Gabby Todd spent most her high school track career waiting for the day she could sprint into the spotlight.
That day finally came for the Bartlett senior, who established herself as one of the region's all-time greats Saturday in the Cook Inlet Conference Track and Field Championships.
Running on her home track, Todd won the triple crown of sprints and was named the meet's most outstanding athlete. She claimed the 100, 200 and 400 titles and helped the 400 relay team to victory.
"It's a blessing," said Todd, who became the third girl in the region's 36-year history to win all three sprints.
The hat trick wasn't enough to give Bartlett the team title. That belonged to the Dimond Lynx, the defending region and state champions who beat Bartlett by 47 points.
Nonetheless, Todd gladly mirrored the performance of former teammate Andrea Crook, who seized the triple crown in 2006.
"My first three years of high school were spent following in her shadow," Todd said. "I looked up to her. But it feels good to finally show what I can do in all three sprints."
Todd set state-bests in the 100 (12.58 seconds) and 200 (25.58) Saturday. She already owned Alaska's best time in the 400 (57.87).
Now she's hoping to repeat the three-feat this week at the Alaska School Activities Association Class 4A state meet at Lathrop High in Fairbanks.
If she does, Todd would be the first sprinter to win the triple crown at the state meet since East's Ashley Smith in 2005.
On the boys side, South's Elliott Bauer showed he has a legit chance at the state record in the 300-meter hurdles.
The sophomore sensation dashed to a 39.15 finish to capture his first region title and earn the meet's most outstanding athlete award.
Given the state record is 38.9 seconds -- set by Chugiak's Nathan Moffet in 1989 -- Bauer knows he'll be in the hunt to break it.
"I felt like I had a little left in the tank today," he said.
Bauer broke the region record Richard Madison of Bartlett set in 1988. Madison ran 39.0, but the race was hand timed. According to race officials, 0.24 seconds are added to hand-timed races when they are converted to electronic times.
That gave Bauer the region record by 0.09 seconds -- a nice trick, given he was a seventh-grader the last time he competed in track.
He's back in track now because John Lewis, his football coach and his track coach, encouraged him to join.
Bauer played running back and defensive back on South's junior varsity team last fall. He focused on football his freshman year, but this year he figured running track might improve his strength.
"All of our specialty players are encouraged to join the track team," Lewis said.
Bauer's dazzling performance was good news on an otherwise frustrating day for the Wolverines. They placed third in the team standings behind Bartlett, which captured its third straight region title with 138 points.
South finished first in the 400 relay but was disqualified for a uniform infraction -- one runner sported white spandex while the rest of the team wore black -- so runnerup Bartlett was awarded the victory.
South's 800 relay team was also disqualified, and Gabe Holland, a favorite in the boys discus, said he was disqualified from his event for signing up too late.
"It wasn't the greatest day we've had," Bauer said.
Jani Lane of Service had a fabulous day, edging Dimond senior Ryan Hanley in the boys 800 by five one-hundredths of a second.
Lane set the pace for most of the race until Hanley made a strong push in the final 100 meters to give the sophomore a challenge. But Lane's lead held as he finished in 1:59.51, while Hanley clocked 1:59.56.
When it was all over, Lane vomited -- something that's become a habit.
"I puked last year after my 3,200, so I think it's tradition now," he said.
Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.
Cook Inlet Conference Track & Field Championships
Saturday at Bartlett High
Girls Results
Academic Award -- Dimond 3.63.
Most Outstanding Athlete -- Gabby Todd, Bartlett.
Team Scores -- 1) Dimond 142; 2) Bartlett 95; 3) West 78.66; 4) South 75.66; 5) Eagle River 66; 6) Service 59.66; 7) Chugiak 39; 8) East 20.
100 -- 1, Todd, Gabby, B, 12.58. 2, Jayne, Brandy, ER, 12.86. 3, Ferguson, Shaai, Se, 12.91. 4, Sweet, MiCall, D, 12.94. 5, Tillmon, Jessica, B, 12.96. 6, Jackson, Kimmy, D, 13.24. 7, May, Brennae, B, 13.34. 8, Gardner, Amber, E, 13.39.
200 -- 1, Todd, Gabby, B, 25.58. 2, Ferguson, Shaai, Se, 26.73. 3, Jayne, Brandy, ER, 26.98. 4, Bagsby, Symphony, D, 27.03. 5, Harter, Kendra, C, 27.37. 6, Zanders, Katelynn, Se, 27.39. 7, Young, Kayla, B, 27.93. 8, Tillmon, Jessica, B, 28.05.
400 -- 1, Todd, Gabby, B, 1:00.56. 2, Bagsby, Symphony, D, 1:00.81. 3, Todd, Jessica, D, 1:01.79. 4, Reagle, Josephine, E, 1:03.21. 5, Zanders, Andrea, Se, 1:03.67. 6, Barrus, Natalie, Se, 1:05.21. 7, Johnson, Gracie, W, 1:05.39.
