Fans get one last chance to see several seniors compete in the Haines Invitational Track Meet starting 2:30 p.m. Friday with high jump at Karl Ward Gym. Events continue 9 a.m. Saturday at Sharnbroich Field.
Senior Matthew Green, a high jumper and discus thrower whose toss of 122-5 last week was the top throw among small schools statewide, this week will be trying the 110-meter high hurdles.
“For athletes like Matthew, this is their last home meet, so we’re letting them try out a few more events than normal,” said coach Keri Ewing. “It’s a chance for them to try something new and have some fun” before buckling down for the regional championship the following weekend.
Green has proven himself a natural athlete in recent meets, sticking a 17-3.75 leap in his first attempt at long jump last weekend at the Juneau Invitational, good enough to score points. He also ran on a 4-by-100 meter relay team that placed third and his high jump of five feet notched a third place; a jump of 5-6 won the meet. “We think Matthew is a 5-4 jumper, at least,” Ewing said.
Haines boys and girls squads each placed fifth in last week’s meet, where runners from nine schools competed. Glacier Bear competitors included seven boys and five girls. Four boys missed the meet for eligibility or schedule conflicts.
Boys scoring included: 1) Thunder Mountain, 203, 2) Sitka, 132, 3) Juneau-Douglas, 93, 4) Ketchikan, 83, 5) Haines, 48, 6) Petersburg, 38, 7) Thorne Bay, 38, 8) Yakutat, 4, and 9) Skagway, 1. Girls scoring: 1) Thunder Mountain, 258, 2) Ketchikan, 100, 3) Sitka, 84, 4) Petersburg, 63, 5) Haines, 48, 6) Juneau-Douglas, 18, 7) Gustavus, 16, 8) Yakutat, 7, and 9) Thorne Bay, 2.
Senior Casey Bradford, who last week placed fourth in the 400-meter run (54.9) and fifth in the 200 meters (24.6), will try putting the shot this week. “Casey has always wanted to do shot,” Ewing said. Bradford also ran on the team’s 4-by-100 meter relay, along with Green, sophomore Carl Tupou and junior Jacob Stigen.
Junior Jacob Stigen will be joining Green in trying the 110-meter hurdles this weekend. Stigen previously has competed in the 1,600-meter run and 300-meter hurdles. This week he’ll switch from the 1,600-meter to the 800-meter run.
“Jacob has a good jump. He’s been working with assistant coach (Greg) Brittenham. With Jacob’s endurance and his 100-meter time, it could be a good fit,” Ewing said this week.
The girls team last weekend was led by senior Destinee Cowart, who won the discus with a toss of 87-2, a personal record and nearly an eight-foot improvement over her throw in Sitka two weeks ago. “I got all the right stuff to happen at once,” Cowart said this week. She’s hoping to improve as much again. “It would be really cool to break 90.”
Cowart also placed fifth in shot put and ran on a 4-by-100 relay team that included seniors Bailey Stuart and Nataphon “Ice” Wangyot and junior Jordan Stigen. Classmate Autumn Gross placed fourth in the shot last weekend with a 26-3 throw, a performance off her personal best. She’s hoping to heave it past 30 feet this weekend.
Senior Wangyot again won the 200-meter run last weekend, posting a time of 27.95. She placed third in the 100-meter run with a time of 13.77. Stigen placed fourth in the 330 hurdles last week and Stuart was fifth in the discus with a 76-10 toss.
About 100 athletes from Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain high schools will be in town for this weekend’s meet, and many plan to attend the Haines prom. “They’ve doubled the size of our prom,” Ewing said.
Coach Ewing said Alixanne Goodman-Cornish recently joined the team as an assistant coach to work with distance running events, where Haines is thin. The team this week will have no runners entered in the 1,600-meter or 3,200-meter runs.
Distance events have been popular in track this year, partly due to a cadre of Sitka runners recruited by coach Jeremy Strong, who grew up in Haines. Ewing said 41 runners competed in the 1,600-meter run in last week’s meet in Juneau.
Volunteers were still needed for this weekend’s meet at press time Wednesday. To help, contact activities director Tiana Taylor at 766-6700 or at the track.