19 Bulldogs qualify for state on day 1 of regionals

COEUR d'ALENE — Day one of the 4A Region 1 championships are in the books, and already a slew of Sandpoint track and field athletes have punched their tickets to state.

A total of 19 Bulldogs — 12 boys and seven girls — qualified for state on Thursday.

Through nine events, the boys and girls are both in first. The boys lead Lakeland by seven points while the girls are just one point ahead of Moscow.

The Sandpoint boys won six of the nine events and continued to showcase their talent.

Head coach Matt Brass said the boys are sitting in a good spot to secure their first regional title since 2015.

"I think the boys are looking pretty strong right now," he said.

On the other hand, the girls will have a tough time holding off Lakeland and Moscow for the regional title, Brass said, due to their lack of numbers and inability to fill several events.

"The goal for the girls is just to put them in their best events and give them the best shot of getting to state and getting another week," he said.

The top two individuals in each event and the winning relays earned automatic bids to state. Plenty of favorites and a couple surprises qualified for state on Thursday for Sandpoint.

In the girls pole vault, Taylor Petz won the regional title by breaking her school record in the event again with a mark of 11 feet, 5 inches. Quinn Hooper and Piper Frank finished in a three-way tie for second with Lakeland's Samantha Daniels. All three earned a spot to state.

Sam Becker claimed the regional title in the boys pole vault with a personal record and Slate Fragoso tied for second with a PR to grab a berth to state.

Megan Oulman (first) and Ara Clark (second) swept the girls 3200 to earn bids to state. Nikolai Braedt won the boys 3200 and Braden Kappen secured the regional crown in the long jump.

Will Hurst captured the title in the boys discus and was second in the shot put. He missed out on winning the shot put by four inches.

Kayla Remsen grabbed first in the girls shot put with a PR and took second in the discus. Freshman Ivy Smith qualified for state by taking second in the shot.

The boys swept the two relays on Thursday — the 4x200 and sprint medley. Keyan Strock, Luke McCorkle, Rusty Lee and Peyton Ennis won the 4x200, and Strock, Ennis, Ben Ricks and Jett Lucas secured first in the sprint medley.

Stone Lee earned second in the boys high jump. McCorkle missed out on an automatic state bid in the long jump by .25 inches. He finished third with a PR of 20 feet, 3.5 inches.

Day two of the 4A Region 1 championships start at 2 p.m. Friday in Lewiston.

Brass said is hoping to get about four more Bulldogs into state on Friday. He said the girls and boys both executed really well on day one, but he can tell they are hungry for more.

"On the bus, they're all pretty relaxed tonight," he said. "They know that there's still work to be done."

4A REGION 1 (Day one)

(Top two individuals, winning relays to state, Sandpoint athletes in bold)

BOYS

TEAM SCORES (Through nine events) — 1, Sandpoint 43. 2, Lakeland 36. 3, Moscow 13.

3,200 — 1, Nikolai Braedt, Sandpoint, 9:42.66. 2, Emmett Brooks, Moscow, 10:07.32.

4x200 relay — 1, Sandpoint (Keyan Strock, Luke McCorkle, Rusty Lee, Peyton Ennis), 1:32.

Sprint medley — 1, Sandpoint (Keyan Strock, Peyton Ennis, Ben Ricks, Jett Lucas), 3:41.57.

Shot put — 1, Ammon Munyer, Lakeland, 47-9.75. 2, Will Hurt, Sandpoint, 47-5.75.

Discus — 1, Will Hurst, Sandpoint, 143-2. 2, Preston Jeffs, Lakeland, 127-8.

High jump — 1, Josh Haug, Lakeland, 6-0. T2, Stone Lee, Sandpoint, 5-8. T2, Grant Roth, Lakeland, 5-8.

Pole vault — 1, Sam Becker, Sandpoint, 13-1. T2, Slate Fragoso, Sandpoint, 12-7. T2, Riley Siegford, Lakeland, 12-7.

Long jump — 1, Braden Kappen, Sandpoint, 21-5 ½. 2, Terry Edwards, Lakeland, 20-3 ¾.

Triple jump — 1, Caleb Skinner, Moscow, 42-9.5. 2, Josh Haug, Lakeland, 40-2.25.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES (Through nine events) — 1, Sandpoint 34. 2, Moscow 33. 3, Lakeland 26.

3,200 — 1, Megan Oulman, Sandpoint, 12:04.54. 2, Ara Clark, Sandpoint, 12:14.75.

4x200 relay — 1, Moscow (Maia Paulsen, Jessika Lassen, Peyton Watson, Angela Lassen), 1:46.83.

Sprint medley — 1, Lakeland (Michaela Palanuik, McKenzie Palanuik, Stacey Barker, Sydnee Hostetler), 1:53.12.

Shot put — 1, Kayla Remsen, Sandpoint, 34-8. 2, Ivy Smith, Sandpoint, 31-9 ¾.

Discus — 1, Addie Kiefer, Lakeland, 103-1. 2, Kayla Remsen, Sandpoint, 101-11.

High jump — 1, Grace Nauman, Moscow, 4-10. 2, Kenna Simon, Lakeland, 4-8.

Pole vault — 1, Taylor Petz, Sandpoint, 11-5. T2, Samantha Daniels, Lakeland, 8-7. T2, Quinn Hooper, Sandpoint 8-7. T2, Piper Frank, Sandpoint, 8-7.

Long jump — 1, Skyla Zimmerman, Moscow, 16-8 ¼. 2, Julia Branen, Moscow, 15-4.

Triple jump — 1, Skyla Zimmerman, Moscow, 33-9. 2, Maia Paulsen, Moscow, 33-2.