PHS senior breaks school record

ANCHORAGE — Palmer’s Jake Parisien and Kodiak’s Trevor Dunbar have a rivalry that’s as fierce as any in Alaska track and field, but you’d never know it by looking at the two long-distance racing stars when they’re not running.

“We’re really good friends,” Parisien said Saturday following the 3,200-meter finals at the Big C Relays at The Dome in Anchorage.

Immediately after the race, the two friends smiled and shook hands before heading to the turf-covered infield to chat about how the race went down. Smiling and laughing, the two looked more like teammates than competitors.

Dunbar, still just a junior, completed a sweep of the distance events Saturday with a smoking-fast time of 9 minutes 11.9 seconds in the 3,200, finishing eight seconds ahead of Parisien, a senior at Palmer. Both runners’ times were well under the current state record of 9:25.26, which Dunbar set at last year’s state meet. Official state records can only be set at the state meet.

It’s no coincidence that Dunbar and Parisien are clocking such fast times. During Saturday’s race, the two ran neck-and-neck for the first six laps of the eight lap race, setting a blistering pace as the race unfolded. He didn’t pull away until the final lap, leaving Parisien to settle for second. The next-closest runner, Heritage’s Allen Cassel, was almost a lap back when Parisien crossed the finish line.

Dunbar and Parisien are frequent training partners, running together whenever Dunbar is able to get to the mainland.

“He helps me and I help him,” Parisien said.

Saturday’s times were personal bests for both runners, and Parisien said Dunbar’s fast pace was the reason for his strong showing.

“I wouldn’t have been able to go that fast without him,” he said.

Though Dunbar got the best of Parisien again on Saturday, the Palmer runner said he believes he’s still got room to improve, and thinks that catching the Kodiak speedster isn’t impossible.

“My speed’s coming,” Parisien said. “I just need to add a little more endurance.”

Dunbar, meanwhile, said he’s focusing more on Don Clary, whose time of 9:04.4 in the two mile (actually 3,219 meters) set in 1975 is the oldest state record on the books.

“If I can put up a good fight for it this year, I’ll go for it,” he said.

If Dunbar does break the record, it’s a good bet Parisien will be responsible for helping him push the limits of how fast Alaska runners can go.

“It’s easier when you have someone else there to help do the work with you,” Dunbar said.

Though he had to settle for second place, Parisien did manage to break the Palmer High 3,200 record by more than 20 seconds inside the climate-controlled dome, which was hosting its first-ever track and field meet over the weekend. Parisien also tied the PHS 1,600-meter record on Friday, finishing second to — who else — Dunbar. Dunbar also won the 800-meter run Friday, making him the only individual athlete to win three events at the meet.

More than 700 athletes from 25 schools participated in the two-day meet, including all five Mat-Su track and field programs.

Parisien wasn’t the only Valley athlete to make themselves comfortable inside the 170,000 square foot facility. Susitna Valley’s Caitlin Hunt took first place in the girls’ high jump with a leap of 5-feet even, besting Soldotna’s Chelsea Wilbanks by one inch. Hunt’s high jump was equal to the height Lathrop’s Hannah White cleared to win the state meet last year. Hunt was the only Mat-Su athlete to win an individual event at the meet, which did not tabulate overall team scores.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

Big C Relays

At The Dome

Anchorage

GIRLS

100-meter — 1. MiCall Sweet, Dim, 13.04; 2. Brandy Jayne, ER, 13.17; 3. Lierin Flanagan, Ken, 13.22; 4. Jessica Todd, 13.31.

800-meter — 1. Nychele Fischetti, ACS, 2:23.70; 2. Kristen King, ER, 2:28.80; 3. Brooke Forsi, CIA, 2:30.77; 4. Jaime Bronga, East, 2:32.61; 5. Anna Filippova, Dim, 2:32.79; 6. Jessica Gross, Was, 2:36.69.

1,600-meter — 1. Shoshana Keegan, West, 5:29.36; 2. Abby Reed, Kod, 5:36.3; 3. Mariah Applegate, Grace, 5:38.3; 4. Kristen King, ER, 5:38.6; 5. Holly Kopp, CIA, 5:40.6; 6. Heidi Doner, Col, 5:42.1.

3,200-meter — 1. Nychele Fischetti, ACS, 11:33.90; 2. Abby Reed, Kod, 11:55.90; 3. Mariah Applegate, Grace, 11:57.20; 4. Holly Kopp, CIA, 12:10.50; 5. Jacqueline Lutz, Pal, 12:17.80; 6. Rubye Foldager, Sew, 12:21.80.

