Back on track

** Editor’s note: This is the first piece of a two-part preview of the Mat-Su Valley prep track and field squads.

MAT-SU — Gary Howell has watched the Wasilla High School track and field team steadily grow during the last few years.

But this year, Howell saw the number of athletes on his roster skyrocket.

There are 72 athletes on the WHS squad, Howell said, more than double the total from last year.

“Success brings numbers,” the Wasilla head coach said of a team that placed 13 athletes in the 2008 state championship meet. “People want to be part of the program.”

Of the 13 who qualified for state last season, 10 have returned, and Howell and his assistants have a truck load of young talent to add to that veteran core.

“We’ve got a lot of young kids,” Howell said. “Kids are just getting involved, that sophomore class in particular.”

Howell said the split between boys and girls is fairly equal, but the Warriors definitely have more underclassmen than juniors or seniors.

“We’re young — pretty freshmen and sophomore heavy,” Howell said.

But when you add the younger athletes to the veterans, Howell said, the Warriors are fairly well-rounded.

“Last year we were very distance-laden,” Howell said. “This year the sprinters are showing a lot of promise, there are some jumpers and a good throw program.”

Leading the squad in the girls’ events is senior Rachel Hoffman, the defending Northern Lights Conference champion in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.

“She looks fantastic,” Howell said.

Junior Skyler Nuss will also compete in the hurdles, and is establishing herself as one of the top throwers on the WHS girls squad.

Sophomore Alison Kelley and junior Keri Clump, a pair of returning state qualifiers, have both stood out. The duo helped lead WHS to a second-place finish in the 3,200-relay during the NLC Championships.

Clump and Kelley were third and fourth respectively in the 800-meter during the NLC Championships last year.

Howell is excited about a freshman class which includes Kiera Rust and Morgan Dampier. Howell said either could compete in about any event other than the throws.

A pair of throwers lead the WHS boys squad.

Senior Chris Lafe won the shot put during the Big C Relays in Anchorage last week and junior John Knowles finished second in the discus.

“They’ll both be in the top tier in the state, without a doubt,” Howell said.

Knowles was fourth in the NLC in the discus and was one of three Warrior boys to qualify for state last year.

Wasilla is led by its junior class in the sprints. Taylor Owens and Steven Pine missed the state meet by mere “tenths” of a second, Howell said, and both should add depth to the WHS relay teams.

The Warriors have a host of young athletes in the distance events, a group led by freshmen MIchael Johnston and Simon Fischer.

Freshman Tyler Anderson could become a high jump specialist for WHS, Howell said.

At Palmer High, head coach Dale Ewart said the roster is smaller than what he usually expects, but the Moose do have an influx of young talent.

“There are a lot of new faces,” Ewart said. “A pretty promising group of freshmen.”

The Palmer boys finished second in the 4A state meet last season and won four events in the state finals, but everyone who stood at the top of the podium for the Moose is now gone.

Jake Parisien, who won the 3,200-meter title and led the Moose to a win in the 3,200-meter relay, is now running cross country at the college level for UAA. Kevin Smith, who won the state title in the 800, also graduated. John Daly, who was first in the 200 and fifth in the 100, transferred to Bartlett, Ewart said.

“It’s hard to replace a state champ,” Ewart said.

Ewart expects juniors Coleman Ahrens and John Scoresby to lead the Palmer sprinters, and has a newcomer to pace the distance runners.

Junior Wylie Mangelsdorf, a standout cross country runner for the Moose, is on the track squad for the first time.

Leading the Moose throwers are seniors J.D. Mitchell, Jesse Marden and David Zoerb.

“They all placed in about half the meets last year,” Ewart said. “I look for all three to go to state in the discus.”

On the girls’ side, the Moose have a bunch of new faces. But there are a few veterans to lead the pack.

Five state qualifiers — Erika Chambers, Tabitha Corbin, Erin LaMere and Morgan Whitfield — return.

Chambers, LaMere and Nuernberg all qualified in the throwing events, and the Moose also have senior Rashayne Zimmer to add more depth to the throwing events.

Whitfield will be a staple in the mid-distance and distance events, Ewart said. The Moose will have to be without Corbin, who suffered a knee injury, for much of the regular season.

Both Wasilla and Palmer competed in the Big C Relays last week in Anchorage, but will have to wait until April 24 for the next major event.

Wasilla is slated to compete in the Skyview Invitational in Soldotna on April 24-25 and the Moose will participate in the North Pole Invite in the Interior that weekend.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.