Update: An earlier version of this article stated Sadie Tuckwood’s time in the 1600-meter race at the Region V Track & Field Championships was the third-fastest in the state. Following an update in the state records, Tuckwood’s time is now the the fifth-fastest. The article has been updated to reflect the change.
The Thunder Mountain High School girls and Ketchikan High School boys claimed the 4A titles at the Region V Track & Field Championships on Saturday at TMHS.
With strong showings in the sprints, relays, distance runs and jumps, the Falcons girls scored 90 points. Juneau-Douglas High School came in second place with 65 points and Ketchikan came in third with 19 points.
Congratulations to the Thunder Mountain High School girls track and field team — your 2018 Region V Class 4A champions! pic.twitter.com/e94MRC6dOy
— Empire Sports (@akempiresports) May 20, 2018
After scoring just 43 points last season, the Kings boys sky-rocketed to 68 points on Saturday, ousting the Falcons (67 points) by a razor-thin margin. JDHS came in third with 39 points.
Sitka High School swept the 1A/2A/3A titles.
Here are some of the highlights from the meet.
Sprints
TMHS senior Erick Whisenant won three out of his four events. Whisenant swept the 100 and 200 meters and anchored the first-place-winning 4×100 relay team. He finished the 100 meters in 11.56 seconds, crushing his personal record.
Thunder Mountain’s Erick Whisenant wins the 100 meter Region V 4A title with his run of 11:56 seconds! pic.twitter.com/ShghulM1jc
— Empire Sports (@akempiresports) May 19, 2018
It’s the third consecutive year Whisenant is headed to state as a member on the Falcons’ 4×100 relay team. As a sophomore he was an alternate on the team that won the state championship and was a key member on the team last season that finished fourth.
“After all this hard work, it feels good,” Whisenant said of winning multiple events. “It’s just a race, that’s the easy part … the hard part is the work, putting in the effort, the sweat on the track.”
TMHS sophomore Tzadi Hauck defeated JDHS sophomore Gretchen Neal in the girls 100 meters. Hauck finished in 13.52 seconds, .09 seconds in front of Neal.
Thunder Mountain’s Tzadi Hauck barely out sprints Juneau-Douglas’ Gretchen Neal in the 100 meter dash at the Region V meet. Hauck’s time: 13.52; Neal’s time: 13:61. pic.twitter.com/vmzzo6nGbB
— Empire Sports (@akempiresports) May 19, 2018
“Last year the 100 just wasn’t my event and this year I just came out of nowhere and I really like it,” Neal said.
Distance
JDHS sophomore Sadie Tuckwood remained undefeated on the season in the 1600 and 3200 meters.
She set personal records in both races at the Capital Invitational — 5:21 in the 1600 and 11:05 in the 3200 — and did so again in the 1600 on Saturday.
She lapped runners in the Friday’s 3200 en route to her 11:12 and clocked a 5:15 in Saturday’s 1600. Tuckwood holds the state’s fourth-fastest time in the 3200 and the fifth-fastest in the 1600.
Tuckwood said it will be interesting how the two distance races shake out at the state meet in Palmer next weekend.
“There’s like five girls running really similar times (in the 1600 and 3200) but since I didn’t really do track last year I’m just going to go and see how I do,” Tuckwood said. “If I run how I’ve been I can do not bad. But since everyone’s so close it’s kind of just who has a good race that day.”
Joined by Anna Iverson, Linnea Lentfer and Katie McKenna in the girls 4×800 relay, Tuckwood’s team ran away from the competition with a time of 10:32.
The JDHS boys followed up their girls with their own 4×800 title.
TMHS took a slight lead after 800 meters, but the Crimson Bears took over once Shadrach Stitz handed off to Arne Ellefson-Carnes, who jumped ahead by 14 seconds after completing the second leg. JDHS’ Tim McKenna and Dalton Hoy finished out the relay with a time of 8:32. TMHS finished in 8:56.