100-meter hurdles — 1. Lauren Laichak, Dim, 15.90; 2. Anna Simmers, ACS, 15.95; 3. Brandy Jayne, ER, 16.52; 4. Phoenix Harlan, East, 16.93; 5. Sara Lopez, South, 17.27; 6. Keiahnna Engel, Dim, 18.89.

300-meter hurdles — 1. Lauren Laichak, Dim, 48.73; 2. Denali Foldager, Sew, 48.85; 3. Stacy Wheeler, West, 49.22; 4. Amie Smithwick, CIA, 50.53; 5. Keiahnna Engel, Dim, 50.73; 6. Brandy Jayne, ER, 50.88.

400-meter relay — 1. West (Soderlund, LaPierre, McGuire, Dalton), 53.39; 2. Kodiak, 53.91; 3. Cook Inlet, 54.17; 4. Bartlett, 54.21; 5. South, 54.84; 6. East, 55.32.

1,600-meter relay — 1. Dimond (Bagsby, Engel, Todd, Jackson), 4:09.41; 2. Bartlett, 4:15.50; 3. West, 4:17.91; 4. Service, 4:26.87; 5. Cook Inlet, 4:27.68; 6. ACS, 4:30.37.

3,200-meter relay — 1. West (Wheeler, Roelle, Keegan, Dalton), 10:12.2; 2. Colony (Megan Bowker, Heidi Doner, Maria Wick, Sydney Stewart), 10:34.7; 3. Seward, 10:37.1; 4. Wasilla (Kendra Nelson, Alison Kellye, Keri Clump, Katie Bialka), 10:39.8; 5. Kenai, 10:40.7; 6. Soldotna, 10:44.3.

800-meter sprint medley — 1. Bartlett (Tillman, Todd, Young, Williams), 1:53.99; 2. Dimond, 1:55.48; 3. ACS, 2:01.88; 4. East, 2:02.82; 5. Grace, 2:03.77; 6. South, 2:04.21.

1,600-meter sprint medley — 1. Dimond (Bagsby, Laichak, Jackson, Filippova), 4:25.45; 2. ACS, 4:28.51; 3. Bartlett, 4:38.99; 4. Kodiak, 4:40.19; 5. Colony (Megan Bowker, Sierra Hodgson, Maria Wick, Abby Nagel), 4:40.41; 6. East, 4:41.52.

High jump — 1. Caitlin Hunt, Susitna Valley, 5 feet; 2. Chelsea Wilbanks, Sol, 4-11; 3. Siobhan Johansen, Col, 4-10; 4. Linzee Burcham, Kod, 4-6; 5. Kassandra Smith, West, 4-6; 6. Sierra Hodgson, Col, 4-6.

Long jump — 1. Sylvia Bullock, 16-3; 2. Ashley Bartolowits, Nin, 15-6; 3. Sierra Hodgson, Col, 14-11.5; 4. Jessica Todd, Dim, 14-6.75; 5. Kimmy Jackson, Dim, 14-4.75; 6. Megan Gordon, Sol, 14-3.

Shot put — 1. Paige Blackburn, Sol, 38-0.5; 2. Crystal Tui, West, 35-3.25; 3. Amanda Jackson, East, 34-3.5; 4. Ashley Grant, Dimond, 32-10; 5. Nyesha Joseph, Dim, 31-9.5; 6. Chelsea Dyson, ACS, 31-0.25.

Discus —1. Paige Blackburn, Sol, 116-10.5; 2. Nyesha Joseph, Dim, 100-11; 3. Amanda Jackson, East, 100-7; 4. Tui, West, 96-8; 5. Rebecca Riopelle, Grace, 95-6.5; 6. Ashley Bowen, Bartlett, 92-11.

BOYS

100-meter — 1. Ethan Hewitt, Chu, 11.20; 2. Andy Dittman, Kod, 11.60; 3. Marcus Mendez, Bar, 11.60; 4. Michael Odell, Kod, 11.62; 5. Biko Burford, Dim, 11.79; 6. Jordan Slay, West, 11.80.

800-meter — 1. Trevor Dunbar, Kod, 2:00.15; 2. Drew Edwards, Grace, 2:00.19; 3. Travis Price, Sew, 2:01.31; 4. Ryan Hanley, Dim, 2:02.67; 5. Bart Grabman, East, 2:06.06.

