Top athletes for Haines High School showed off their speed and power during a season-opening track and field meet in Juneau last weekend.
Senior Devin Light won the boys’ 100-meter and 200-meter sprints, besting Class 4A opponents. He won the 100 meters by nearly half a second, with a time of 11.58 seconds. That places him 14th overall in the state, according to results posted at http://www.athletic.net.
“Devin is just such a natural talent,” said Haines coach Jim Stanford.
Senior Serena Badgley placed second overall in the triple jump, trailing defending Class 4A state champion Naomi Welling of host Thunder Mountain by about a foot. Senior Chevy Fowler was second in the boys’ long jump (18’2”), again trailing only Thunder Mountain.
In team scoring, the Glacier Bear boys ranked fifth of eight squads, behind Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan, Sitka and Juneau-Douglas, and ahead of Skagway, Thorne Bay and Yakutat. The girls’ team ranked seventh, with Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan and Sitka again taking top honors.
“The kids just performed,” Stanford said. “They just ran their hearts out. All the coaches are just extremely proud of this team.”
At the regional competition and state, the Glacier Bears will compete against Class 1A, 2A and 3A opponents for titles.
“Our kids took a lot of thirds and fourths, but that was against the 4A schools,” Stanford said.
Sophomore Kai Hays was the top small-schools performer in the boys’ discus, with a throw of 112’3”. That mark ranked Hays fourth overall, with the top three finishers all representing Thunder Mountain, and was about nine feet farther than the fifth-place thrower, from Sitka.
Haines had two girls place among the best discus throwers, with sophomore Autumn Gross (81’) third and senior Rebekah Green (78’7”) fourth. The top two entrants were from Thunder Mountain and Ketchikan, respectively.
Stanford noted the boys’ team had to swap some events, due to an injury to senior sprinter Isaac Wing. “At the last minute, we had to throw in kids who hadn’t really practiced with the relay teams before.”
Next up for the Glacier Bears is this weekend’s home meet, which Stanford said is “probably going to be the largest track meet that Haines has ever seen,” with about 100 entrants expected from out of town, from Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain and Sitka.
“Some top-notch athletes are coming through,” he said.
The meet is scheduled to start 3 p.m. Friday with throwing events, followed by a 3:30 p.m. start for running events. The meet kicks off again 10 a.m. Saturday.
Stanford this week said housing was a concern for the May 9-10 meet, and residents also are needed to serve as timers and judges. Call the school at 766-6725 for more information.