Wasilla Invitational signals start of new track season

April 15, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - The Wasilla High School track and field team is not overflowing with experience. But the Warriors are excited. Because for the first time in a while, the Wasilla coaching staff has a good number of athletes to chose from.

Wasilla has more than 60 student-athletes on the 2007 roster, WHS coach Kristila Gardner said, nearly double the total on the squad last season.

&#8220We're very young,” Gardner said on Saturday as the Warriors hosted the Wasilla Invitational. &#8220We don't have a lot of experience, but we have a lot of good athletes.”

Gardner said the talent is there, but many of the athletes are still learning. The lessons go as far as getting accustomed to using starting blocks and wearing track spikes.

&#8220They're willing to learn, and very coachable,” Gardner said.

The Warriors have their areas of strength, Gardner said, but fortunately for WHS the team has solid athletes in every area.

Gardner said she sees the boys' sprinters and the girls' distance runners as the strength of the team.

Leading the boys is junior Dexter Pearce, who is expected to excel in the 400-meter and the jumping events. Gardner said she is also expecting good things from sprinters Otis Williams and Jesse Bean - a newcomer to the Warriors track squad.

Williams and Bean finished second and third respectively in the 100 on Friday.

Bean was also second in the 200.

Pearce won the long jump, with a leap of 19 feet, 3 inches.

Throwing for the Warriors are John Knowles and Bebbo Russell. Knowles, a freshman, finished first in the shot put (39-0) and third in the discus (118-10) on Friday. Russell was second in the discus (126-9).

Leading the way on the girls' squad is Hillarie Putnam - the reigning region champion in the long jump and high jump. Putnam will also vie for titles in the hurdles.

Gardner expects good things out of the distance runners, a group that includes Katie Bialka, Jessica Gross, Elle Fuller and Samantha Lewis.

Lewis won the 800 on Friday, and Bialka was second in the 3200.

Among the young athletes who could make an impact this season, Gardner said, are sophomores Rachel Hoffman and Jenna Johnson.

Hoffman posted a region-qualifying time in the 300 hurdles on Friday. Johnson, a newcomer to the track team, could surprise in the throwing events.

The Palmer Moose have about 70 athletes on the roster, coach Francine Lombard

said.

&#8220We've got a wide range of talent,” Lombard said. &#8220Hopefully we can build on that.”

The Palmer girls squad is led a trio of athletes who advanced to the state meet last year - Lindsey Orvash, Sloane Dellafosse and Kiersten Dahms - Lombard said.

Orvash and Dellafosse compete in the sprints and mid-distance events, while Dahms excels in the jumps.

Also strong in the distance is Jackie Lutz.

Lombard also noted a newcomer to the squad, senior Emma Bohman, and an athlete returning t the team after a year off, Kaitlyn Beetch.

On the boys' side, Jake Parisien could be one of the top runners in the distance events, and Devin Konkler and Tremain Benton are among the top Moose sprinters.

A strong group of Moose throwers includes Nate Svedin, Kelly Devon and Everest Moore.

&#8220I am sure we'll take a handful of kids to state, if not more,” Lombard said. &#8220I think we have the potential to have some region champs.”

Svedin won the discus on Friday.

Colony coach Jeff Nelles said the number of athletes on the Knights' squad is not as high as they'd like, but they did manage to hit the 50 mark.

While the Knights do have a few veteran standouts, Colony, for the most part, has a young squad.

Leading the veterans on the girls' side are seniors Ardrienne Everett and Johanna Doner.

Everett could be one of the top athletes in the Northern Lights Conference, and is returning after solid performances in the 2006 state meet.

&#8220She's just a very talented athlete,” Colony coach Mark Doner said. &#8220She knows how to work hard.”

Johanna Doner and her younger sister Heidi, a freshman, are expected to be solid in the distance and middle distance events.

Heidi Doner is one of 15 freshman on the Colony girls' squad.

&#8220It reminds me an awful lot of back when the school first opened,” Mark Doner said. &#8220(They) really think because they're freshman they can't compete at this level. They really have no idea how good they are, or how good they can be.”

Doner said he not only expects this freshman class the be a building block for the future, but these athletes can make an impact not.

Among the freshman he noted are Megan Bowker, Maria Wick, Sydney Stewart, Gaynor Johansen and Siohban Johansen.

On the boys' side, the Knights are led by their distance and middle distance runners. That group includes Ryan VanGorder, Mason Mick and Antone Zagars.

Also strong for CHS are Mike Zagars in the hurdles and Bradley Truax in the 400, Nelles said.

Houston has about 20 athletes on the 2007 squad, coach Lisa Drumm said, but only four of those athletes are girls.

Leading that small group is sophomore Jessica Larrabee.

On the boys' side, Drumm expects her boys' 3200 relay team to be strong. Running on that squad are Kaleb Westfall, Dillon Styers, Chris Gardner and Porter Whittier.

Among the Houston throwers are Israel Morales, Garrett Mooney and Ben Crawley.

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