Tough win to take

PALMER — Sometimes even when you win, you lose.

The Colony Knights learned that lesson the hard way Saturday after the school’s boys 4x400 meter relay team breezed to victory in the final event of the Region III Championships, then looked on helplessly as Kodiak anchor Michael Odell nipped Palmer’s Kevin Smith at the line to earn a narrow two-point team win for the Bears.

The tight finish in the meet’s final event left Colony runners in the odd position of cheering on their cross-Valley rivals.

“Once we finished, we were like, ‘hope Palmer beats ‘em,’” Colony senior Dave Gray, who ran the second leg of the relay, said following the race.

Colony trailed Kodiak by just four team points heading into the final race, meaning the Knights needed to beat the bears by at least two spots. That didn’t happen, as Kodiak team members mobbed Odell at the finish line to celebrate dual titles for the Bears boys and girls teams.

Though bittersweet, Gray said he wasn’t too crushed by the narrow loss, pointing out that the relay team did run the fastest 4x400 race of the season.

“We still got a good time,” he said.

The Palmer Moose were also in the mix until the end, finishing third overall, nine points back of Kodiak and seven behind the Knights.

Colony was in position to catch Kodiak after senior Brad Truax pulled out a win two events earlier in an 800 meter final packed with tough competition. In what turned out to be a wire-to-wire win, Truax outdistanced a solid field that included six of the ten fastest boys 800 runners in the state.

Despite having to go up against the likes of Palmer’s Kevin Smith, Kodiak’s Trevor Dunbar and Colony’s Cody Huggins, Truax’s main competition came in the form of Kenai Central sophomore Billy Kiefer, who mounted a charge on the back stretch before fading in the final meters.

Truax said his strategy in the race was to push the pace early because many of the other top contenders had already run two or three distance races already over the weekend.

“[Colony distance coach Mark] Strabel told me to go out fast to get rid of their kicks,” Truax said.

The Colony victory in the final relay put the finishing touches on a strong day for the Knights. Also picking up individual titles (and an automatic berth in next week’s state meet) were Antone Zagars (high jump), Brian Cox (long jump), Matt Jaronik (400 meters).

Individual event winners in each event at Regions advance to state, as do the next 12 fastest times from around the state. The top relay teams in each event also go to state, along with the next four best times.

The Palmer Moose finished a close third overall, thanks to solid efforts in the sprints, relays and field events. Tony Guzman won the triple jump and placed second in the long jump behind Cox, while Devin Konkler picked up a first place in the 200. Palmer also qualified three relay teams to state, earning victories in the 4x800 (with Ryan Cunningham, Kevin Smith, Jake Parisien and Rick LeCheminant); as well as both the 4x100 and 4x200, where the team of Konkler, Chris Forkner, John Daly and John Scoresby teamed up to win both sprint relays.

Houston finished in seventh place overall, though the Hawks’ 4x800 team of Chris Ashland, Chris Gardiner, Dillon Styers and Brogan Putnam did manage to break the school record in the event by more than 10 seconds.

2008 Region III Championships

Friday-Saturday

Palmer High School

Team Scores

Boys — 1. Kodiak, 129; 2. Colony 127; 3. Palmer, 120; 4. Kenai Central, 63; 5. Soldotna, 34; 6. Wasilla, 28; 7. Houston, 13; 8. Skyview, 6; 9. Homer, 4.

Girls — 1. Kodiak, 116; 2. Colony, 102; 3. Wasilla, 76; 4. Skyview, 61; 5. Palmer, 53; 6. Kenai Central, 49; 7. Soldotna, 42; 8. Homer, 19; 9. Houston, 4.

Boys finals

3,200 — 1. T. Dunbar, Kod 9:10.12; 2. J. Parisien, Pal 9:12.86; 3. C. Huggins, Col 9:58.24; 4. S. Salus, Kod 9:59.87; 5. D. Anthony, Kod 10:07.76; 6. B. Garcia, Kod 10:22.58; 7. C. Cubbedge, Kod 10:24.18; 8. A. Zagars, Col 10:24.83; 9. B. Chamberlin, Was 10:30.38; 10. C. Ashland, Hou 10:45.77.