Several hours later, Ellefson-Carnes beat Sitka’s Dominic Baciocco in the 1600. Baciocco took the lead in the final 250 meters of the race but Ellefson-Carnes was not intimidated: Ellefson-Carnes won by .20 seconds in 4:38.14.
Hurdles/Throws/Jumps
The triple jump went to two newcomers to the event: TMHS’ Mikayla May and Ali Beya. May, a senior, jumped 29 feet, 7 inches and Beya, a freshman, jumped 37’ 3”.
“This is my first year ever doing triple jump so it was kind of a suprise but I’ve been practicing a lot so it was really cool,” said May, who won the 200 meters. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
She’ll be coached by her dad, Scott, in one last meet next weekend for state. Scott May announced in the fall this would be his last year coaching cross country and track.
“Having my dad as a coach has been really great, it’s kind of sad to see him not coaching anymore because I know he loves it in his own way,” Mikayla May said. ”Even though some things he complains about a lot, I think he’s going to miss it.”
Beya came in second place in both the 100 and 200 meters at the Capital Invitational two weeks ago. But after showing promise in the long and triple jumps at the Haines Invitational last weekend, the coaching staff moved Beya from the sprints to the jumps.
In addition to winning the triple jump on Friday, Beya won the long jump on Saturday.
“In the end of the triple jump, someone just completely obliterated my score and then I just went for it and then topped that,” Beya said. “It was a good battle.”
“It was a weird feeling having to top your best after I didn’t think I could go any further,” he later said. “It was just full-speed determination.”
TMHS senior Ciara Kish won the shot put on Friday with a throw of 31’ 1.25”.
Audrey Welling, of TMHS, took the girls 100 meter hurdles.
Thunder Mountain’s Audrey Welling takes the 4A Region V 100 hurdles title! pic.twitter.com/lc4MOuOfeZ
— Empire Sports (@akempiresports) May 19, 2018
The ASAA track and field state championships is Friday and Saturday at Palmer High School. All regional event winners will advance to the state meet.
^
Region V Track & Field Championships
Class 4A Results
Girls 100 Meter Dash — 1, Hauck, Tzadi, Thunder Mountain, 13.52. 2, Neal, Gretchen, Juneau Douglas, 13.61. 3, Garcia, Mary Neal, Thunder Mountain, 13.88. 4, Ault, Chayla,Thunder Mountain, 14.34. 5, Walker, Laura Sage, Juneau Douglas, 14.36. 6, DeBuse, Kate, Juneau Douglas, 14.77. 7, Zartman, Carlee, Ketchikan, 15.11. 8, Kacenas, Rosie, Ketchikan, 15.33.
Girls 200 Meter Dash — 1, May, Mikayla, Thunder Mountain, 27.85. 2, Hauck, Tzadi, Thunder Mountain ,28.51. 3, Garcia, Mary Neal, Thunder Mountain, 29.82. 4, DeBuse, Kate, Juneau Douglas, 31.12. 5, Zartman, Carlee, Ketchikan, 31.55. 6, Jabalde, Dezirae, Juneau Douglas, 31.68. 7, White, Shirlie, Ketchikan, 31.76. 8, Kacenas, Rosie, Ketchikan, 33.26.
Girls 400 Meter Dash — 1, Deer, Hannah, Thunder Mountain, 1:05.25. 2, Knight, Rachel, Ketchikan, 1:06.25.3, Neal, Gretchen, Juneau Douglas, 1:07.59. 4, Stitz, Miriam, Juneau Douglas,1:15.51.
Girls 800 Meter Run — 1, McKenna, Katherine, Juneau Douglas, 2:34.30. 2, Wallace, Erin, Thunder Mountain, 2:40.91. 3, Monsef, Sosan, Juneau Douglas, 2:42.91. 4, Lentfer, Linnea, Juneau Douglas, 2:44.55. 5, Godkin, Alexa, Thunder Mountain, 3:00.42. 6, Knight, Laura, Ketchikan, 3:02.05.
