The Homer High School track and field season ended with success as the girls team secured second overall at the State Championships last weekend.
The girls team chalked up 80 points during the meet, losing out to Anchorage Christian who scored 95.
“I really couldn’t be happier,” said Coach Bill Steyer. “It was a great finish to the season.”
The Homer girls placed first in three out of the four relays, giving them an early lead with 38 points. This was their third year to win the 4×400 relay. The 4×800-meter relay team came in second, running 14 seconds behind Grace Christian.
In addition to the relays, the Homer girls dominated the 400-meter event with Aurora Waclawski, Ziza Shemet Pitcher and Crystal Crane coming in second, third and fourth respectively, all running within a second of each other.
Overall, the Mariner boys placed fifth during the championships.
“It’s our highest placing finish in a long time,” said Steyer during an interview. “Both teams did exceptionally well.”
The relay events for the boys were a series of close calls, where they finished second in both the 4×100-meter and 4×200- meter events by mere hundredths of seconds.
Other notable events for the Mariner boys included the triple jump with John Shank placing third with a jump of 38-10 3/4, and the long jump where Connor Seay placed fourth with a jump of 18-9.
Connor Seay also placed second in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.616a.
Although the season ended on a high note, there are several things Steyer wants to see improved for next year.
“I’d like to see some improvement on our boys team,” said Steyer. “I’d like to get more boys participating in the 800-meter, the 400-meter and the 4×400-meter relay events.”
“I would also like to see our girls challenge for the state title,” said Steyer. “It’s time to try to win it. We’ve been runners-up twice.”
Steyer conceded that it will take some work, with special attention given to Homer High School’s throwing program, but he thinks the girls team is up for the challenge.
To add to the Mariner girls’ success, the team also received the academic achievement award at the State Championships for the third year in a row.
“Everybody met they’re goal of peaking at state,” said Steyer when asked how he felt about the wrap up to the season. “We have some work cut out for us, but it was a great season.”
Aryn Young is a freelance writer for the Homer News.
Class 1-2-3A meet
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Anchorage Christian 119.5; 2. Eielson 72, 3. Seward 51, 4. Petersburg 48, 5. Homer 46, 6. Monroe 40, 7. Sitka 38, 8. Galena 33, 9. Glennallen 28, 10. Wasilla Lake Christian 25, 11. Nikiski 18, 12. Grace Christian 15.5, 13. Valdez 15, 14. Haines 9, 15. Thorne Bay 6, 16. Houston 3, 17. tie, Delta Junction and Gustavus 2, 19. tie, Cook Inlet Academy and Tri Valley 1.
100 – 1. Jordan Sondergaard, Glennallen, 11.57; 2. Brandon Tulcey, Sitka, 11.68; 3. Nick Brazier, Eielson, 11.68; 4. Shaun Quinn, ACS, 11.82; 5. Jake Richter, Homer, 11.96; 6. Bobby Wilson, ACS, 12.01; 7. John Shank, Homer, 12.10.
200 – 1. Jordan Sondergaard, Glennallen, 23.30; 2. Shaun Quinn, ACS, 23.45; 3. Nick Brazier, Eielson, 23.79; 4. Brandon Tulcey, Sitka, 23.93; 5. Kalib Dunlap, Eielson, 24.40; 6. Teddy Croft, Homer, 24.60; 7. Casey Bradford, Haines, 24.66.
3,200 — 1. Kaleb Korta, Gal, 9:47.10; 2. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 10:09.82; 3. Jacob Moos, Gal, 10:09.94; 4. Colin Baciocco, Sit, 10:15.17; 5. Jordan Beachy, Hom, 10:20.37; 6. Blake Bennett, ACS, 10:21.44.
300 hurdles – 1. Kalib Dunlap, Eielson, 41.82; 2. Connor Seay, Homer, 42.61; 3. John Minder, Monroe, 43.71; 4. Brian Peters, ACS, 43.87; 5. Jake Palmberg, Wasilla Lake Christian, 44.88; 6. Jonathan Railing, ACS, 45.19; 7. Andrew Waler, Monroe, 45.40.
400 relay – 1. ACS 46.16; 2. Homer 46.20; 3. Sitka 46.53; 4. Eielson 46.79; 5. Monroe 47.65; 6. Grace Christian 48.54; 7. Thorne Bay 48.73.
800 relay – 1. ACS 1:36.00; 2. Homer 1:36.26; 3. Eielson 1:36.61; 4. Monroe 1:38.21; 5. Sitka 1:38.62; 6. Thorne Bay 1:42.06; 7. Nikiski 1:43,.66.
