4A DISTRICT 1-2 TRACK & FIELD: Sandpoint boys, girls champions once again

COEUR d’ALENE — Sandpoint’s Jett Longanecker won the 400, Daniel Ricks and Elizabeth Storms the 800, Nathan Roche the 1600, and Sandpoint’s boys and girls both ran away with 4A Inland Empire League district titles after the finals concluded Friday at Lewiston High.

Also impressive for the boys, junior Jess Herman finished second in the 300 hurdles with a new personal best time of 43.95 seconds. It’s Herman’s first year competing in the event, and he has dropped roughly 8 seconds off his time since the beginning of the season. In the 800, following Ricks were three other Bulldogs. Kasten Grimm was second, Longanecker was third, and Roche was fourth, in what will be considered one of the most dominant mid-distance performances in Sandpoint history. Earlier in the day Roche and Paul Kent, who won the 3200 yesterday, placed first and second, respectively, in the 1600. 

Isaac Schmit (100) and Van Lee (200) picked up third place finishes for the Bulldogs on Day 2. Also of note, the boys 4x100 relay consisting of Lee, Schmit, Ryder Haynes, and Trey Blumenberg set a new season-best time of 43.87 seconds, but were just three-thousandths of a second behind Lakeland.

For the girls, Storms, a freshman, took home a gold medal in the 800 after running a new personal best time of 2:27.37. Grace Rookey was second in the 800 and 1600, punching her state ticket in each after finishing one spot shy in both events last year. Elia Howard was second in the 100 (12.90) and 200 (26.40) setting new personal bests in both events. Lily Richardson was second in 400 (1:00.98), dropping a full second off her previous personal best time. Ani Vick also placed second and qualified for state in the 300 hurdles after running to a new personal best time of 46.88 seconds.

“It was a really good day,” head coach Doug Fry said. “I knew I had big shoes to fill — with Matt and Angie (Brass) coaching for so many years. I feel like the kids responded to me well and created an environment where it was easy to step in and keep it going. A credit to their (Matt and Angie’s) legacy… I didn’t want to be the person to screw it up.”

Overall, Sandpoint posted 24 top two finishes and a total of 20 Bulldogs will be headed to the 4A State Championships set to be held May 17-18 at Mountain View High. 

As district results across Idaho finalize, more Bulldogs will find out if they have qualified for the 4A state championships. If an athlete does not finish top two in their district, but holds a top eight time in the state, they will qualify. In addition, Sandpoint pole vaulters Klein Fragoso (second in 4A) and Devin McDaniel (first in 4A) are filing injury hardships in hopes to compete next weekend.

FULL RESULTS

BOYS

(top two individuals, winning relay to state)

TEAM SCORES  — 1, Sandpoint 68; 2, Lakeland 62; 3, Moscow 53.

100 — 1, Weston Saputski, Lakeland, 11.33, 2, Caleb Heywood, Moscow, 11.42; 3, Isaac Schmit, Sandpoint, 11.49. 200 — 1, Weston Saputski, Lakeland, 22.62, 2, Caleb Heywood, Moscow, 22.81; 3, Van Lee, Sandpoint, 23.60. 400 — 1, Jett Longanecker, Sandpoint, 51.36; 2, Ethan Abbott, Lakeland, 51.55; 3, Ian Hillman, Moscow, 51.62. 800 — 1, Daniel Ricks, Sandpoint, 2:00.12; 2, Kasten Grimm, Sandpoint, 2:00.68; 3, Jett Longanecker, Sandpoint, 2:00.76. 1600 — 1, Nathan Roche, Sandpoint, 4:28.38; 2, Paul Kent, Sandpoint, 4:29.00; 3, Kieran Long, Moscow, 4:38.01. 3200 — 1, Paul Kent, Sandpoint, 9:49.44; 2, Daniel Ricks, Sandpoint, 9:52.08; 3, Kieran Long, Moscow, 10:10. 

110 hurdles — 1, Kelton Long, Moscow, 17.25; 2, Hasham Alayat, Moscow, 17.28; 3, Crash Kirby, Lakeland, 18.15.  300 hurdles — 1, Hasham Alayat, Moscow, 43.30; 2, Jess Herman, Sandpoint, 43.95; 3, Kelton Long, Moscow, 44.47. 4x100 relay — 1, Lakeland (Apolo Gratzinger, Jaron Yager, Kayden Karle, Weston Saputski), 43.87; 2, Sandpoint, 43.87; 3, Moscow, 46.63. 4x200 relay — 1, Lakeland (Apolo Gratzinger, Scott Glass, Jaron Yager, Weston Saputski), 1:31.85; 2, Moscow, 1:31.91; 3, Sandpoint, 1:32.86. SMR 1600 —  1, Sandpoint (Isaac Schmit, Nathan Roche, Ryder Haynes, Jett Longanecker), 3:38.26; 2, Moscow, 3:43.51; Lakeland, 3:53.77. 4x400 relay — 1, Moscow (names not available), 3:28.77; 2, Lakeland, 3:34.79; 3, Sandpoint, 3:36.34. 

