Anchorage Daily News

Shoshana Keegan thought it would be pretty cool to win a fourth straight 3,200-meter conference track title. Figured it would mark a proud accomplishment. Pegged it a nice reward for all her hard work -- and maybe even sort of noteworthy, although she's way humble about individual accolades.

What the West High senior didn't factor in is that four straight 3,200 titles would make history at the Cook Inlet Conference Track and Field Championships.

She didn't know, at least until meet announcer Chris Waythomas informed the Bartlett High crowd -- and Keegan -- shortly before the event. After he introduced the field of runners, Waythomas pointed out that meet records dating back to 1977 showed Keegan could be the first girl to capture four straight 3,200 crowns.

"You may see history in the making,'' Waythomas announced.

As if Keegan wasn't anxious enough, that news flash jolted her nerves even more. Her eyes opened wide, and she tucked her chin into her warm-up jacket.

" 'Oh, my God,' " Keegan said later, recalling her reaction. " 'Are you joking me? God -- more pressure.' "

Nerves didn't get the best of Keegan, though. Instead, she got the best of the field.

Keegan led from the opening gun, broke away from runner-up Jamie Bronga of East halfway through the race and cruised to victory in 11 minutes, 24.01 seconds.

Only then did she release a sigh of relief.

"I had that in my head, the whole four-year thing,'' Keegan said. "I had it as my goal. I was so nervous. Oh, my gosh, so incredibly nervous.''

Keegan's win ranked high among highlights of the first day of the two-day meet. Six field-event finals and two running finals -- girls and boys 3,200s -- were contested, as were other running preliminaries.

Bartlett High senior Jordan Clarke grabbed his third consecutive shot put title. His throw of 70 feet, 6 inches, won by an astounding 21 feet, extended his nation-leading mark and shattered his previous conference record (60-11 1/2) by nearly 10 feet. (Full story, Page A-1)

Also, Service High junior Ben Jackson knocked off two titles in his bid to become just the third boy in conference history to win the high jump, long jump and triple jump. He defended his high jump title with a leap of 6-4 and won the long jump at 20-8 3/4. He's the prohibitive favorite as defending champion in today's triple jump.

Gabrielle Todd of Bartlett repeated as girls high jump champion with a mark of 5-0. Maggie Rose McGuire of West won the girls long jump by a foot with a leap of 16-3 3/4. And West's Crystal Tui bagged the girls discus title with a fling of 109-2.

Buoyed by the interval workouts she ran with teammates Danielle Gerik (third in the 3,200) and Trey Chenier to sharpen herself for the meet, Keegan set the pace. Bronga ran off Keegan's shoulder for about 1,400 meters before Keegan gapped her for good and accomplished what no other girl ever has.

"It's a really cool thing, for sure,'' Bronga said. "What an honor. She really worked hard for that. It takes a lot of mental stamina.''

Keegan's victory wasn't surprising, given her resume and her experience.

That her boyfriend, West senior Will Estes, won the 3,200, bucked convention.

Friday's race marked just the second time that Estes, a soccer player running his first season of track, has competed in the 3,200. After letting three Service runners push the pace, Estes blew past Service freshman Jani Lane on the final turn with about 150 meters to go and hung on to seize a bang-bang finish in 10:02.39.

"The key was to make sure they didn't lose me, or get boxed in,'' Estes said.

Once he stayed close to Lane on the final lap, Estes liked his chances, but knew he would face a fight in a sprint.

"After seven and three-quarter laps, it's a very tough thing to do,'' Estes said. "It's a sprint, and that's all soccer is, sprints.''

Even though Estes gapped Lane, Lane bounced back wonderfully, reeled in Estes over the final 50 meters and lost by a foot at most -- Lane was clocked .03 seconds behind Estes.

Estes said he listened to the crowd to gauge his lead. Hearing his name yelled, he knew he enjoyed a lead of at least a few strides. But when he began hearing Lane's name yelled too, Estes knew his lead was shrinking.

"You hear both names, it's probably less than two or three meters,'' Estes said.

Find Doyle Woody's blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

Cook Inlet Conference Track & Field Championships

Girls -- Top 8 To Final

100 Meters -- 1) Brandy Jayne, Eagle River, 12.93; 2) Gabrielle Todd, Bartlett, 13.01; 3) Paige Green, East, 13.44; 4) Jessica Tillmon, Bartlett, 13.22; 5) Kendra Harter, Chugiak; 6) Amber Gardner, East, 13.59; 7) Sierra Jackson, South, 13.83; 8) Taylor Hanley, West, 13.88.

