Prep girls track and field preview

WASILLA — Last season, the Wasilla Warriors only had two members of its track and field team advance to the state championship meet in Fairbanks.

So in May, when the Warriors prepare for the state meet, hosted by Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, WHS head coach Gary Howell hopes the arrangements will be different.

“I want to put in a bus request instead of just renting a car,” Howell said on Saturday.

While it is still pretty early for coaches to start estimating how many spots their teams can secure in the final meet, Howell is hoping to make significant improvements to last year’s number.

Of the two Warriors who did compete in the sate meet — Kayla Oosting and Hillarie Putnam — one is gone, Putnam.

But with Putnam, who graduated last May, a ton of Wasilla’s points from the 2007 season also left.

Putnam, the athlete of the meet at the state championships, won individual titles in the long jump and triple jump, and carried the Warriors to a fourth-place finish in the state meet.

But to go along with Oosting, who was sixth in the triple jump at the Region III Championships, Howell thinks he can replace many of the points Putnam earned with production from an other area.

“I think we’ll pick up a lot of them in the distance,” Howell said. “A lot of these girls running distance didn’t run last year.”

Howell, who is also the head coach of the WHS cross country running squad, has brought most of his runners from the fall out on to the track this spring.

Among the leaders is senior Kendra Nelson, who finished a team-high 11th in the 4A state cross country championships in September, and helped the Warriors win the region crown with a fourth-place finish at the Region III Cross Country Championships earlier that month.

Nelson, who will run for the Southwestern Oregon Community College cross country running team next fall, is joined by fellow cross country running standouts such as Katie Bialka (seventh at the region cross country meet), Brooke Nelson (11th), Jessica Gross (12th) and Elle Fuller (16th).

“We’ve got the whole cross country contingent out,” Howell said.

Even though the Warriors’ strength may be in the distance events, Howell is also excited about a few athletes in other areas.

Leading the list is Rachel Hoffman, who finished sixth in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles at the region championships last year.

“She has really come into her own this year,” Howell said.

Howell said Hoffman could be one of Wasilla’s most versatile athletes this year, and the only problem might be finding only four events to put her in.

Howell figured that out last week when he was determining what events his athletes will compete in during the upcoming meet at the Dome at ChanePoint that starts Friday in Anchorage.

“When it was all said and done, Hoffman was the fastest we have in six different events,” Howell said.

Wasilla also has a pair of young athletes who could contribute.

Freshman Cori Schleich could produce in the sprints, mid-distance and the relays. Celeste Colegrove, another freshman, could be the top thrower on the girls’ team.

The Colony Knights are another squad who should also feature a strong distance squad.

Leading that list are standouts such as Heidi Doner, Megan Bowker, Maria Wick and Sydney Stewart.

Doner finished second in the Region III Cross Country Championships earlier this year, while Stewart (ninth), Wick (14) and Bowker (28) also finished in the top-30 in the meet.

Also returning to the squad is Sierra Hodgson, who finished third in both the high jump and the long jump in the region meet last year, and Siobhan Johansen, who was sixth in the high jump at regions.

Gaynor Johansen won the shot put during a dual at Palmer High School last week and will be a top thrower for Colony along with Katie Troxel, who won the discus at the PHS dual.

A young runner who the Knights are excited about is freshman Valencia McPhail, who won both the 100- and 200-meter events at the PHS dual. Another underclassman, sophomore Megan Wilson, was second to McPhail in the 100.

“Our young runners are going to be quick,” Colony head coach Tom Lincoln said during the dual on Friday.

Palmer co-head coach Dale Ewart said the Moose feature a young group of athletes on the girls’ side.

Among the top veterans on the squad is Jacquie Lutz, who finished sixth in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the region meet last year.

Lutz won the 3,200 at the Palmer dual.

Also back is Rashayne Zimmer, who will compete in the sprints and the throwing events.

Ewart said the Moose could also add a top thrower in senior Geneva Ratcliff.

Ratcliff, who is expected to join the team this week, normally plays softball. But because of low numbers, the Moose may not field a softball team this season.

Ratcliff competed in only two meets as a freshman, but posted one of the top-five throws in the state in the shot put.

“If she does anything like that this year, she’ll do really well,” Ewart said.

The Houston Hawks currently have only four athletes on the girls’ squad. Veteran Jessica Larrabee leads a team that also includes underclassmen Cassandra Morris, Abby Fait and Danielle Barney.

All of the Valley schools are slated to compete in an event hosted by Anchorage Christian and Grace Christian at the Dome at ChangePoint this weekend. Events start Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday at

8:30 a.m.

The remainder of the season is dominated by PHS-hosted events. After the Skyview Invitational, on April 25-26 in Soldotna, the Moose host events for three straight weeks.

Palmer hosts the Palmer Relays May 2-3, the Mat-Su Borough Championships May 6-7 and the Region III Championships May 16-17.

The state meet is May 23-24 at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks.

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