Haines High School’s younger and older track team competes in its only home meet of the season starting 2:30 p.m. Friday at Sharnbroich Field. It continues 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Glacier Bears, with 17 athletes, will face 19 competitors from Thunder Mountain and 35 from Juneau Douglas. Skagway fleetfoot Ethan Goebel – who won the 400-, 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at last weekend’s Juneau Invitational, may also compete, said Haines coach Keri Ewing.
Dominated by freshmen and seniors, Haines has delivered surprise performances by underclassmen while the hurdling Stigen twins – seniors Jacob and Jordan – provide points and team leadership.
Coach Ewing said his athletes set about 30 personal records last weekend and that bodes well. “It was a good meet. I was encouraged by the PRs,” citing impressive gains by long jumpers Jordan Stigen and freshman Megan Whitermore. “Everyone’s improving.”
Athletes from Thunder Mountain, Juneau-Douglas, Sitka, Ketchikan, Petersburg, Skagway, Yakutat, Thorne Bay and Gustavus competed.
Senior rookie Anna Fullerton set personal records in shot put (23-0) and discus (58-04), finishing sixth and 11 respectively, while freshman phenom Dante Light placed second in discus (107-01) and helped a 4-by-400 relay squad capture third behind Thunder Mountain and Sitka (4:05).
Senior Mori Hays, who with Stigen and freshman Siyel Galindo-George round out the relay, finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles (47.13), one place behind Stigen in the event Hays just took up this year. “He turned it on,” said coach Ewing.
With a time of 17.31, Stigen finished third in the 110-meter hurdles. By season’s end, he’s aiming to take more than a second off his time in the event and run as fast as 44 seconds in the 300-meter hurdles. He’s also looking for a faster team finish in the 4-by-400 relay. “I think all of us are faster than we went in Juneau,” Stigen said.
Sophomore Patrick Cunningham placed an inspired fifth on his first attempt at triple jumping (36-4.5) and notched a personal record in long jump (17-0), also good for fifth place. He needs just an inch in long jump and 8 inches in triple to rank second in those events among small schools in Southeast.
Galindo-George finished 17th of 41 runners entered in the 1,600-meter run last week (5:10) and 10th in the 3,200-meter run (10:52). Sophomore Kamakana Kanahele led Haines boys in shot put (33-04).
Chasing Fullerton in the field events on the girls’ team are freshmen Becca Wheeler (discus, 57-07) and Kiana Donat (shot put, 22-06). Showing great promise, Donat also led the Haines girls in long jump at her first meet last weekend, leaping 12-3.
A meet in Haines is a mixed bag for athletes. While Sharnbroich Field’s gravel surface slows runners, its shot-put and jumping pits are among the finest in Southeast.
Coach Ewing said his athletes will try some new events, including Light in high jump, Cunningham in 100-meter dash and a squad of senior Madeline Andriesen, Jordan Stigen, Donat and Whitermore in a 4-by-100 relay.
“It should be good weather and a fun meet. The kids are excited to get out there,” Ewing said.