Girls 1600 Meter Run — 1, Tuckwood, Sadie, Juneau Douglas, 5:15.38. 2, Deer, Hannah, Thunder Mountain, 5:42.33. 3, Iverson, Anna, Juneau Douglas, 5:56.33. 4, Elerding, Morgan, Ketchikan, 6:02.94. 5, Cyr, Ashley, Ketchikan, 6:16.24. 6, York, Madison, Juneau Douglas, 6:21.13.
Girls 3200 Meter Run — 1, Tuckwood, Sadie, Juneau Douglas, 11:12.24. 2, Elerding, Morgan, Ketchikan,12:35.65. 3, Deer, Hannah, Thunder Mountain, 12:42.70. 4, Iverson, Anna, Juneau Douglas, 12:43.04. 5, Wallace, Erin, Thunder Mountain, 13:27.90. 6, York, Madison, Juneau Douglas, 14:37.87.
Girls 100 Meter Hurdles — 1, Welling, Audrey, Thunder Mountain, 16.95. 2, Neal, Ashleigh, Juneau Douglas, 19.55. 3, White, Shirlie, Ketchikan, 20.81. 4, Frazier, Anna, Thunder Mountain, 21.14. 5, Sloan, Gabby, Thunder Mountain, 21.25. 6, Zimmerman, Natalie, Juneau Douglas, 23.46.
Girls 300 Meter Hurdles — 1, Welling, Audrey, Thunder Mountain, 52.37. 2, Wallace, Erin, Thunder Mountain, 55.34. 3, Neal, Gretchen, Juneau Douglas, 55.75. 4, Thomas, Keri, Ketchikan, 57.23. 5, White, Shirlie, Ketchikan, 59.22. 6, Frazier, Anna, Thunder Mountain, 1:04.67.
Girls 4×100 Meter Relay — 1, Thunder Mountain, 53.59. 2, Ketchikan, 1:00.69. 3, Juneau Douglas, 1:04.28.
Girls 4×200 Meter Relay — 1, Thunder Mountain, 1:57.30. 2, Juneau Douglas, 2:12.97.
Girls 4×400 Meter Relay — 1, Juneau Douglas, 4:32.53. 2, Ketchikan, 4:39.76. 3, Thunder Mountain, 4:40.53.
Girls 4×800 Meter Relay — 1, Juneau Douglas, 10:32.15. 2, Ketchikan, 11:51.52. 3, Thunder Mountain, 12:41.70.
Girls High Jump — 1, Frayley, Ayah, Juneau Douglas, 4-03. 2, Sloan, Gabby, Thunder Mountain, 4-03. 3, Whitmore, Vespasia, Thunder Mountain, 4-00.
Girls Long Jump — 1, Welling, Audrey, Thunder Mountain, 14-11.25. 2, Walker, Laura Sage, Juneau Douglas, 14-01. 3, Neal, Ashleigh, Juneau Douglas, 13-11.50. 4, Garcia, Mary Khaye, Thunder Mountain, 13-10.75. 5, Landes, Mary, Thunder Mountain, 13-10.50. 6, Perry, Sophia, Juneau Douglas, 11-07.50.
Girls Triple Jump — 1, May, Mikayla, Thunder Mountain, 29-07.50. 2, Nguyen, Lindzy, Thunder Mountain, 29-07.50. 3, Neal, Ashleigh, Juneau Douglas, 27-08.50. 4, Walker, Laura Sage, Juneau Douglas, 27-00. 5, Whitmore, Vespasia, Thunder Mountain, 27-00. 6, Frayley, Ayah, Juneau Douglas, 24-03.25.
Girls Shot Put — 1, Kish, Ciara, Thunder Mountain, 31-01.25. 2, Sartain, Sydnee, Thunder Mountain,25-02.50. 3, Rehder, Trinity, Juneau Douglas, 25-02. 4, Murray, Lexi, ThunderMountain, 24-10. 5, Adams, Victoria, Ketchikan, 20-10. 6, Hamrick, Kamy, Juneau Douglas, 20-07.75.