800 -- 1, Wheeler, Stacy, W, 2:23.17. 2, Bick, Susan, B, 2:27.42. 3, Summers, Lauren, D, 2:28.59. 4, Luch, Delia, W, 2:30.93. 5, King, Kristen, ER, 2:31.38. 6, Wilson, Lauren, D, 2:32.80. 7, Kaser, Ryan, So, 2:36.48. 8, Stramp, Robin, D, 2:36.52. 9, Stophlet, Catherine, So, 2:38.05.
100 Hurdles -- 1, Jayne, Brandy, ER, 15.71. 2, Engel, Keiahnna, D, 15.94. 3, Smith, Rosie, B, 16.03. 4, Bassler, Lauren, So, 16.68. 5, Wilkerson, Ambrosia, C, 16.79. 6, Klecka, Jacqueline, ER, 16.88. 7, Kiyutelluk, Robin, B, 17.59.
300 Hurdles -- 1, Engel, Keiahnna, D, 46.81. 2, Smith, Rosie, B, 47.42. 3, Jayne, Brandy, ER, 48.13. 4, Wilcox, Cara, D, 49.08. 5, Bassler, Lauren, So, 49.41. 6, Vaitohi, Mary, D, 49.49. 7, Fore, Rachel, C, 49.83. 8, Kueter, Morgan, B, 50.13.
1,600 -- 1, King, Kristen, ER, 5:25.82. 2, Kaser, Ryan, So, 5:27.06. 3, Gerik, Danielle, W, 5:28.91. 4, Luch, Letitia, W, 5:32.91. 5, Kirk, Stephanie, So, 5:33.66. 6, Wilson, Lauren, D, 5:36.72. 7, Nees, Rosika, Se, 5:40.77. 8, Yanoshek, Kelly, So, 5:46.44.
3,200 -- 1, King, Kristen, ER, 11:49.72. 2, Gerik, Danielle, W, 11:50.50. 3, Yanoshek, Kelly, So, 11:52.69. 4, Kirk, Stephanie, So, 11:54.03. 5, Luch, Letitia, W, 11:54.41. 6, Nees, Rosika, Se, 12:03.07. 7, Luch, Marcelyn, W, 12:04.27. 8, Frankl, Sarah, ER, 12:19.17.
400 Relay -- 1, Bartlett (Henderson, Todd, May, Tillmon), 50.56. 2, Service 51.86. 3, Dimond 51.92. 4, East 52.07. 5, Chugiak 53.34. 6, West 54.93. 7, South 55.73. 8, Eagle River 56.75.
800 Relay -- 1, Service (Barrus, Sounders, Zanders, Ferguson), 1:49.18. 2, Dimond 1:49.54. 3, East 1:50.19. 4, Chugiak 1:50.48. 5, Bartlett 1:50.53. 6, West 1:54.80.
1,600 Relay -- 1, Dimond (Jackson, Bagsby, Engel, Todd), 4:10.95. 2, Bartlett 4:18.13. 3, South 4:18.75. 4, Service 4:19.91. 5, West 4:21.48. 6, East 4:41.05. 7, Eagle River 4:47.83. 8, Chugiak 5:19.61.
3,200 Relay -- 1, Service (Zanders, Quilliam, Nees, Allen), 9:58.64. 2, South 9:58.94. 3, West 10:03.03. 4, Dimond 10:04.88. 5, Chugiak 10:16.34. 6, Eagle River 11:03.74. 7, Bartlett 11:21.67. 8, East 11:46.10.
Triple Jump -- 1, Parish, Tonya, D, 34-0012. 2, Collins, Alexandria, C, 33-0412. 3, Wilkerson, Ambrosia, C, 33-0114. 4, Bassler, Lauren, So, 32-0214. 5, Wilcox, Cara, D, 31-08. 6, W, Brianna, E, 31-0734. 7, Cole, Caroline, So, 30-0612. 8, Hanley, Taylor, W, 30-0012.
Shot Put -- 1, Tui, Crystal, W, 37-0712. 2, Mickens, Cierra, ER, 36-11. 3, Parkin, Jennifer, B, 34-08. 4, Bailey, Jyl, C, 32-0212. 5, Brewster, Alexandra, So, 31-0434. 6, Dunbar, Tina-Louise, E, 30-0834. 7, Gaines, Ashleigh, W, 30-01. 8, Snead, Alfreda, D, 29-1034.
Boys Results
Academic Award -- Dimond 3.38.
Most Outstanding Athlete -- Elliott Bauer, South.
Team Scores -- 1) Bartlett 138; 2) Service 124; 3) South 94; 4) Dimond 91; 5) East 67; 6) West 26; 7) Eagle River 17; 8) Chugiak 15.
100 -- 1, Granger, Wah'fe, B, 11.20. 2, Clay, Ryan, So, 11.36. 3, Canady, Emanuel, E, 11.41. 4, Chenault, Cyrus, B, 11.53. 5, Hewitt, Ethan, C, 11.60. 6, DeWolf, Austen, So, 11.63. 7, Holley, Caleb, E, 11.76. 8, Sollars, David, So, 11.93.
