Palmer boys, Colony girls win borough meet

Sports editor

WASILLA -- The Palmer boys' and Colony girls' track and field squads each won team titles at the annual Mat-Su Borough Championships at Wasilla High School this week.

Wasilla sophomore Suzanna Caldwell and Colony junior Peter Doner were named most valuable athletes of the event. Caldwell, a state qualifier for the Warriors last season, earned wins in the 800, 1600 and 3200-meter runs. Caldwell edged Palmer's Mary Brown by less than a second to win the 800, finished nearly 15 seconds ahead of the competition in the 1600 and nearly 20 seconds ahead of her closest foe in the 3200.

Wasilla coach Ed Marman said he expected good things from Caldwell, but maybe not to this degree.

"In the Valley she is running by herself," Marman said.

Doner, who has qualified for the state championships in both track and cross-country running, won the 800 for the Knights. Doner's time of 2:02 was nearly eight seconds better than teammate Ross Wise.

Led by strong showings from its sprinters, throwers and jumpers, Palmer easily took first place with 127 total points. The Moose occupied three of the top five spots in the shot put and the top three positions in the discus. Senior Junior Aumavae won the shot put with a throw of just more than 47 feet and Nick Pilch edged Aumavae in the discus with a throw of just more than 142 feet. Fellow Moose Justin McCain finished third in the discus and fifth in the shot put.

Senior Sam Zimmer won a pair of events for Palmer. Zimmer finished first in both the long jump and the 200.

Other Palmer winners included Tom Eller in the 300 hurdles, Jesse Prins in the triple jump and Mike Weber in the 800.

Justin Schwartzbauer led the second-place Colony boys with a win in the 110 hurdles and a third-place finish in the 400.

High finishes in the sprint and jump events helped secure the Colony girls 126 total points and an overall win in the team standings. Stevie McDowell and Shelby Beairsto each won a pair of events for the Knights. McDowell won the 100 and 200, while Beairsto finished first in the high jump and 100 hurdles.

The borough championships is the final major track and field meet before the region championships, which are scheduled to be held at Palmer High School May 14-15. Due to the lack of spring track events for the prep squads, Palmer is organizing a Valley-wide meet Tuesday at Palmer High School.

Mat-Su Borough Championships

Track and Field Meet

May 5-6, Wasilla High School

Team Scores: Boys: 1. Palmer 127, 2. Colony 110, 3. Wasilla 66, 4. Su Valley 19, 5. Houston 16; Girls: 1. Colony 126, 2. Palmer 101, 3. Wasilla 67, 4. Su Valley 17, 5. Wasilla 2.

Individual Scores: Boys: Shot Put: 1. Aumavae- Pal. 47'5", 2. Pilch- Pal. 45'2", 3. Kappler- Hou. 44'.75"; Discus: 1. Pilch- Pal. 142'4", 2. Aumavae-Pal. 140'6", 3. McCain-Pal. 133'7"; Long Jump: 1. Zimmer- Pal. 18'6", 2. Neher-Was. 17'9.5", 3. Prins-Pal. 17'4"; Triple Jump: 1. Prins-Pal. 38'3", 2. Neher-Was. 36'5.5"; 3. Rauchenstein- SV 35'6.5"; High Jump: 1. Neher- Was. 5'8", 2. Zimmer- Palmer 5'8", 3. Martinson- Hou. 5'4"; 3,200: 1. Erhart- Col. 10:28; 2. Thompson- Was. 10:45, 3. Wellse- Col. 10:50; 110 Hurdles: 1. Schwartzbauer- Col. 16.56, 2. Hodgson- Col. 21.10, 3. Gagnon- Was. 21.93; 800: 1. Weber-Pal. 12:03, 2. Denoncourt- Pal. 12:05, 3. Atwood- Col 12:18; 800 Relay: 1. Wasilla 1:41.5, 2. Su Valley 1:42.14, 3. Colony 1:45.08; 1600: Erhart- Col. 4:44.05, 2. Wise- Col. 4:47.39, 3. Hundley- Pal. 4:58.30; 400 Relay: 1. Palmer 47.68, 2. Colony 49.99, 3. Wasilla 50.02; 400: 1. Craddick- Pal. 54.45, 2. Snyder- Col 54.59, 3. Schwartzbauer- Col. 56.16; 300 Hurdles: 1. Eller- Pal. 47.23, 2. Neher- Was. 47.93, 3. Gagnon- Was. 49.96; 800: 1. Doner- Col. 2:02.82, 2. Wise- Col. 2:10.20 3. Erhart- Col. 2:11.03; 200: 1. Zimmer- Pal. 24.15, 2. Denoncourt- Pal. 24.28, 3. Bererra- Was. 24.71; 1600 Relay: Colony 3:46.91, 2. Palmer 3:47.95, 3. Su Valley 4:00.09; Girls: Shot Put: 1. Cramer- Pal. 29'9", 2. Hartley- SV 29'4.25", 3. Menegin- Col. 29'2.25"; Discus: 1. Cramer- Pal. 90', 2. Schuetter- Pal. 88'1", 3. Kelly- Col. 88'10"; Long Jump: 1. Putnam- Was. 15'8.75", 2. Everett- Col. 15'6", 3. McDowell- Col. 13'10.5"; Triple Jump: 1. Huggins- Col. 33'5", 2. 2. Beairsto- Col. 32'11.5", 3. Putnam- Was. 32'2.5"; High Jump: 1. Beairsto- Col. 5')', 2. Lincecum- Pal. 4'10", 3. Rauchenstein- SV 4'9"; 3200: 1. Caldwell- Was. 12:34, 2. Lincecum- Pal. 12.53, 3. Ostermick- SV 13.19; 100 Hurdles: 1. Beairsto- Col. 17.15, 2. Theisen- Pal. 17.81, 3. Babcock- Col. 18.05; 100: 1. McDowell- Col. 12.94, 2. Huggins- Col. 13.38, 3. Lincecum- Pal. 13.58; 800 Relay: 1. Palmer 1:58.12, 2. Su Valley 2:00.46, 3. Wasilla 2:06.52; 1600: 1. Caldwell- Was. 5:51.65, 2. Liner-Pal. 6:10.94, 3. Doner- Col. 6:12.04; 400 Relay: 1. Palmer 54.98, 2. Wasilla 56.85, 3. Su Valley 59.19; 400: 1. Klawitter- Col. 1:09.10, 2. Hermanns- Was. 1:09.40, 3. Sanders- Pal. 1:10.94; 300 Hurdles: 1. Babcock- Col. 51.77, 2. Foster- Was. 55.81, 3. Ostermick- SV 58.95; 800: 1. Caldwell- Was. 2:38.22, 2. Brown-Pal. 2:38.79, 3. LeFrance-Pal. 2:50.47; 200: 1. McDowell- Col. 27.16, 2. Huggins- Col. 27.86, 3. Everett- Col. 29.26; 1600 Relay: 1. Su Valley 4:33.17, 2. Colony 4:46.45, 3. Palmer 5:08.74; 3200 Relay: 1. Palmer 11:03, 82, 2. Colony 11.03.83, 3. Su Valley 11:30.78.