200 Meters -- 1) Andrea Crook, Bartlett, 26.63; 2) Symphony Bagsby, Dimond, 27.81; 3) Paige Green, East, 27.92; 4) Kendra Harter, Chugiak, 28.02; 5) Brandy Jayne, Eagle River, 28.11; 6) Natalie Barrus, Service, 28.48; 7) Jennifer MacMillan, Eagle River, 28.34; 8) Amber Gardner, East, 28.52.

400 Meters -- 1) Andrea Crook, Bartlett, 59.26; 2) Symphony Bagsby, Dimond, 1:02.42; 3) Natalie Barrus, Service, 1:03.86; 4) Andrea Zanders, Service, 1:02.76; 5) Ariel Roelle, West, 1:03.11; 6) Josephine Reagle, East, 1:04.22; 7) Tyler Huling, East, 1:05.60; 8) Gracie Johnson, West, 1:05.69.

800 Meters -- 1) Anna Filippova, Dimond, 2:24.18; 2) Anna Dalton, West, 2:26.12; 3) Mychaela Bailey, Service, 2:26.15; 4) Jaime Bronga, East, 2:28.99; 5) Guerin Platte, East, 2:28.85; 6) Kristen King, Eagle River, 2:29.20; 7) Lisa Echols, Bartlett, 2:29.35; 8) Ryan Kaser, South, 2:29.99.

3200 Meter Final -- 1) Shoshana Keegan, West, 11:24.01; 2) Jaime Bronga, East, 11:37.09; 3) Danielle Gerik, West, 11:51.80; 4) Katherine Lange, Chugiak, 12:02.33; 5) Kristen King, Eagle River, 12:04.53; 6) Heather Lee, South, 12:06.04; 7) Hayley Patin, Eagle River, 12:07.07; 8) Robin Stramp, Dimond, 12:25.07.

100-Meter Hurdles -- 1) Lauren Laichak, Dimond, 16.00; 2) Phoenix Harlan, East, 16.80; 3) Brandy Jayne, Eagle River, 17.05; 4) Sara Lopez, South; 5) Robin Kiyutelluk, Bartlett, 17.20; 6) Keiahnna Engel, Dimond, 17.43; 7) Ambrosia Wilkerson, Chugiak, 17.33; 8) Brianne Bohn, West, 17.56.

300-Meter Hurdles -- 1) Lauren Laichak, Dimond, 47.77; 2) Sara Lopez, South, 48.58; 3) Keiahnna Engel, Dimond, 49.80; 4) Stacy Wheeler, West, 51.65; 5) Robin Kiyutelluk, Bartlett, 49.81; 6) Su Yun, South, 52.80; 7) Rachel Fore, Chugiak, 51.31; 8) Kassandra Smith, West, 53.25.

High Jump Final -- 1) Gabrielle Todd, Bartlett, 5-0; 2) Heidi Robuck, Dimond, 4-10; 3) Kelsey Pacolt, Dimond, 4-8; 3) Ashley Bennett, West, 4-8; 5) Ryan Kaser, South, 4-6; 6) Kassandra Smith, West, 4-6; 7) Amy Novakovich, Bartlett, 4-6. 8) Avery Paulson, South, 4-4.

Long Jump -- 1, Maggie Rose McGuire, West, 16-3.75; 2) Ambrosia Wilkerson, Chugiak, 15-3.5; 3) Jessica Todd, Dimond, 15-02.75; 4) Taylor Hanley, West, 14-9.75; 5) Erin Ersland, South, 14-9.25; 6) Kimmy Jackson, Dimond, 14-7.25; 7) Jennifer MacMillan, Eagle River, 14-3.5; 8) Lauren Bassler, South, 14-01.5.

Discus Throw -- 1) Crystal Tui, West, 109-02; 2) Nyesha Joseph, Dimond, 106-01; 3) Alexandra Brewster, South Anch HS, 102-01; 4) Janniequeen Tui, West, 101-03; 5) Ashley Grant, Dimond, 100-06; 6) Ashley Bowen, Bartlett, 97-07; 7) Cierra Mickens, Eagle River, 95-03; 8) Betty Logo, East, 89-10.