1,600-meter — 1. Trevor Dunbar, Kod, 4:17.92; 2. Jake Parisien, Pal, 4:22.6; 3. Cody Huggins, Col, 4:35; 4. Cody Phelps, Ser, 4:35.5; 5. Will Estes, West, 4:37.6; 6. Billy Kiefer, Ken, 4:40.

3,200-meter — 1. Trevor Dunbar, Kod, 9:11.90; 2. Jake Parisien, Pal, 9:19.44; 3. Allen Cassel, Her, 10:09.20; 4. Jani Lane, Ser, 10:10.66; 5. Ryan Cox, Grace, 10:12.38; 6. Cody Huggins, Col, 10:16.32.

110-meter hurdles — 1. Ceylon Mitchell, East, 15.63; 2. Bill Chimphalee, Ken, 15.75; 3. Tony Guzman, Pal, 16.35; 4. Isaiah Hoyer, West, 16.36; 5. Keith Underwood, Dim, 16.76; 6. Michael Thorton, Sky, 16.90.

300-meter hurdles — 1. Ceylon Mitchell, East, 41.72; 2. Tony Guzman, 42.41; 3. Dylan Beck, Sew, 43.54; 4. Kevin Campbell, Dim, 44.06; 5. Michael Thornton, Sky, 44.19; 6. Jaron Murphy, Col, 44.53.

400-meter relay — 1. Bartlett (Chenault, Hale, Mendez, Reid), 45.49; 2. Palmer (Christopher Forkner, Tony Guzman, Devin Konkler, John Scoresby), 45.56; 3. Kodiak, 45.88; 4. West, 46.48; 5. East, 46.49; 6. Dimond, 46.71.

1,600-meter relay — 1. Bartlett (Janssen, Hale, Reid, O’Connor), 3:31.58; 2. Grace, 3:35.90; 3. Kodiak, 3:36.72; 4. Service, 3:39.28; 5. Palmer (Davis Dunlap, Rick LeCheminant, Kevin Smith, Bryce Jacobson), 3:39.72; 6. West, 3:40.72.

3,200-meter relay — 1. Grace (Zimmerman, Karlberg, Edwards, Cox), 8:25.7; 2. Kodiak, 8:34.9; 3. Seward, 8:36.2; 4. Colony (Blake Wangberg, Brad Truax, Matt Swan, Cody Huggins), 8:38.8; 5. Palmer (Thorton DePriest, Ryan Cunningham, Kevin Smith, Jake Parisien), 8:39.4; 6. West, 8:45.3.

800-meter sprint medley — 1. Bartlett (Hale, Reid, Chenault, Shittu), 1:40.01; 2. South, 1:41.54; 3. Eagle River, 1:41.56; 4. Dimond, 1:41.85; 5. Kodiak, 1:42.82; 6. Palmer (Rick Lecheminant, John Scoresby, Bryce Jacobson, Tony Guzman), 1:43.07.

1,600-meter sprint medley — 1. Dimond (Burford, Hanley, Nasir, Demoss), 3:42.42; 2. Colony (Todd Atwood, Brad Truax, Matt Swan, Jesse Thornock), 3:44.49; 3. Bartlett, 3:44.67; 4. Seward, 3:46.50; 5. Palmer (Kevin Smith, John Scoresby, Thorton DePriest, Ryan Cunningham), 3:49.96; 6. East, 3:50.26.

High jump — 1. Ben Jackson, Ser, 6 feet; 2. Ryan Holta, Dim, 6 feet; 3. Travis Price, Sew, 6 feet; 4. Chris Plooy, Dim, 6 feet; 5. Christopher Tuohy, South, 6 feet; 6. Dylan Beck, Sew, 5-10.

Long jump — 1. Ben Jackson, Ser, 21-2; 2. Ryan Clay, South, 20-3.25; 3. Benjamin Larson, East, 19-9; 4. Matt Jaronik, Col, 19-6.25; 5. Bill Chimphalee, Ken, 18-9.25; 6. Andrew Freed, Ser, 18-8.

Shot put — 1. Jordan Clarke, Bar, 65-6.5; 2. Ian Rosario, Chu, 50-0.75; 3. Ryan Shelton, Sol, 47-3.5; 4. Michael Odell, Kod, 47-1.25; 5. John Knowles, Was, 45-4.25; 6. Mitchell Swensen, Dim, 45-1.

Discus —1. Jordan Clarke, Bar, 170-10.5; 2. Mitchell Swensen, Dim, 145-1; 3. Gabriel Holland, South, 136-1.5; 4. Nate Byrd, Ken, 135-01; 5. John Knowles, Was, 124-9.5; 6. Garrett McLean, South, 122-7.