200 -- 1, Granger, Wah'fe, B, 22.33. 2, Reid, Raymond, B, 22.95. 3, Canady, Emanuel, E, 23.11. 4, DeWolf, Austen, So, 23.15. 5, Clay, Ryan, So, 23.20. 6, Sollars, David, So, 23.41. 7, Chenault, Cyrus, B, 23.50. 8, Mendez, Marcus, B, 23.63.
400 -- 1, Reid, Raymond, B, 50.03. 2, Janssen, Kyle, B, 51.47. 3, Hale, Jamal, B, 52.10. 4, Malamon, Nathachai, So, 52.60. 5, Mamikunian, Connor, Se, 52.90. 6, Owolabi, James, ER, 53.03. 7, Owolabi, John, ER, 53.13. 8, Guillory, Eric, So, 53.80.
800 -- 1, Lane, Jani, Se, 1:59.51. 2, Hanley, Ryan, D, 1:59.56. 3, Talbot, Silas, Se, 2:02.22. 4, Roelle, Hans, W, 2:02.67. 5, Walgren, Robert, Se, 2:04.00. 6, Owolabi, John, ER, 2:06.75. 7, Summerlin, Roger, So, 2:07.05. 8, Huffman, Mason, So, 2:11.57.
1,600 -- 1, Fletcher, Aaron, So, 4:26.11. 2, Lane, Jani, Se, 4:26.93. 3, Talbot, Silas, Se, 4:31.37. 4, Roelle, Hans, W, 4:36.14. 5, Walgren, Robert, Se, 4:36.96. 6, Knapp, Nathaniel, E, 4:39.14. 7, Phelps, Cody, Se, 4:44.95. 8, Huffman, Mason, So, 4:50.82.
3,200 -- 1, Fletcher, Aaron, So, 9:30.69. 2, Lane, Jani, Se, 9:34.83. 3, Talbot, Silas, Se, 9:45.19. 4, Walgren, Robert, Se, 10:02.21. 5, Knapp, Nathaniel, E, 10:08.31. 6, Brewster, Brandon, So, 10:17.35. 7, Klutz, Zachary, E, 10:38.93. 8, Schmidt, Mark, C, 10:43.90.
110 Hurdles -- 1, Bauer, Elliott, So, 15.23. 2, Rollins, Cameron, B, 15.74. 3, Wilson, Travis, Se, 16.41. 4, Eisses, Jacob, W, 16.53. 5, Yates, Jacob, B, 16.73. 6, Elsenheimer, Taylor, So, 16.81. 7, Larson, Ben, E, 16.98. 8, DeLoria, Brody, E, 17.03.
300 Hurdles -- 1, Bauer, Elliott, So, 39.15. 2, Campbell, Kevin, D, 41.72. 3, Wilson, Travis, Se, 42.02. 4, Rollins, Cameron, B, 42.03. 5, Yates, Jacob, B, 42.85. 6, Elsenheimer, Taylor, So, 43.32. 7, McCloskey, Mason, D, 43.50. 8, DeLoria, Brody, E, 45.15.
400 Relay -- 1, Bartlett (Blount-O'Connor, Granger, Mendez, Chenault), 44.33. 2, East 44.48. 3, Dimond 45.48. 4, Chugiak 46.85. 5, Service 48.21. 6, Eagle River 49.06.
800 Relay -- 1, Bartlett (Garrett-Queen, Granger, Hale, Chenault), 1:31.25. 2, East 1:33.52. 3, Dimond 1:35.34. 4, Service 1:38.27. 5, West 1:40.31. 6, Eagle River 1:43.04.
1,600 Relay -- 1, Bartlett (Janssen, Rollins, Hale, Reid), 3:31.69. 2, East 3:35.50. 3, South 3:36.32. 4, Service 3:37.15. 5, Eagle River 3:39.80. 6, West 3:46.49.
3,200 Relay -- 1, Service (Kalis, Phelps, Mamikunian, Walgren), 8:24.35. 2, West 8:26.14. 3, Dimond 8:28.74. 4, South 8:35.53. 5, East 8:46.38. 6, Bartlett 9:29.47. 7, Chugiak 9:35.77.
Triple Jump -- 1, Plooy, Chris, D, 45-01. 2, Jackson, Ben, Se, 44-0534. 3, Larson, Ben, E, 41-0414. 4, Gunn, Kenneth, B, 40-0812. 5, Freed, Andrew, Se, 39-1014. 6, Anderson, Connor, D, 39-0134. 7, Mitchell, Colby, C, 37-1134. 8, Bergerson, Ryan, W, 37-0534.
Discus -- 1, Swensen, Mitchell, D, 154-10. 2, Carpenter, Ben, D, 132-11. 3, Clarke, Matthew, B, 129-10. 4, Tran, Brandon, E, 127-07. 5, McLean, Spencer, So, 125-03. 6, Lutton, Alex, D, 119-07. 7, Afatia, Joshua, E, 117-01. 8, Lindamood, Corey, Se, 106-03.
By KEVIN KLOTT
kklott@adn.com