Bartlett wins 17th team crown

Bartlett adds to its record, winning its 17th team crown
The Golden boys

By DOYLE WOODY

Anchorage Daily Press

Published: May 18th, 2008 12:43 AM

Will Estes of West High came from behind to win the 3200 meter run after his girl friend Shoshana Keegan also of West High won her 4th straight 3200 meter region IV championship on Friday May 16, 2008 at Bartlett High School. Photo by Bob Hallinen

Practice seems too tame a term to describe the rigors the boys of the Bartlett High track team endure in training aimed at forging their mettle for big meets.

"We have a very competitive team,'' noted middle-distance runner Tim Miller. "Every workout, every person is going for first place, and you never know who will be first. It's never easy at practice.''
Nor is it about taking shortcuts, as the Golden Bears' illustrate time and again with their exquisite baton exchanges in relay races.

"We're dedicated,'' said sprinter Wah'fe Granger. "We come out every day at practice and work hard. (Sprint coach John) McGrew always says, 'Perfect practice makes perfect races.'

"Even if it takes 100 times to get exchanges right, we'll practice until it's perfect and crisp.''

All that attention to detail, and a heaping helping of talent, generated Bartlett's crushing team triumph Saturday on its home track, where it buried the competition on the sun-splashed final day of the Cook Inlet Conference Track and Field Championships.

Buoyed by another record-setting performance from thrower Jordan Clarke, two sprint victories by Granger and a sweep of the four relays, Bartlett generated 166 points, far outdistancing runner-up Dimond (89) and third-place West (79) to win a second straight team title.

The Golden Bears earned points in all 12 running events and 15 of 17 events overall. They won 10 of those events. And their dominance was so prosperous with podium performances that the 96 points they earned in just eight events -- four relays, shot put, discus, 400 meters and 300 hurdles -- would have been enough to secure the team title.

"Great performances, top to bottom,'' said Bartlett coach John Schmitz. "Everybody did what they were supposed to do. Track and field at Bartlett High School is a big deal. It's huge. We take a lot of pride in it.''

The boys' team victory was their record 17th since 1979.

Though Bartlett generally blasted the competition, athletes from other schools seized gold in four events.

East hurdler Ceylon Mitchell earned victories at 110 meters and 300 meters, easily running away from the field to win the shorter race by nearly a half second and the latter by more than two seconds.

Service jumper Ben Jackson completed his triple-gold weekend -- he won the high jump and long jump Friday -- by bouncing back from a sprained right ankle to win the triple jump on his final attempt.

Trailing West's Isaiah Hoyer by about a foot after Hoyer uncorked a leap of 43 feet, 3 1/2 inches, Jackson soared a personal-best 44-4 3/4 and became the third boy in conference history to sweep the jumps.

"I already knew in my head it was going to hurt before I started,'' Jackson said of his last jump. "So I tried not to think about it.''

Dimond distance runner Ryan Hanley, meanwhile, was still thinking about being disqualified from Friday's 800-meter preliminaries as he prepared for Saturday's 1,600-meter final. Hanley said he and two teammates were DQ'd after showing up seconds late to report for their 800 heat, even though the meet was running behind schedule.

Saturday, as he warmed up for the 1,600, Hanley remained steamed about being bounced from the 800.

"I didn't know if being mad was going to help me or make it worse,'' Hanley said.

Evidently, Hanley knows how to convert frustration into fuel -- the junior trounced the field in the 1,600, leading wire-to-wire and clocking a personal-best 4:28.84 to win by nine seconds.

Other than those four wins, the meet belonged to the home team.

Clarke initiated the rout. Fresh off his nation-leading shot put of 70 feet, 6 inches on Friday, Clarke kicked off the day with a conference-record discus fling of 194-8, more than 55 farther than the runner-up.

Next came the 3,200 relay, and Miller, a senior, anchored the Golden Bears to an easy win.

Granger, a mere freshman whose first name is pronounced Wah-fee, earned comfortable victories over junior teammate Marcus Mendez at 100 meters and 200 meters. Bartlett's Raymond Reid and Anthony Crook went 1-2 in the 400, and Miller bagged the 800.

Granger and freshman Dominique Garrett-Queen each ran legs on the two shorter sprint relays, and sophomore Jamal Hale anchored three relays, getting the stick with the lead on every occasion. McGrew said he places Hale at anchor not just because of Hale's speed, but also his determination.

"If he's in the lead, he's not going to give it up,'' McGrew said. "And if he's not in the lead, he'll get it.''

Hale said his team's relay squads feel they are difficult to defeat.

"We feel like nobody can beat us but ourselves,'' Hale said. "We concentrate on the mental side, because if we do that, the physical side will take care of itself.''

Bartlett's young crew, particularly in the sprints, means rebuilding isn't exactly in its future. Of the 16 Golden Bears who accounted for points in the meet, only six are seniors. Joining them are five juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.

"We should be set for the next couple years,'' Hale said.

Remember, though, they pay attention to detail at Bartlett. And that's why Schmitz recently took some of his athletes to Begich Middle School to gauge their interest in track when they get to Bartlett.

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2008 Cook Inlet Conference

Track and Field Championships

At Bartlett High

Saturday's boys result

Athlete of the meet -- Jordan Clarke, Bartlett.

Academic team award -- South, 3.37 team grade-point average.

Team scores -- 1) Bartlett 166 points; 2) Dimond 89; 3) West 79; 4) Service 77; 5) East 70; 6) South 58; 7) Eagle River 20; 8) Chugiak 15.

