Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
2 min read
Before the weekend, Zach Martel had never finished first in a high school track and field event The Redington senior saved his best for last.
Competing in the final meet of his prep career, Martel swept the throwing events and earned a pair of state titles during the ASAA/First National Bank State Track and Field Championships at Dimond High School in Anchorage.
Martel finished first in both the Division I boys shot put and discus, scoring a pair of personal bests along the way, The Huskies senior hit a personal record mark of 43 feet, 5.5 inches in the shot put. He used a personal best distance of 138-9 to win the discus.
Martel was one of a pair of Redington athletes and four from the Mat-Su to win an individual state title at the ASAA Division I and Division II state meets. Redington sophomore Mia Bukala, Susitna Valley sophomore Jessie Wentworth and Wasilla senior Layla Hays also won state gold.
Bukala earned first in the Division II girls triple jump with a mark of 34-2. It was her first state title.
Wentworth also captured her first career state title with a leap of 5-0 in the Division II girls high jump.
Hays earned her second career title in the Division I girls shot put, using a personal best throw of 39-10.5. Hays capped her illustrious Wasilla High School career with state titles in volleyball, basketball and track and field.
Hays was also one of a seven Valley athletes to finish as a runner-up in an event. Hays was second in the discus.
Colony sophomore Sydney Simpich (Division I girls 800 meters), Wasilla sophomore Hailee Giacobbe (Division I girls 3,200), Colony senior Kenneth Motton (Division I boys triple jump), Palmer junior Corbin Gerkin (Division I boys high jump), Susitna Valley junior Austin Barnard (Division II boys high jump) and Redington senior Alexia Pike (Division I girls discus) also placed second.
Simpich (Division I girls 1,600), Barnard (Division II boys 100), Palmer senior Avery Johnson (Division I girls high jump), Palmer sophomore Leila Petersen (400) and Houston senior Gage Hawes (Division II boys shot put) placed third.
Colony finished fifth in the Division I girls team standings to lead Valley squads.
Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.
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