3,200 relay — 1. ACS, 8:26.46; 2. Seward, 8:33.76; 3. Valdez, 8:56.90; 4. Sitka, 8:58.32; 5. Monroe, 8:59.27; 6. Homer, 9:10.00.
Long jump — 1. Antonio Griffith, Eie, 20—1 3-4; 2. Brandon Tulcey, Sit, 19—7 1-4; 3. Jake Palmberg, WLC, 19—3 1-2; 4. Connor Seay, Hom, 18—9; 5. Brogan Nieder, Gra, 18—7 1-2; 6. Lane Kaltenbach, ACS, 17—1 3-4.
Triple jump – 1. Antonio Griffith, Eielson, 40-3; 2. Cornell Mingo, Eielson, 39-1.5; 3. John Shank, Homer, 38-10.75; 4. Brogan Nieder, Grace Christian, 38-10; 5. Braden Nieder, Grace Christian, 38-7; 6. Vitaliy Kurlichenko, Delta Junction, 38-5.75; 7. Teddy Croft, Homer, 37-9.25.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Anchorage Christian 95, 2. Homer 80, 3. Grace Christian 78; 4. Petersburg 40; 5. Seward 34, 6. Glennallen 30, 7. Valdez 28, 8. Hutchison 26, 9. Cook Inlet Academy 24, 10. Tri Valley 21, 11. Holy Rosary Academy 16, 12. tie, Sitka and Cordova 14, 14. tie, Delta Junction, Eielson and Thorne Bay 13, 17. Nikiski 11, 18. Haines 8, 19. Houston, 20. Monroe 2.
200 – 1. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 24.73 (new state record; old record 25.1, Yvette Ervin, Eielson, 1982.; 2. Zoe Langseth, Valdez, 27.03; 3. Aurora Waclawski, Homer, 27.27; 4. Christina Ellis, Grace Christian, 27.68; 5. Sarah Newton, Grace Christian, 27.72; 6. Veronica Yanish, Hutchison, 27.93; 7. Gabriella Cagle, Sitka, 28.46.
400 – 1. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 54.86 (new state record; old record 55.95, Lieren Flanagan, Kenai Central, 2010.; 2. Aurora Waclawski, Homer, 1:01.29; 3. Ziza Shermet-Pitcher, Homer, 1:02.39; 4. Crystal Crane, Homer, 1:03.10; 5. Taylee Nyquest, Thorne Bay, 1:04.82; 6. Sarah Wolf, Homer, 1:04.98; 7. Jennie Ohlund, Tri Valley, 1:06.89.
1,600 – 1. Briahna Gerlach, Glennallen, 5:00.74; 2. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 5:07.47; 3. Sara Hamberger, Cordova, 5:07.57; 4. Taylee Nyquest, Thorne Bay, 5:23.74; 5. Cheyenne Applegate, Grace Christian, 5:27.07; 6. Victoria Joslin, Delta Junction, 5:38.39; 7. Audrey Rosencrans, Homer, 5:47.79.
100 hurdles – 1. Izabelle Ith, Petersburg, 15.46; 2. Madison Orth, Cook Inlet Academy, 16.48; 3. Lauren Evarts, Homer, 17.19; 4. Annie VanderWeide, Grace Christian, 17.40; 5. Emily Brockman, Seward, 18.36; 6. Lauren Jones, Homer, 18.39; 7. Christina Gough, Hutchison, 18.42.
300 hurdles – 1. Izabelle Ith, Petersburg, 47.84; 2. Zoe Langseth, Valdez, 48.46; 3. Lauren Evarts, Homer, 49.60; 4. Annie VanderWeide, Grace Christian, 50.34; 5. Isabella Saxe, Tri Valley, 51.09; 6. Alexis Quick, ACS, 51.43; 7. Madison Kranz, Sitka, 51.51.
400 relay – 1. Homer 52.80; 2. Grace Christian 53.84; 3. Hutchison 54.38; 4. ACS 55.46; 5. Seward 56,.44; 6. Nikiski 56.54; 7. Tri Valley 58.56.
800 relay – 1. Homer 1:51.73; 2. Grace Christian 1:52.40; 3. Eielson 1:54.93; 4. Tri Valley 1:54.93; 5. ACS 1:56.32; 6. Houston 1:56,74; 7. Hutchison 1:59.10.
1,600 relay – 1. Homer 4:13.82; 2. ACS 4:18.65; 3. Seward 4:28.17; 4. Valdez 4:28.75; 5. Delta Junction 4:36.68; 6. Tri Valley 4:52.81.
3,200 relay — 1. Gra, 10:22.85; 2. Homer, 10:36.96; 3. Seward, 10:45.01; 4. ACS, 11:17.10; 5. Delta Junction, 11:19.79; 6. Tri Valley, 11:56.22.