High jump — 1. A. Zagars, Col 6-00; 2. N. Naumoff, Ken 5-10; 3. B. Cox, Col 5-10; 4. K. Schick, Kod 5-10; 5. T. Spalding, Ken 5-4; 6. I. Edwards, Was 5-4; 7. A. Reece, Hou 5-2; 7. tie L. Engvall, Kod 5-2; 7. tie J. Hensler, Ken 5-2; 7. tie R. Cliborn, Was 5-2.

Long jump — 1. B. Cox, Col 20-6.25; 2. T. Guzman, Pal 20-3.75; 3. E. Domingo, Kod 20-3; 4. B. Chimphalee, Ken 20-1.25; 5. M. Jaronik, Col 19-6.75; 6. J. Thornock, Col 19-1; 7. I. Edwards, Was 18-4.75; 8. T. Spalding, Ken 18-3; 9. N. Byrd, Ken 17-10; 10. C. Ahrens, Pal 17-8.75.

Triple jump — 1. Guzman, Tony, Palmer, 41-1 1/2. 2. Cox, Brian, Colony, 40-1, 3. Naumoff, Nikita, Kenai Central, 39-6 1/4, 4. Jensen, John, Colony, 39-1. 1/4, 5. Thornock, Jesse, Colony, 38-4 3/4 6. Stewart, Josiah, Wasilla, 38-2 3/4.

Shot put — 1. M. Odell, Kod 53-03; 2. R. Shelton, Sol 50-2.25; 3. J. Knowles, Was 46-2.25; 4. N. Strieby, Sol 44-9.50; 5. J. Duke, Ken 44-6; 6. K. Gregg, Ken 41-5.5; 7. J. Mitchell, Pal 39-00; 8. K. Mahan, Sky 38-7.5; 9. E. Moore, Pal 38-5; 10. D. Zoerb, Pal 37-2.5.

Discus — 1. Shelton, Ryan, Soldotna, 149-8. 2. Russel, Beebo, Wasilla, 138-2. 3. Byrd, Nate, Kenai Central, 135-10. 4. Knowles, John, Wasilla, 134-4. 5. Duke, Jamie, Kenai Central, 131-2. 6. Morales, Israel, Houston, 130-1.

4x800 — 1. Palmer (Cunningham, Ryan Sr, Smith, Kevin Sr, Parisien, Jake Sr, LeCheminant, Rick Sr), 8:12.92. 2. Colony (Truax, Brad Sr, Swan, Matt Jr, Gray, Doug Sr, Huggins, Cody Sr), 8:14.50. 3. Kodiak (Eggemeyer, Jimmy Sr, Cubbedge, Colton Sr, Dunbar, Trevor Jr, Garcia, Benny Sr), 8:25.65. 4. Houston (Ashland, Chris Sr, Gardiner, Chris Sr, Styers, Dillon Sr, Putnam, Brogan Jr), 8:43.10.

110 hurdles — 1. Chimphalee, Bill, Kenai Central, 15.71. 2. Guzman, Tony, Palmer, 15.73. 3. Gray, Dave, Colony, 16.53. 4. Jensen, Chase, Soldotna, 16.79. 4. Thornton, Michael, Skyview, 16.79. 6. Morris, Kraig, Soldotna, 17.79.

100 — 1. Odell, Michael, Kodiak, 11.53. 2. Dittman, Andy, Kodiak, 11.56. 3. Daly, John, Palmer, 11.69. 4.Chimphalee, Bill, Kenai Central, 11.71. 5. Scoresby, John, Palmer, 11.94. 6. Atwood, Todd, Colony, 12.11.

4x200 — 1. Palmer (Konkler, Devin Sr, Forkner, Christopher So, Scoresby, John So, Daly, John So), 1:33.20. 2. Colony (Atwood, Todd Sr, Jaronik, Matt So, Swan, Matt Jr, Murphy, Jaron Sr), 1:35.15. 3. Kodiak (Cubbedge, Gage Fr, Medina, Ronald So, Schick, Karsten So, Zarate, Christian Jr), 1:37.92. 4. Wasilla (Owens, Taylor So, Pine, Stephen So, Musselman, Chance Jr, Newman, Colton Jr), 1:37.99. 5. Houston (Morales, Israel Sr, Putnam, Brogan Jr, Seibold, Hunter Sr, Dodds, Dustin Jr), 1:38.99. 6. Skyview (Pollard, Feddie So, Newsome, Sean Jr, Meade, Matt Jr, Buffington, Eddie Sr), 1:39.42.

