Steele, Sees capture 3,200 titles; Nelson, Jordan nab records at CIC track championships

A strong headwind didn't sway South's Derek Steele from his strategy in the 3,200 meters Friday at the Cook Inlet Conference track and field championships at Dimond High.

Steele went straight to the front of the pack and led the whole way, pulling ahead in the final straightaway to win the longest race in high school track and field by nearly four seconds in 9 minutes, 40.29 seconds.

The win was a long time coming for Steele, a senior who finished second in the event the previous two seasons at the CIC meet.

"It feels great," Steele said. "I've been runner-up in this race the last two years at regions, so to finally get the title feels really good."

Unlike the boys race — where Steele was the favorite going in — Emma Sees of Chugiak pulled off an upset in the girls 3,200.

The freshman held back for most of the race before taking the lead and starting her kick on the seventh lap. She moved from third to first and won by more than six seconds in 11:42.12 — a personal record by nearly 18 seconds.

Sees had the region's fourth-best time heading into the race.

"It's been so humbling working this whole season to get results, so I feel super blessed right now," Sees said. "It's awesome."

Peyton Young of Eagle River led for a few laps early in the race and top-seeded Maggie Meeds led briefly, but nobody could keep up with Sees' speedy burst with two laps to go.

Dimond's Kylie Judd used a kick of her own to finish second in 11:48.51.

"I felt so great this race, which is so crazy because it's a little bit windy today," Sees said. "But I felt super strong and super light, so it was a great feeling out there today.

"It was humbling because they are all amazing athletes and have worked so hard this season, so I feel really blessed to have been able to run with them the whole race and perform well too."

The boys race was a different story — Steele led a pack of five runners, but only by a small margin for most of the race. He could hear runners drafting right behind him until they finally started losing steam during the final couple of laps.

West's Finn Walker (9:44.13) edged Eagle River's Jacob Walsh (9:45.34) for second place.

"I was a little nervous," Steele said. "Most of the other races this year, I haven't been nervous at all, but I was nervous for this one.

"These guys out here, they push me every race, so I knew any of them could take it. It worked out great — I hit the splits I wanted to (and) I got a PR out of it."

The 3,200 was the only running final Friday — most finals and relays take place Saturday — but six field events were completed on Day 1 of the two-day meet.

Emma Nelson of Chugiak leapt to a new conference record in the girls triple jump with a winning mark of 36 feet, 10.25 inches. She also placed second in the high jump.

It was the second time in two years the conference record fell in the triple jump — last year, Dimond's Chrisalyn Johnson went 36-9 to take down the 1994 record of 36-6.25 set by Tiffany Weatherton of Dimond.

Another record fell in the preliminary races. Ty Jordan of Chugiak ran a 1:55.16 in the boys 800, breaking Dimond's Laird Prosser's long-standing record of 1:55.3 set in 1993.

Steele finished second in the 800 in 2:02.76.

The CIC championships resume at 9 a.m. Saturday with more field events. The first race on the track is at 12:05 p.m.

Cook Inlet Conference track and field championships

Dimond High

Friday's finals

Girls

3,200 (CIC record: Darcy Dugan, 10:51.56, 1999)  – 1) Emma Sees, Chugiak, 11:42.12; 2) Kylie Judd, Dimond, 11:48.51; 3) Maggie Meeds, South, 11:49.23; 4) Grace Fahrney, Service, 11:55.32; 5) Peyton Young, Eagle River, 11:58.44; 6) Clare Howard, Service, 12:05.05; 7) Brynn Kruchoski, Chugiak, 12:07.47; 8) Gwen Mueller, Chugiak, 12:07.58.

Triple jump – 1) Emma Nelson, Chugiak, 36-10.25 (new CIC record; old record Chrisalyn Johnson, Dimond, 36-9, 2015); 2) Gretta Pickett, West, 34-2.75; 3) Katherine Kirby, West, 33-9; 4) Rebekah Smith, Chugiak, 32-6; 5) Flurina Boslough, West, 32-2.5; 6) Kassidy Murfin, Chugiak, 32-2.5; 7) Zoey Keene, South, 32-0.75; 8) Danae Stokes, Dimond, 31-1.5.

High jump (CIC record: Cathy Ballensky, 5-7, 1992) – 1) Zoey Keene, South, 5-4; 2) Emma Nelson, Chugiak, 5-0; 3) Ann Gebauer,. Service, 4-10; 4) Clarice Ruhlin-Hicks, West, 4-8; 5) Francesca Jefferson, Eagle River, 4-8; 6) Kyra Duckett, Eagle River, 4-6; 7) Kyra Precie, Dimond, 4-6; 8) Danae Stokes, Dimond, 4-2.

Discus (CIC record: Brenda Cantwell, 136-10, 1981) – 1) Kyla Liufau, East, 93-4; 2) Kinley Norman, West, 87-0, 3) Haylie Hellman, South, 86-10; 4) Kalolaine Uhila, East, 86-8; 5) Ella Kupiainen, Chugiak, 84-7; 6) Sophia Mira, East, 83-4; 7) Lisa Lynch, South, 78-0; 8) Allyson Jones, Service, 74-7.

Boys

3,200 (CIC record: Don Clary, 9:12.9, 1975) – 1) Derek Steele, South, 9:40.29; 2) Finn Walker, West, 9:44.13; 3) Jacob Walsh, Eagle River, 9:45.34; 4) Foster Birnbaum, 9:52.01; 5) Riley Howard, Service, 9:59.90; 6) Koen Bailey, South, 10:03.05; 7) Luke Meiwes, South, 10:09.96; 8) Zephan Ozturgut, East, 10:12.31.

Triple jump (CIC record: Shawn Timmons, 46-7.5, 2004) – 1) Lucas Davis, Eagle River, 41-6.5; 2) Nathaniel Fromm, Service, 40-10; 3) Austin Sayer, Chugiak, 40-03; 4) Cephas Ekuase, Dimond, 40-2.25; 5) Tristan Wilhoit, Dimond, 38-9.25; 6) Brian Jensen, Chugiak, 38-6; 7) Jake Mohundro, South, 38-1; 8) Thomas Christian, South, 37-8.5.

High jump (CIC record: Justin Ore, 6-8, 2006) – 1) Bryce Hellman, Bartlett, 6-4; 2) Mark Fisher, West, 5-10; 3) Nathaniel Fromm, Service, 5-10; 4) Dallas Tellef, Bartlett, 5-8; 5) Mason Wadsworth, Eagle River, 5-8; 6) Cassidy Tix, West, 5-6; 7) Tristan Wilhoit, Dimond, 5-4; 8) Canyon McCallister, South, 5-4.

Shot put (CIC record: Jordan Clarke, 70-6, 2008) – 1) Evan Bruso, Bartlett, 47-0.25; 2) Thomas Sio, Bartlett, 46-5; 3) Ethan Falaniko, Bartlett, 44-4.5; 4) Nigel Pagofie, Bartlett, 43-6; 5) Brandon Pili, Dimond, 42-8.5; 6) Ralph Toleafoa, East, 42-3.75; 7) Johnathon Stephens, Service, 40-8.75.