Discus -- 1) Jordan Clarke, B, 194 feet, 8 inches (CIC record; previous record, Clarke, 192-5, 2007); 2) Gabriel Holland, So, 139-0; 3) Garrett McLean, So, 138-1; 4) Ian Rosario, C, 133-3; 5) Mitchell Swensen, D, 130-3; 6) Kyle Kovach, D, 119-2; 7) Alex Lutton, D, 116-9; 8) Devin Fernandez, E, 113-6.

Triple jump -- 1) Ben Jackson, Se, 44-4 3/4; 2) Isaiah Hoyer, W, 43-3 1/2; 3) tie, Chris Plooy, D, 41-4 3/4, Jordan Slay, W, 41-4 3/4; 5) Andrew Freed, Se, 38-10; 6) Damarcus Cox, B, 37-01; 7) Clarence Summers, ER, 36-6 1/2; 8) Tyler Kaufmann, D, 36-1.

100 meters -- 1) Wah'fe Granger, B, 11.29; 2) Marcus Mendez, B, 11.39; 3) Nick Gilmore, W, 11.57; 4) Biko Burford, D, 11.73; 5) Shane Sites, Se, 11.77; 6) Cyrus Chenault, B, 11.81; 7) Dominique Garrett-Queen, B, 11.86; 8) Jordan Slay, W, 11.91.

200 -- 1) Wah'fe Granger, B, 23.00; 2) Ahmid Nasir, D, 23.37; 3) Marcus Mendez, B, 23.42; 4) Ryan Clay, So, 23.49; 5) Shane Sites, Se, 23.89; 6) Nick Gilmore, W, 23.91; 7) Biko Burford, D, 23.98; 8) Cyrus Chenault, B, 24.01.

400 -- 1) Raymond Reid, B, 50.45; 2) Anthony Crook, B, 51.20; 3) Ahmid Nasir, D, 52.08; 4, Kyle Janssen, B, 52.38; 5) James Owolabi, ER, 53.15; 6) Connor Mamikunian, Se, 53.44; 7) Aaron Heaslet, E, 53.62; 8) Eric Guillory, So, 54.51.

800 -- 1) Tim Miller, B, 2:04.20; 2) Bart Grabman, E, 2:05.46; 3) John Owolabi, ER, 2:05.63; 4) Hans Roelle, W, 2:05.88; 5) Taylor Samse, B, 2:06.49; 6) Robert Walgren, Se, 2:07.61; 7) Mackenzie Bailey, Se, 2:10.86; 8) Alex Odegaard, W, 2:10.90.

1,600 -- 1) Ryan Hanley, D, 4:28.84; 2) Cody Phelps, Se, 4:37.88; 3) Hans Roelle, W, 4:38.55; 4) Will Estes, W, 4:41.04; 5) Nick Canfield, B, 4:46.10; 6) Tyler Samse, B, 4:49.53; 7) Nick Fowler, Se, 4:50.30; 8) Zachary Klutz, , 4:51.03.

110 hurdles -- 1) Ceylon Mitchell, E, 15.65; 2) Cameron Rollins, B, 16.11; 3) Isaiah Hoyer, W, 16.14; 4) Keith Underwood, D, 16.85; 5) Caleb Pruitt, C, 17.05; 6) Taylor Elsenheimer, So, 17.34; 7) Christopher Burgess, So, 18.15; 8) Ryan Bergerson, W, 19.60.

300 hurdles -- 1) Ceylon Mitchell, E, 40.60; 2) Cameron Rollins, B, 42.05; 3) Fatai Shittu, B, 42.26; 4) Kevin Campbell, D, 43.29; 5) Taylor Elsenheimer, So, 44.87; 6) Keith Underwood, D, 45.21; 7) Dana Gorski, ER, 45.51; 8) Isaiah Hoyer, W, 46.08.

400 relay -- 1) Bartlett (Dominque Garrett-Queen, Wah'fe Granger, Marcus Mendez, Jamal Hale), 44.77; 2) East, 45.69; 3) Dimond, 45.89; 4) West, 46.13; 5) South, 46.53; 6) Service, 47.39; 7) Eagle River, 47.70.

800 relay -- 1) Bartlett (Dominique Garrett-Queen, Wah'fe Granger, Cyrus Chenault, Jamal Hale), 1:32.99; 2) Dimond, 1:34.59; 3) South, 1:35.44; 4) East, 1:35.83; 5) West, 1:39.92; 6) Eagle River, 1:40.78; 7) Service, 1:44.00.

1,600 relay -- 1) Bartlett (Kyle Janssen, Raymond Reid, Cameron Rollins, Jamal Hale), 3:37.05; 2) East, 3:40.97; 3) Dimond, 3:41.42; 4) South, 3:42.54; 5) West, 3:44.57; 6) Eagle River, 3:45.22; 7) Service, 3:46.57.

3,200 relay -- 1) Bartlett (Anthony Crook, Derek Kalbfleisch, Taylor Samse, Tim Miller), 8:29.85; 2) East, 8:36.28; 3) Service 8:36.68; 4) West, 8:49.45; 5) Eagle River, 9:00.95; 6) South, 9:50.04.

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CIC team titles

Boys

(of 33 titles since 1976)

Bartlett 17

Dimond 12

Chugiak 2

East 1

West 1

Girls

(of 34 titles since 1975)

Dimond 12

Bartlett 12

East 8

Chugiak 1

West 1