1600 — 1. Dunbar, Trevor, Kodiak, 4:18.04. 2. Parisien, Jake, Palmer, 4:20.96. 3. Huggins, Cody, Colony, 4:34.64. 4. Kiefer, Billy, Kenai CentraL, 4:39.28. 5. Anthony, Dylan, Kodiak, 4:41.32. 6. Salus, Sam, Kodiak, 4:43.44.

4X100 — 1. Palmer (Konkler, Devin Sr, Forkner, Christopher So, Scoresby, John So, Daly, John So), 45.13. 2. Kodiak (Cubbedge, Gage Fr, McFarlin, Riley Fr, Dittman, Andy Sr, Zarate, Christian Jr), 46.15. 3. Kenai Central (Byrd, Nate Sr, Meyer, Brett Fr, Chimphalee, Bill Sr, Naumoff, Nikita Jr), 46.95. 4. Wasilla (Owens, Taylor So, Pine, Stephen So, Musselman, Chance Jr, Newman, Colton Jr), 47.25. 5. Soldotna (Bennett, Philip Fr, Nolden, Chris So, Carlson, Jess Jr, Jensen, Chase So), 47.54. 6. Skyview (Pollard, Feddie So, Newsome, Sean Jr, Meade, Matt Jr, Buffington, Eddie Sr), 48.15.

400 — 1. Jaronik, Matt, Colony, 50.47. 2. Smith, Kevin, Palmer, 51.34. 3. Truax, Brad, Colony, 51.87. 4. Pate, Mike, Homer, 52.34. 5. Putnam, Brogan, Houston, 52.66. 6. Swan, Matt, Colony, 52.69.

300 hurdles — 1. Odell, Michael, Kodiak, 40.89. 2. Guzman, Tony, Palmer, 41.40. 3. Gray, Dave, Colony, 41.49. 4. Jensen, Chase, Soldotna, 42.24. 5. Murphy, Jaron, Colony, 42.39. 6. Harder, Storm, Kodiak, 42.89.

800 — 1. Truax, Brad, Colony, 2:00.28. 2. Kiefer, Billy, Kenai Central, 2:00.68. 3. Dunbar, Trevor, Kodiak, 2:02.18. 4. Smith, Kevin, Palmer, 2:02.55. 5. Davidson, Chaven, Kodiak, 2:02.63. 6. Huggins, Cody, Colony, 2:03.30.

200 — 1. Konkler, Devin, Palmer, 23.34. 2. Odell, Michael, Kodiak, 23.36. 3. Dittman, Andy, Kodiak, 23.53. 4. Daly, John, Palmer, 23.58. 5. Atwood, Todd, Colony, 24.69. 6. Murphy, Jaron, Colony, 24.88.

4x400 — 1. Colony (Truax, Brad Sr, Swan, Matt Jr, Jaronik, Matt So, Gray, Dave Sr), 3:31.21. 2. Kodiak (Dittman, Andy Sr, Eggemeyer, Jimmy Sr, Schick, Karsten So, Zarate, Christian Jr), 3:35.33. 3. Palmer (DePriest, Thorton Sr, Cunningham, Ryan Sr, Smith, Kevin Sr, LeCheminant, Rick Sr), 3:35.36. 4. Houston (Gardiner, Chris Sr, Norris, Halvor Sr, Styers, Dillon Sr, Putnam, Brogan Jr), 3:42.57. 5. Soldotna (Bennett, Philip Fr, Schneider, Colton Fr, Carlson, Jess Jr, Jensen, Chase So), 3:44.34. 6. Skyview (Meade, Matt Jr, Thornton, Michael Jr, Pollard, Feddie So, Rozak, Daniel Fr), 3:52.31.

Girls finals

3,200 — 1. I. O’Guinn, Sky 11:29.3; 2. A. Reed, Kod 11:40.95; 3. C. Ivanoff, Kod 11:52.66; 4. S. Stewart, Col 12:02.86; 5. H. Doner, Col 12:03.18; 6. J. Bethea, Kod 12:08.62; 7. K. Bialka, Was 12:09.51; 8. J. Lutz, Pal 12:11.4; 9. E. Fuller, Was 12:11.96; 10. M. Watkins, Ken 12:14.48.

