Kenai Kardinals, Soldotna Stars and Nikiski Bulldogs athletes combined for 17 individual and relay event championships at the 2017 Region III 4A and 3A Track Championships, contested on two days at Homer High School. The Colony Knights won both the girls and boys 4A team titles; the Homer girls and Grace Christian Boys took the team titles at the 3A level.
4A Track & Field Championships
Kenai Girls: 4A GIrls Runner-up
The Kardinal girls finish as runner-up to the Colony Knights in the team scoring lead by double, indivdual event winner Katie Kilfoyle, who raced to victories in both the 100M and 300M hurdle events. Abby Beck won the girls shot put; and the Kardinals took both the 4X100M and 4X200M relays.
SoHi Girls:
The SoHi girls, without a first place finish, finished fourth in the team scoring. SoHi’s strength showed in the throwing events with seven place winners in the shot and discus events. SoHi also scored four athletes in the girls high jump.
SoHi Boys:
Abe Van Hout lead the Soldotna boys to a third place in the team scoring on twin victories in the hurdle events (110M and 300M) and a pair of relay team wins. SoHi won both the 4X200M relay and the 4X400M relay. Brenner Furlong anchored both winning relays and raced to an individual victory in the 400M. Wendall Tuisaula swept the throwing events with victories in the boys shot put and boys discus.
Kenai Boys:
Josh Jackman, Region III 4A Track & Field Athlete of the Year, lead the Kardinal boys with a pair of individual sprint titles. Jackman won both the 100M and 200M dash events; Jackman also finished second in the long jump and third in the triple jump.
Other Top Performances:
Colony’s Brandon Nicholson sweep the jumping events with victories in the long jump, triple jump and high jump. Nicholson set a Region III record in the triple jump at 47′ 2 1/2″, nearly a foot farther than the current state record.
Kodiak’s Keith Osowski raced to victories in the 800M, 1600M, and 3200M.
3A Track & Field Championships
Nikiski Bulldogs:
Nikiski track coach Jake Doth was named Region III 3A Coach of the Year.
Nikiski’s Issac Averill won the Bulldogs only gold medal with a victory in the 100M dash. Averill and the Bulldogs also won the 4X100M and 4X 200M relays.
Other Top Performances:
The Homer girls won the 3A team title behind hurdler Lauren Evarts double victories; Anna Brock’s win in the girls discus; Marina Carroll’s win in the triple jump; and the Mariners won all four relay events.
Seward’s Ruby Lindquist recorded wins in the 800m, 1600M, and 3200M runs; Seward’s Hunter Kratz won the 800M and 1600M events.
ASAA State Track & Field Championships qualifiers will be release through athletic.net and posted at www.radiokenai.com