Shot put — 1, Brayden Carrel, Lakeland, 47-6; 2, Isaac Vermeer, Sandpoint, 42-4½ ; 3, Triston Tomco, Sandpoint, 40-8½. Discus — 1, Kenai Munyer, Lakeland, 115-3; 2, Matthew Kunde, Sandpoint, 114-11; 3, Isaac Vermeer, Sandpoint, 113-3. High jump —1, Ben Roth, Lakeland, 5-10; 2, Kayden Karle, Lakeland, 5-0. Pole vault — 1, Kros O'Brien, Lakeland, 12-0; 2, Van Lee, Sandpoint, 11-6; 3, Sayer Latta, Moscow, 10-6. Long jump — 1, Keaton Frei, Moscow, 18-6¾; 2, Bryant Scruggs, Moscow, 18-3; 3, Garret Hall, Lakeland, 17-9. Triple jump — 1, Garret Hall, Lakeland, 39-0¼; 2, Bryant Scruggs, Moscow, 36-10; 3, Weston Smith, Sandpoint, 36-2½.

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 74; 2, Moscow 65.5; 3, Lakeland 46.5.

(top two individuals, winning relay to state)

100 — 1, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 12.70; 2, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 12.90; 3, Addie Lassen, Moscow, 13.34. Yr: 10 200 — 1, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 26.00; 2, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 26.40; 3, Regan Wright, Lakeland, 27.65. 400 — 1, Jessika Lassen, Moscow, 1:00.09; 2, Lily Richardson, Sandpoint, 1:00.98. 800 — 1, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 2:27.37; 2, Grace Rookey, Sandpoint, 2:28.02; 3, Anna Lynn, Moscow,2:29.92. 1600 — 1, Cora Crawford, Moscow, 5:20.97; 2, Grace Rookey, Sandpoint, 5:25.31.  3200 —1, Cora Crawford, Moscow, 11:59.28; 2, Geneva McClory, Moscow, 12:20.09; 3, Indigo Wulfhorst, Moscow, 12:47.31. 

100 hurdles —  1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 15.21; 2, Jessa Skinner, Moscow, 15.72; 3, Ani Vick, Sandpoint, 15.98. 300 hurdles — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 44.93; 2, Ani Vick, Sandpoint, 46.88; 3, Lily Richardson, Sandpoint, 48.70. 4x100 relay — 4x200 relay — 1, Lakeland (Natalee Rose, Melia Gilbert, Karstyn Kiefer, Sapphire Ruelle), 1:46.11; 2, Sandpoint, 1:47.18; 3, Moscow, 1:54.62. SMR 800 — 1, Moscow (Jasmine Carr, Addie Lassen, Ashlyn Fakhouri, Jessika Lassen), 1:52.31; 2, Sandpoint, 1:56.38; 3, Lakeland, 2:00.55. 4x400 relay — 1, Moscow (Jessika Lassen, Jasmine Carr, Addie Lassen, Mattea Nuhn), 4:04.45; 2, Sandpoint, 4:08.04; 3,  Lakeland, 4:35.48.

Shot put — 1, Ivy Smith, Sandpoint, 42-1½; 2, Jackie Robbins, Lakeland, 35-6; 3, Leyna Venzke, Moscow, 34-9¼. Discus —1, Ivy Smith, Sandpoint, 117-9; 2, Jackie Robbins, Lakeland, 114-9; 3, Jetta Thaete, Sandpoint, 114-9. High jump — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 5-2; 2, Macy Bretveld, Lakeland, 4-8; 3, Noah Roark, Sandpoint, 4-8. Pole vault — 1, Alana Hinkle, Lakeland, 10-0; 2, Izzy Davidson, Sandpoint, 9-6; 3, Hope Barnes, Sandpoint, 8-6. Long jump — 1, Gracie Amick, Sandpoint, 16-1½; 2, Ziya Munyer, Lakeland, 15-4; 3, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 15-4. Triple jump — 1, Ziya Munyer, Lakeland, 34-4; 2, Saige Smith, Sandpoint, 33-5; 3, Bailey Chadwell, Lakeland, 32-8.

    From left, Sandpoint's Daniel Ricks, Kasten Grimm, Jett Longanecker, and Nathan Roche swept the 800-meter run, finishing 1-2-3-4 on Friday, the same order they appear here in this photo.