Girls Discus Throw — 1, Kish, Ciara, Thunder Mountain, 90-10. 2, Hamrick, Kamy, Juneau Douglas, 80-06. 3, Murray, Lexi, Thunder Mountain, 73-11. 4, Rehder, Trinity, Juneau Douglas, 72-11. 5, Sartain, Sydnee, Thunder Mountain, 68-11. 6, Adams, Victoria, Ketchikan, 61-01.
Boys 100 Meter Dash — 1, Whisenant, Erick, Thunder Mountain, 11.56. 2, Credito, Lester, Ketchikan, 11.75. 3, Ronquillo, Adrian, Ketchikan, 11.85. 4, Van Sickle, Liam, Juneau Douglas, 11.96. 5, Gilbert, Clayton, Thunder Mountain, 12.08. 6, Caparas, Cole, Ketchikan, 12.52. 7, Isaak, Daniel, Juneau Douglas, 12.57. 8, Maddox, Austin, Juneau Douglas, 12.98.
Boys 200 Meter Dash — 1, Whisenant, Erick, Thunder Mountain, 24.12. 2, Ronquillo, Adrian, Ketchikan, 24.25. 3, Hodges, Kadin, Ketchikan, 25.02. 4, Beam, Bradey, Thunder Mountain, 25.10. 5, Hickok, Dawson, Juneau Douglas, 25.59. 6, Caparas, Cole, Ketchikan, 26.27. 7, Maddox, Austin, Juneau Douglas, 27.55.
Boys 400 Meter Dash — 1, McAndrews, Josh, Thunder Mountain, 54.54. 2, Beam, Bradey, Thunder Mountain, 55.75. 3, Barron, Jon, Ketchikan, 57.66. 4, Hollingsworth, Aiden, Juneau Douglas, 59.01. 5, Viera, Riley, Ketchikan, 1:00.14. 6, Allmendinger, Paul, Ketchikan, 1:04.73.
Boys 800 Meter Run — 1, Hoy, Dalton, Juneau Douglas, 2:07.44. 2, McAndrews, Josh, Thunder Mountain,2:09.63. 3, Reynolds, Luke, Ketchikan, 2:10.56. 4, Kelly, Tucker, Thunder Mountain, 2:12.18. 5, Barron, Jon, Ketchikan, 2:13.91. 6, McKenna, Timothy, Juneau Douglas, 2:14.09. 7, Allmendinger, Paul, Ketchikan, 2:25.73. 8, Squires, Owen, Juneau Douglas, 2:27.36.
Boys 1600 Meter Run — 1, Ellefson-Carnes, Arne, Juneau Douglas, 4:38.14. 2, Kelly, Tucker, Thunder Mountain, 4:48.70. 3, Stitz, Shadrach, Juneau Douglas, 4:53.85. 4, Reynolds, Luke, Ketchikan, 4:56.17. 5, Morley, Finn, Juneau Douglas, 5:05.84. 6, Viera, Riley, Ketchikan, 5:15.14. 7, Brown, Jonah, Thunder Mountain, 5:18.78. 8, Dobson, Sam, Thunder Mountain, 5:32.22. 9, Allmendinger, Paul, Ketchikan, 5:40.89.
Boys 3200 Meter Run — 1, Ellefson-Carnes, Arne, Juneau Douglas, 9:52.29. 2, Kelly, Tucker, Thunder Mountain, 10:29.54. 3, Stitz, Shadrach, Juneau Douglas, 10:43.17. 4, Reynolds, Luke, Ketchikan, 11:04.50. 5, Ellis, Nathaniel, Ketchikan, 11:22.79. 6, Dobson, Sam, Thunder Mountain, 12:10.10. 7, Blust, Aaron, Juneau Douglas, 12:11.25. 8, Mead, Elijah, Thunder Mountain, 13:01.20.
