This is what's known as having a field day.
The opening day of the state track and field championships in Fairbanks turned into a showcase for Kenai's Tyler Spalding, who won all three of Friday's field events in the Class 4A boys competition at Lathrop High.
Spalding repeated as state champion in the high jump and triple jump and picked up a third title in the discus. He'll try for a fourth title today in the shot put, in which he is seeded fourth.
A 6-foot-5 senior who was the day's only multiple winner, Spalding scored more points single-handedly -- 30 -- than any single team in either the Class 4A or Class 1-2-3A divisions.
He started the day by clearing 6 feet, 2 inches to win the high jump -- two inches lower than his winning effort last year, but for good reason.
"I have some ankle problems and I had to stop early because I also had discus and triple jump to get to," Spalding told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "I wanted to get some high heights, but I'm satisfied with winning."
Spalding sailed 45 feet to win the triple jump and threw 165-2 to win the discus.
Alisha Allen of Lathrop provided the top field performance among girls by turning in a record-setting effort to win the Class 4A girls triple jump. Her leap of 37-8 3/4 broke the 2006 mark of 37-4 1/2 set by South's Sylvia Bullock.
Bartlett's Morgan Kueter jumped six inches better than her season-best to win the Class 4A girls high jump at 5-4. Skyview's Thit Bak also cleared 5-4, but the victory went to Kueter because she cleared the height on her first attempt while Bak needed three tries.
"My theory in high jumping is you have to be completely relaxed and just let muscle memory take over,'' Kueter told the News-Miner. "Practice is for working on the little things, but at competition, you have just let your body do it."
The day's lone track final -- the 3,200 meters -- produced several notable performances:
• Delta Junction's Andrey Ionashku knocked off defending champion John Klein to take the 1-2-3A boys victory in 9 minutes, 34.98 seconds. His time was six second faster than the winning time in the Class 4A race, marking the second straight year the small schools produced a faster champion than the big schools.
• Katie Strong of Port Lions came from nowhere to win the 1-2-3A girls race in 11:48, shaving almost 22 seconds off her season-best of 12:09.43. She beat the top-seeded racer, runnerup Claire Trujillo of Grace Christian, by 8.22 seconds.
• Colony's Audrey Michaelson took the 4A girls title by beating the two girls who dueled to a photo- finish at last fall's state cross- country championships. Michaelson took more than 11 seconds off her season-best by running 11:07.94 to beat Kodiak's Jaymi Bethea (second in 11:10.12) and Service's Jenette Northey (third in 12:26.09).
"I did not expect to win this," Michaelson told the News-Miner. "Oh my gosh. Jenette and Jaymi pushed me the whole time, and I thought about how this is my only race on fresh legs, so I was going to do whatever it took and push myself.
"... At the end, I just kept thinking about my stride and pumping my arms. I was just running, running like someone was chasing me. I gave it all I had and it worked. Yipee!"
Service's Silas Talbot wasn't exactly shouting with glee after his 4A victory, which came in 9:41.14, more than five seconds off his season-best of 9:35.54. But he was satisified with the run, which led a 1-2-6 showing by Service, with Aaron Wheatall finishing second in 9:49.18.
"It's not my fasted time, but with the condition, I feel I went all out, and I'm happy with that," Talbot told the News-Miner.
Athletes experienced the gamut when it came to conditions.
The day began with rain. Then it got cold enough to put on gloves. Then the sun appeared. Then the wind kicked up. By the time action wrapped up, it was a warm and windy 70 degrees.
The 3,200-meter runners did their thing in the heat.
"I'm feeling overheated, that's how I'm feeling," Michaelson said after her victory. "But the wind helped. You'll never, ever, ever hear me say it again, but the wind was magnificent."
Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.
ASAA/First National Bank
State track and field championships
Class 4A girls
Team scores (through 4 events) -- 1) Colony 18, 2) tie, Skyview and Palmer 14, 4) tie, Lathrop and Wasilla 12, 6) Bartlett 10; 7) Kodiak 8, 8) West Valley 6.4, 9) tie, Service, North Pole and Houston 6, 12) Dimond 5.5, 13) Soldotna 3, 14) East 2, 15) Chugiak 1.
3,200 -- 1) Audrey Michaelson, Colony, 11:07.94; 2) Jaymi Bethea, Kodiak, 11:10.12; 3) Jenette Northey, Service, 11:26.09; 4) Mariah Burroughs, Wasilla, 11:34.79; 5) Megan Edic, Lathrop, 11:37.60; 6) Sarah Freistone, Dimond, 11:43.28.
High jump -- 1) Morgan Kueter, Bartlett, 5-4; 2) Thit Bak, Skyview, 5-4; 3) Megan McKinnell, North Pole, 5-1; 4) Megan Drange, West Valley, 4-10; 5) Mariah Ulen, Soldotna, 4-10; 6) tie, Sylvia Evern, Dimond, and Paige Wolters, West Valley, 4-8.
Triple jump -- 1) Alisha Allen, Lathrop, 37-8.75 (state record; old record 37-4.5, Sylvia Bullock, South, 2006); 2) Dajanae Harris, Wasilla, 35-6.25; 3) Thit Bak, Skyview, 35-5.5; 4) Tonya Parish, Dimond, 34-8.5; 5) Julia Mackey, West Valley, 34-1.75; 6) Alexandria Collins, Chugiak, 33-8.
