Phoenix Jacobson competes in the high jump in Ketchikan last weekend for Haines’ first track meet since 2019.
Avery Williamson
Phoenix Jacobson competes in the high jump in Ketchikan last weekend for Haines’ first track meet since 2019.
The Haines track team competed in Ketchikan on April 23 and 24. This was the first track meet since May 2019. Sixteen Haines athletes competed, and together the team set 24 personal records.
Sophomore Phoenix Jacobson tied for fourth in the high jump with a jump of 4’10”. Jacobson had never practiced the high jump before, but is now ranked third in the region.
Senior Mark Davis set a personal best in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.9 seconds. He placed first for the race, followed by teammate senior Carson Crager who ran a time of 45.9 seconds.
Junior Kaleb Jones ran a personal best of 11:24.0 in the 3200-meter dash. Jones said his 1600-meter split in that race was also his fastest recorded mile.
The girls 4x100m relay team set a new school record of 56.3 seconds. Junior Avery Williamson ran the first leg of the relay. Williamson handed off to sophomore Grace Long, who handed off to sophomore Avari Getchell. When Getchell passed the baton to senior Haley Boron, Ketchikan was in the lead. Boron passed Ketchikan’s Carlee Zartman early in the final leg and won the relay.
The former 4x100m record was set in 2011 with a time of 59.05. Boron is confident the relay team will continue to break their current record. “Our relay team is composed of very dedicated runners,” said Boron. “I believe that with more conditioning and handoff practice we will have an even faster time than we did in Ketchikan.”
The boys’ 4×200-meter and 4×400-meter relays team also won their races. The girls 4×200-meter and boys 4×800-meter relays received second.
The boys’ and girls’ teams both ranked third overall at the meet, behind Ketchikan and Sitka. At the Region V track meet, Haines will not compete against Ketchikan and Sitka because they’re in the large-schools division.
Head track coach Greg Brittenham said that Haines competed above and beyond expectations. He said that Haines received the most first and second places despite competing against tougher divisions.
This meet was also the first time the team ran on a track all season. The Haines track has been unusable due to snow and mud. The track team is now able to train on it.
The next meet for Haines will be May 7-8 in Juneau. The following meet will be at home, May 14-15.
More official times and records can be viewed online at athletic.net.