How much? He wasn’t quite sure.
But now the head coach of the Wasilla High School track and field team is figuring out there are some fast folks in the freshman class.
 ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Wasilla freshman Morgan Dampier starts her leg of the 1600-meter sprint medley relay Saturday at the Palmer Relays. |
Dampier was also second in both the 200- and 400-meter events.
“I heard stories about Morgan,” Howell said. “I knew she was fast. But a lot of times with middle school kids, they’re middle school fast. That doesn’t translate necessarily.”
It may not always translate, but Dampier seems to have weathered the transition to the prep track. Dampier currently has the state’s fifth-best time in the 400, with her mark of 1 minute, 1.84 seconds. She finished first in the 200 and 400 during the Palmer Chaos early in the year, and Dampier and Rust helped the Warriors win the 800 relay at the Skyview Invite.
After running a relay during the Palmer Relays on Saturday, Dampier said she didn’t expect to have this much success so soon in her career.
“No, not at all,” Dampier, who was quick to credit the Wasilla coaching staff, said. “We’ve had a lot of motivation from our coaches.”
Rust, who is currently in a tie for the second-best high jump in the state, also didn’t expect to see these types of results so quickly.
“I didn’t at all,” she said.
But like Dampier, Rust said the team has provided a great deal of motivation.
“We’ve been pushing each other a lot,” Rust said.
Rust has won the high jump in two meets this year. She jumped a meet-best 4 feet, 8 inches at the Palmer Choas. She was first in the Skyview Invitational with a mark of 4-8, just shy of the state’s top jump of 4-10. Rust has done all of that despite competing in the high jump for the first time this spring.
“She’s never jumped before this year and she’s a 4-8’er,” Howell said.
Howell said Rust also produced eye-opening results during her first stab at the triple jump on Saturday.
“Today, she triple jumped for the first time ever and got 29-11,” Howell said. “That’s the second or third best triple jump in the region.”
Howell said he wants to move Rust from the 300 hurdles to the triple jump, simply because of her performance on Saturday. He’d like to try her in more mid-distance and distance events, but there are just not enough meets, Howell said.
“Kiera, I knew she had a ton of potential,” Howell said. “In March, when we were doing preseason stuff, we were doing (plyometrics) and she was jumping all the boxes the boys were jumping. Junior and senior boys.”
Howell is certainly excited about his freshman class — a group that also includes distance runner Jessica Pahkala — and is beginning to think these freshman could nicely factor into Wasilla’s total points during the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships.
“Our track team, we’re only going to graduate one senior,” Howell said. “It’s Rachel Hoffman, who’s a phenomenal athlete, but it’s nice to know we’ll be able to fill in and have some depth. This year’s been really encouraging.”
Wasilla is not the only Valley girls program benefiting from young talent.
Colony freshman Taylor Stewart is among a handful of jumpers tied with Rust for the state’s second-best high jump of 4-8. Stewart also has the state’s fourth-best triple jump, a leap of 32-2.75 she’s posted twice this year.
Stewart finished second in the Big C Relays at The Dome early in the year and third in the long jump at the Palmer Chaos two weeks later. She’s competed in the triple jump in four meets this year, never finishing lower than third.
Fellow Colony freshman Alyssa Hutchins is part of a 3,200-meter relay squad that has the second-best time in the state. Hutchins is also seventh in the state in the 800, 14th in the 3,200 and 15th in the 1,600.
Susitna Valley freshman Bailey Stevenson has also hit the 4-8 mark in the high jump.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
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