet Pitcher, Hom, 1:03.68; 4. Sarah Wolf, Hom, 1:04.63; 5. Sarah Newton, Gra, 1:05.89; 6. Jade Watts, Val, 1:06.55.

800 — 1. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 2:20.22; 2. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 2:22.17; 3. Grace Gannon, Gra, 2:31.43; 4. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 2:33.42; 5. Alex Moseley, Hom, 2:35.21; 6. Sadie Lindquist, Sew, 2:37.98.

1,600 — 1. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 5:13.50; 2. Grace Gannon, Gra, 5:29.41; 3. Allison VanPelt, Hou, 5:35.51; 4. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 5:36.07; 5. Tessa O’Hara, ACS, 5:44.50; 6. Mazzy Jackson, Gra, 5:46.53.

3,200 — 1. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 11:25.54; 2. Grace Gannon, Gra, 11:50.88; 3. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 11:54.53; 4. Allison VanPelt, Hou, 12:03.10; 5. Audrey Rosencrans, hom, 12:05.29; 6. Mazzy Jackson, Gra, 12:31.77.

100 hurdles — 1. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 16.43; 2. Annie VanderWeide, Gra, 17.20; 3. Amy Tedrick, ACS, 18.45; 4. Lauren Jones, Hom, 18.50; 5. Crystal Epperheimer, Nik, 19.60; 6. Nikki Overson, Gra, 19.78.

300 hurdles — 1. Zoe Langseth, Val, 49.25; 2. Annie VanderWeide, Gra, 51.06; 3. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 51.52; 4. Alexis Quick, ACS, 53.52; 5. Lauren Jones, Hom, 54.08; 6. Nikki Overson, Gra, 54.81.

400 relay — 1. Homer (Gillette, Cardoza, Wolf, Veldstra), 53.02; 2. Nikiski, 55.86; 3. ACS, 56.02; 4. Houston, 57.04; 5. Valdez, 57.26; 6. Grace, 57.64.

800 relay — 1. Homer (Bales, Wolf, Evarts, Veldstra), 1:51.95; 2. ACS, 1:56.48; 3. Valdez, 1:57.42; 4. Houston, 2:01.48; 5. Grace, 2:04.20; 6. Redington, 2:06.26.

1,600 relay — 1. ACS (O’Hara, Balsan, Sutter, Ealum), 4:15.55; 2. Homer, 4:21.65; 3. Grace, 4:33.12; 4. Valdez, 4:36.92.

3,200 relay — 1. Homer (Rosencrans, Moseley, Shemet Pitcher, Waclawski), 10:19.97; 2. Seward, 10:37.07; 3. Grace, 10:52.70; 4. ACS, 11:47.31.

Discus — 1. Amir Williams, ACS, 107—9; 2. Hailey Holland, Red, 91—2; 3. Kimberly Quincy, Hou, 85—1; 4. Hannah Edmonds, ACS, 84—10; 5. Gabby Quick, ACS, 77—7; 6. Becca Land, ACS, 76—1.

Shot put — 1. Hannah Edmonds, ACS, 37—9; 2. Amir Williams, ACS, 34—7.5; 3. Jenna Markel, Gra, 30—7; 4. Kimberly Quincy, Hou, 28—11; 5. Becca Land, ACS, 38—8.5; 6. Chaunice Carr, ACS, 28—4.5.

High jump — 1. Kassandra Howard, Val, 4—10; 2. Bethany Carstens, Nik, 4—6; 3. Kriziel Sarmiento, Sew, 4—4; 4. Hali Baczuk, Val, 4—2; 5 (tie). Alia Bales, Hom, Destiny Grey, Val, 4-0.

Long jump — 1. Arianne Parrish, Nik, 16—4.25; 2. Annie VanderWeide, Gra, 14—11.75; 3. Chanel May-Thomas, Hou, 14—8.25; 4. Angie Cardoza, Hom, 14—6.75; 5. Cheyenne Gillette, Hom, 13—10.25; 6. Cassie Kapuniai, Hou, 13—4.75.

Triple jump — 1. Annie VanderWeide, Gra, 32—7.5; 2. Arianne Parrish, Nik, 32—7; 3. Mary Kate Parks, ACS, 29—6.75; 4. Madison Akers, Hom, 29—0; 5 (tie). Isabel Kulhanek, Hom, Deni Koreze-Richards, Hou, 28—8.