Boys -- Top 8 To Final

100 Meters -- 1) Wah'fe Granger, Bartlett, 11.46; 2) Marcus Mendez, Bartlett, 11.63; 3) Biko Burford, Dimond, 11.69; 4) Nick Gilmore, West, 11.52; 5) Cyrus Chenault, Bartlett, 11.71; 6) Jordan Slay, West, 11.83; 7) Dominique Garrett-Queen, Bartlett, 11.77; 8) Shane Sites, Service, 11.81.

200 Meters -- 1) Wah'fe Granger, Bartlett, 23.27; 2) Marcus Mendez, Bartlett, 23.46; 3) Shane Sites, Service, 23.70; 4) Biko Burford, Dimond, 23.83; 5) Nick Gilmore, West, 23.95; 6) Ahmid Nasir, Dimond, 24.20; 7) Cyrus Chenault, Bartlett, 24.03; 8) Ryan Clay, South, 24.29.

400 Meters -- 1) Raymond Reid, Bartlett, 50.60; 2) Anthony Crook, Bartlett, 52.11; 3) Kyle Janssen, Bartlett, 52.20; 4) Ahmid Nasir, Dimond, 53.36; 5, Connor Mamikunian, Service, 54.18; 6) Aaron Heaslet, East, 54.21; 7) James Owolabi, Eagle River, 53.39; 8) Eric Guillory, South, 54.79.

800 Meters -- 1) Hans Roelle, West, 2:04.15; 2) Tim Miller, Bartlett, 2:04.79; 3) Taylor Samse, Bartlett, 2:04.61; 4) Bart Grabman, East, 2:04.82;. 5) John Owolabi, Eagle River, 2:04.99; 6) Alex Odegaard, West, 2:07.64; 7) Robert Walgren, Service, 2:05.02; 8) Mackenzie Bailey, Service, 2:15.70.

3,200-Meter Final -- 1) Will Estes, West, 10:02.39; 2) Jani Lane, Service, 10:02.42; 3) Cody Phelps, Service, 10:09.41; 4) Nick Canfield, Bartlett, 10:25.65; 5) Nathaniel Knapp, East, 10:26.12; 6) Zachary Klutz, East, 10:28.12; 7) Tyler Samse, Bartlett, 10:29.15; 8) Nick Fowler, Service, 10:31.39.

110-Meter Hurdles -- 1) Ceylon Mitchell, East, 16.14; 2) Isaiah Hoyer, West, 16.36; 3) Cameron Rollins, Bartlett, 16.16; 4) Keith Underwood, Dimond, 16.65; 5) Taylor Elsenheimer, South, 17.36; 6) Caleb Pruitt, Chugiak, 17.40; 7) Christopher Burgess, South, 18.23; 8) Ryan Bergerson, West, 19.00.

300-Meter Hurdles -- 1) Ceylon Mitchell, East, 42.01; 2) Cameron Rollins, Bartlett, 42.31; 3) Kevin Campbell, Dimond, 43.09; 4) Fatai Shittu, Bartlett, 42.62; 5) Keith Underwood, Dimond, 44.80; 6) Isaiah Hoyer, West, 45.54; 7) Dana Gorski, Eagle River, 45.25.

High Jump Final -- 1) Ben Jackson, Service, 6-04; 2) Christopher Tuohy, South, 6-04; 3) Isaiah Hoyer, West, 6-04; 4) Chris Plooy, Dimond, 5-10; 5) Ryan Holta, Dimond, 5-10.

Long Jump -- 1) Ben Jackson, Service, 20-08.75; 2) Ben Larson, East, 20-02.75; 3) Ryan Clay, South, 20-02; 4) Chris Plooy, Dimond, 19-11.25; 5) David Sollars, South, 19-01.50; 6) Aaron Wooley, West, 18-10.75; 7) Bradley Payton, Eagle River, 18-05.25; 8, Damarcus Cox, Bartlett, 18-05.

Shot Put -- 1) Jordan Clarke, Bartlett, 70-06; 2) Ian Rosario, Chugiak, 49-00.75; 3) Oliver Keim, West, 44-09; 4) Mitchell Swensen, Dimond, 42-02.50; 5) Alex Lutton, Dimond, 41-06.25; 6) Gabriel Holland, South, 40-07.50; 7) Delvin Afusia, Dimond, 39-11; 8) Marcus Spencer, South, 39-00.50.

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