Shot put -- 1) Erin LaMere, Palmer, 35-10.75; 2) Shellina Irwin, Colony, 35-6.25; 3) Savanna James, Houston, 34-7.25; 4) Rachael Huffman, Palmer, 34-4; 5) Wenda Pole'o, East, 32-11; 6) Jessie Duke, Soldotna, 32-6.25.
Class 4A boys
Team scores (through 4 events) -- 1) Kenai 30, 2) Service 19, 3) West Valley 15, 4) Bartlett 12, 5) Kodiak 10, 6) tie, East, West and Thunder Mountain 9, 9) tie, Chugiak and Wasilla 4, 11) Lathrop 3, 12) South 2; 13) Dimond 1.
3,200 -- 1) Silas Talbot, Service, 9:41.14; 2) Aaron Wheatall, Service, 9:49.18; 3) Cole Christiansen, Kodiak, 9:52.2; 4) Nathan Deer, Kodiak, 9:52.69; 5) Brandon Brewster, South, 9:54.99; 6) Max Romey, Service, 9:59.48.
High jump -- 1) Tyler Spalding, Kenai, 6-2; 2) Brey Hassebroek, West Valley, 6-1; 3) David Dumpson, East, 6-1; 4) Braden Hall, West Valley, 6-0; 5) Will Vealy, West Valley, 5-10; 6) Kent Ariola, West Valley, 5-10.
Triple jump -- 1) Tyler Spalding, Kenai, 45-0; 2) Alex Tracy, Thunder Mountain, 44-4.75; 3) Richard Predmore, Bartlett, 44-0.5; 4) Matthew Keith, Chugiak, 42-11.75; 5) Vincent Barnett, Lathrop, 42-5.75; 6) Kade Bullard, Dimond, 42-0.
Discus -- 1) Tyler Spalding, Kenai, 165-2; 2) Terry HoltMan, West, 163-11; 3) Tim Dommek, Bartlett, 155-0; 4) Devon Teeling, Wasilla, 145-0; 5) Alex Orozco, West Valley, 141-4; 6) Paul Owens, Lathrop, 132-11.
Class 3A girls
Team scores (through 4 events) -- 1) tie, Anchorage Christian and Port Lions 20, 3) Grace Christian 17, 4) Su Valley 13, 5) Haines 11, 6) Seward 10, 7) Yakutat 8, 8) Monroe 7, 9) tie, Petersburg and Kenny Lake 6, 11) tie, Hutchison and Eielson 2, 13) tie, Sitka and Skagway 1.
3,200 -- 1) Katie Strong, Port Lions, 11:48.0; 2) Claire Trujillo, Grace Christian, 11:56.22; 3) Kailey Wilson, Kenny Lake, 12:06.84; 4) Mariah Applegate, Grace, 12:11.07; 5) Mickey Murtiff, Eielson, 12:21.86; 6) Elle Arnold, Grace, 12:28.21.
High jump -- 1) Raissa Boskofsky, Port Lions, 4-8; 2) tie, Alexis Gavora, Monroe, and Callie Quinlan, ACS, 4-6; 4) tie, Olivia Jaconette, ACS, and Ayla Loper, Su Valley, 4-6; 6) Alaire Hughley, Sitka, 4-4.
Shot put -- 1) Tessa Adelman, Seward, 32-11.25; 2) Ellen Esbenshade, Yakutat, 32-1; 3) Emily Hartley, Su Valley, 30-5; 4) Rekia Hueton, Su Valley, 30-2.25; 5) Abby Jones, Haines, 29-3; 6) Alisha Young, Haines, 28-11.75.
Triple jump -- 1) Jenelle Bennett, ACS, 32-6.25; 2) Serena Badgley, Haines, 30-8.75; 3) Clara Medalen, Petersburg, 30-2; 4) Kayla Rowe, Grace, 30-1; 5) Chelsea Roehl, Hutchison, 28-7.7.5; 6) Rori Leverton, Skagway, 26-11.5.
Class 3A boys
Team scores (through 4 events) -- 1) Grace Christian 25, 2) tie, Delta Junction and Valdez 20, 4) Anchorage Christian 14.5, 5) Seward 13.5, 6) Haines 8, 7) Tri-Valley 8, 8) Eielson 7, 9) Nikiski 4, 10) tie, Monroe and Cook Inlet Academy 1.
3,200 -- 1) Andrey Ionashku, Delta, 9:34.98; 2) John Klein, Grace, 10:05.32; 3) Miles Knotek, Seward, 10:17.82; 4) Daniel Serventi, Grace, 10:36.64; 5) Blake Hamilton, Haines, 10:38.10; 6) Ivan David Isaacs, Grace, 11:01.43.
High jump -- 1) Kasey Walker, Valdez, 6-1; 2) tie, Scott Delauder, Eielson, and Gus Simmers, ACS, 5-8; 4) George Keeney, Valdez, 5-6; 5) tie, Matthew Moore, Seward, and Chris Voss, ACS, 5-4.
Discus -- 1) Chase Markel, Grace, 146-5; 2) Nathan Piper, Haines, 140-7; 3) Beau Garcia, Seward, 121-10; 4) Lincoln Johnson, Nikiski, 115-8; 5) Erik Johnson, Grace, 115-6; 6) Zach Taplin, Cook Inlet, 110-1.
Triple jump -- 1) Donovan Drew, Delta, 40-5.75; 2) Jake Carter, Tri Valley, 39-8.5; 3) George Keeney, Valdez, 39-3; 4) Kaylon Garner, ACS, 37-11.75; 5) Jordan Railing, ACS, 37-10.25; 6) James Holmes, Monroe, 37-4.75.
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com