Boys 110 Meter Hurdles — 1, Carlson, Christopher, Ketchikan, 18.87. 2, Chartier, Haydon, Juneau Douglas, 19.19. 3, Meyer, Nolan, Ketchikan, 19.31. 4, Credito, Ivers, Ketchikan, 19.51. 5, Ireland-Haight, Steven, Juneau Douglas, 23.00.
Boys 300 Meter Hurdles — 1, Credito, Ivers, Ketchikan, 44.44. 2, Cordero, Miguel, Thunder Mountain, 44.75. 3, Meyer, Nolan, Ketchikan, 45.03. 4, Suzuki, Shafer, Thunder Mountain, 45.35. 5, Deal, Riley, Ketchikan, 48.05. 6, Chartier, Haydon, Juneau Douglas, 51.65. 7, Ireland-Haight, Steven, Juneau Douglas, 53.36.
Boys 4×100 Meter Relay — 1, Thunder Mountain, 46.79. 2, Juneau Douglasas, 48.04. 3, Ketchikan, 48.30.
Boys 4×200 Meter Relay — 1, Ketchikan, 1:38.97. 2, Thunder Mountain, 1:39.62.
Boys 4×400 Meter Relay — 1, Thunder Mountain, 3:43.12. 2, Juneau Douglas, 3:45.06. 3, Ketchikan, 3:46.17.
Boys 4×800 Meter Relay — 1, Juneau Douglas, 8:32.28. 2, Thunder Mountain, 8:56.54. 3, Ketchikan, 9:05.80.
Boys High Jump — 1, Suzuki, Shafer, Thunder Mountain, 5-04. 2, Mathews, Hunter, Ketchikan, 5-03. 3, Holt, Trevor, Ketchikan, 5-00.
Boys Long Jump — 1, Beya, Ali, Thunder Mountain, 18-03.75. 2, Pasion, Germin, Ketchikan, 17-00.50. 3, Dulay, Grant Alphege, Ketchikan, 16-11.50. 4, Hickok, Dawson, Juneau Douglas, 16-10. 5, King, James (Jase), Thunder Mountain, 16-08.50. 6, Mathews, Hunter, Ketchikan, 16-05.75. 7, Bathija, Sahil, Juneau Douglas, 15-06.50. 8, Cordero, Miguel, Thunder Mountain, 15-00.50.
Boys Triple Jump — 1, Beya, Ali, Thunder Mountain, 37-03.25. 2, Meyer, Nolan, Ketchikan, 37-00. 3, Holt, Trevor, Ketchikan, 35-11.50. 4, Dulay, Grant Alphege, Ketchikan, 35-01.75. 5, Hickok, Dawson, Juneau Douglas, 34-03.50. 6, Weldon, Tyler, Juneau Douglas, 33-05.75. 7, King, James (Jase), Thunder Mountain, 32-03.50. 8, Laudert, Mitchell, Juneau Douglas, 28-07.50.
Boys Shot Put — 1, Wong, Brendan, Ketchikan, 42-07.75. 2, Rhoads, Joey, Ketchikan, 39-11. 3, Yoder, Justice, Ketchikan, 38-08.25. 4, Fenumiai, Lance, Juneau Douglas, 38-05.50. 5, Rosenbruch, Jakob, Thunder Mountain, 37-10. 6, Tupou, Maikeli, Thunder Mountain, 36-06. 7, Isaak, Daniel, Juneau Douglas, 30-08.25. 8, Nauer, Navy, Juneau Douglas, 29-01.75. 9, Ferster, Jake, Thunder Mountain, 28-01.25.
Boys Discus Throw — 1, Rhoads, Joey, Ketchikan, 123-01. 2, Rosenbruch, Jakob, Thunder Mountain, 118-09. 3, Fenumiai, Lance, Juneau Douglas, 118-08. 4, Wong, Brendan, Ketchikan, 118-01. 5, Yoder, Justice, Ketchikan, 117-06. 6, Tupou, Maikeli, Thunder Mountain, 109-04. 7, Eagan, Alex, Juneau Douglas, 77-03. 8, Dilley, Andrew, Thunder Mountain, 74-10.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.