Shot put — 1.Blackburn, Paige, Soldotna, 41-2. 2. Ratcliff, Geneva, Palmer, 36-3. 3. Temple, Reba, Homer, 31-8 1/2 4.Irwin, Shellina, Colony, 31-7. 5. LaMere, Erin, Palmer, 31-3. 6. Timpke, Loretta, Kodiak, 31-1 1/2.

Discus — 1. P. Blackburn, Sol 128-7; 2. G. Ratcliff, Pal 115-7; 3. K. Troxel, Col 101-2; 4. L. Timpke, Kod 97-6.5; 5. E. Chambers, Pal 91-00; 6. M. Nuernberg, Pal 88-0; 7. J. Duke, Sol 86-1.5; 8. S. Irwin, Col 85-6; 9. D. Aitolu, Kod 82-10.5; 10. J. Troisi, Was 78-11.50.

High jump — 1. L. Burcham, Kod 5-00; 2. S. Johansen, Col 4-6; 3. S. Hodgson, Col 4-6; 4. B. Gibbs, Kod 4-6; 5. R. Zimmer, Pal 4-4; 6. M. Nuernberg, Pal 4-2; 7. S. Oliver, Kod 4-00.

Long jump — 1. S. Hodgson, Col 15-6.5; 2. T. Corbin, Pal 15-5.5; 3. M. Gordon, Sol 14-7.25; 4. M. Wilson, Col 14-7; 5. V. McPhail, Col 14-1.75; 6. K. Oosting, Was 14-00; 7. K. Wall, Kod 14-00; 8. A. Heffner, 14-00; 9. S. Nuss, 13-5.5; 10. R. Zimmer, Pal 13-1.25.

Shot put — 1.Blackburn, Paige, Soldotna, 41-2. 2. Ratcliff, Geneva, Palmer, 36-3. 3. Temple, Reba, Homer, 31-8 1/2 4.Irwin, Shellina, Colony, 31-7. 5. LaMere, Erin, Palmer, 31-3. 6. Timpke, Loretta, Kodiak, 31-1 1/2.

Triple jump — 1.Hodgson, Sierra, Colony, 32-4 3/4, 2. Wilson, Megan, Colony, 30-7 1/2, 3. Oosting, Kahla, Wasilla, 30-1 1/4 4. Forstner, Katie, Colony, 29-5 1/2, 5. McPhail, Valencia, Colony, 29-1 1/2, 6. Penrod, Casee, Skyview, 29-0 3/4.

4x800 — 1. Kodiak (Bethea, Jaymi Fr, Gibbs, Brianna Sr, Ivanoff, Chloe So, Reed, Abby Sr), 10:07.98. 2. Wasilla (Gross, Jessica Sr, Clump, Keri So, Kelley, Alison Fr, Nelson, Kendra Sr), 10:10.48. 3. Colony (Bowker, Megan So, Wick, Maria So, Doner, Heidi So, Stewart, Sydney So), 10:18.75. 4, Palmer (Stachelrodt, Danielle So, Lutz, Jacqueline Sr, Witz, Kelsey So, Whitfield, Morgan So), 12:26.50.

100 hurdles — 1. Hoffman, Rachel, Wasilla, 17.52. 2. DeVito, Shaynee, Kenai Central, 17.65. 3.Mackenzie, Kelly, Wasilla, 18.20. 4. Oliver, Samantha, Kodiak, 18.22. 5. Nuss, Skyler, Wasilla, 18.24. 6. Horn, Alysa, Kodiak, 18.64.

100 — 1. Flanagan, Lierin, Kenai Central, 13.21. 2. Corbin, Tabitha, Palmer, 13.33. 3 Burcham, Linzee, Kodiak, 13.53. 4. Oliver, Samantha, Kodiak, 13.71. 5. Heffner, April, Soldotna, 13.78. 6. Critchett, Marina, Homer, 13.84.

