High School Sports

Alaska's fast families of track and field

Though no official records exist, it's believed that the Dunbars – dad Marcus of Bartlett High and son Trevor of Kodiak High – are Alaska's first family to produce two generations of individual state track champions.

Marcus won the 800 meters at the 1983 state meet, and 24 years later Trevor won the 3,200 at the 2007 state meet (his first of four state track titles).

[At state track meet, torch is passed from one generation to another]

Others on the list include:

Chris Jones and Hans Roelle. As a runner for Bartlett, Jones won the 880-yard race in 1980 and the 800-meter race in 1981. Roelle, her son, won the 800 for West High in 2010.

Richard Welling and Naomi Welling. Richard won state titles in the high jump and triple jump for Dimond in 1983. Naomi won nine state titles at Juneau's Thunder Mountain, including three as a senior in 2015.

Bruce Jackman and Josh Jackman. Bruce was a three-time long jump champion for Kenai Central in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Josh, a senior at Kenai Central, on Friday claimed his third state long jump championship and added the 200-meter crown on Saturday.

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Mike Kramer and Kendall Kramer. Mike, running for Lathrop, won the 3,200 crown in 1984 and took the 1,600 and 3,200 in 1986. Kendall, a freshman running for West Valley, won Friday's 3,200 and Saturday's 1,600.

Doug Herron and Camron Herron. Doug, running for Bartlett, set the still-standing state record in the 800 meters in 1983. Camron, a sophomore running for West Valley, won Satuday's 800 race despite breaking his collarbone in a race 3.5 weeks ago.

If you know of any other parent-child combos who won individual state track championships – no relays, please — email the details to sports@adn.com and we'll add them to this list after verification.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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