4x200 — 1. Kenai Central (Alsworth, Kalee Jr, Louthan, Kristi Jr, DeVito, Shaynee Fr, Flanagan, Lierin So), 1:52.25. 2. Kodiak (Block, Natalie Sr, Horn, Alysa Sr, Daoust, Lynsi Sr, Young, Kyla So), 1:53.59. 3. Skyview (Penrod, Casee So, Janorschke, Megan Fr, Kurz, Shay Fr, Cooper, Paris So), 1:54.10. 4. Wasilla (Fulton, Shelby Sr, Conant, Makayla Fr, Oosting, Kahla Sr, Hoffman, Rachel Jr), 1:56.12. 5. Palmer (Ratcliff, Geneva Sr, Whitfield, Morgan So, Zimmer, Rashayne Jr, Corbin, Tabitha JR), 1:59.69. 6. Homer (Henkelman, Lindsay Sr, Williamson, Kayla Fr, Haas, Kelsey Fr, Wyatt, Brittney Jr), 2:02.23.

1600 — 1. O'Guinn, Ivy, Skyview, 5:21.27. 2. Reed, Abby, Kodiak, 5:29.24. 3. Ivanoff, Chloe, Kodiak, 5:34.82. 4. Doner, Heidi, Colony, 5:40.49. 5. Lutz, Jacqueline, Palmer, 5:40.96. 6. Watkins, Molly, Kenai CentraL, 5:44.29.

4x100 — 1. Kodiak (Block, Natalie Sr, Oliver, Samantha Fr, Burcham, Linzee Jr, Daoust, Lynsi Sr), 53.00. 2. Wasilla (Fulton, Shelby Sr, Oosting, Kahla Sr, Nickerson, Gladys So, Schleich, Cori Fr), 54.21. 3. Skyview (Kurz, Shay Fr, Janorschke, Megan Fr, Penrod, Casee So, Cooper, Paris So), 54.58. 4. Colony (Wilson, Megan So, Zola, Hannah So, McPhail, Valencia Fr, Johansen, Siobhan So), 54.82. 5. Palmer (Nuernberg, Monica So, Ratcliff, Geneva Sr, Zimmer, Rashayne Jr, Corbin, Tabitha JR), 56.33.

400 — 1. Flanagan, Lierin, Kenai CentraL, 1:00.52. 2. Cooper, Paris, Skyview, 1:02.91. 3. Bowker, Megan, Colony, 1:03.61. 4. Williamson, Kayla, Homer, 1:04.31. 5. VanGorder, Ellen, Colony, 1:04.39. 6. Whitfield, Morgan, Palmer, 1:04.43.

300 hurdles — 1. Hoffman, Rachel, Wasilla, 49.55. 2. Horn, Alysa, Kodiak, 49.92. 3. Johansen, Siobhan, Colony, 50.19. 4.Larrabee, Jessica, Houston, 50.37. 5. Mackenzie, Kelly, Wasilla, 51.44. 6. Wyatt, Brittney, Homer, 52.24.

800 — 1. O'Guinn, Ivy, Skyview, 2:24.45. 2. Mucha, Kailey, Soldotna, 2:28.87. 3. Clump, Keri, Wasilla, 2:29.10. 4. Kelley, Alison, Wasilla, 2:30.85. 5. Reed, Abby, Kodiak, 2:31.87. 6. Ivanoff, Chloe, Kodiak, 2:32.10.

200 — 1. Flanagan, Lierin, Kenai Central, 27.01. 2. Burcham, Linzee, Kodiak, 27.56. 3. Critchett, Marina, Homer, 27.91. 4. Heffner, April, Soldotna, 27.93. 5. Janorschke, Megan, Skyview, 28.26. 6. Gordon, Megan, Soldotna, 28.83.

4x400 — 1. Wasilla (Gross, Jessica Sr, Clump, Keri So, Hoffman, Rachel Jr, Nelson, Kendra Sr), 4:25.76. 2. Skyview (Cooper, Paris So, Stigall, Bekka So, O'Guinn, Ivy So, Hollers, Elisha Fr), 4:28.70. 3. Kodiak (Block, Natalie Sr, Gibbs, Brianna Sr, Bethea, Jaymi Fr, Young, Kyla So), 4:29.95. 4, Colony (Bowker, Megan So, Doner, Heidi So, Wick, Maria So, Forstner, Katie Jr), 4:35.84. 5. Palmer (Stachelrodt, Danielle So, Lutz, Jacqueline Sr, Witz, Kelsey So, Whitfield, Morgan So), 4:47.87.

(See www.frontiersman.com for complete Region II results)