Petersburg High School's Region V champion 4x400 meter relay team of Robyn Schwartz, Grace Weller, Kylie Wallace and Abigail Taylor are shown after successfully defending their Southeast championship in Juneau at TMHS Field.
Petersburg's John Brooks races to the finish of the 1600 against Sitka's Joreg Bautista. Brooks finished fifth and Bautista sixth.
Grace Weller won the 3200 meters for 1A/2A/3A schools at the Region V track and field championships in Juneau, breaking a school record in the process.
Ben Zarlengo finished 2nd in the 110 meter hurdles.
The Petersburg High School Viking track team traveled to Juneau for the Region V Championship meet last weekend and came away with the boys taking third place and the girls placing second.
“The highlight of the regional meet is our girls got a second place trophy,” PHS Track Coach Brad Taylor said. “They actually scored enough points to win the meet but were disqualified in a relay.”
Taylor explained that the girls were disqualified due to a technicality but there was photo evidence that they were in a legal transfer zone.
“The rules state that photo evidence cannot be taken into account unless that is stipulated before the meet begins,” Taylor stated. “We did go through the appeal process but the decision was not overturned.”
Taylor said he was proud of the whole team and the girls know they won even if they do not hold the title of champions.
“We had a couple of really exceptional students at this meet,” he stated. “Grace Weller broke a school record for the 3,200 and broke her own record by over 11 seconds and Robyn Schwartz won first place in all four of her events.”
Overall there were eight students who qualified for state competition but only seven will travel to Fairbanks for the meet this weekend.
The Viking boys placed third in regional competition behind Sitka and Haines.
The 100 meter run found P.K. Bunyi finishing fourth and in the 200 meter run, Bunyi finished fifth with Stuart Medalen following in seventh.
In the 800 meter run, Tucker Hagerman finished eighth and the 1,600 meter run found John Brooks in fifth followed by T. Hagerman in 10th and Nels Evens in 12th. Three Viking finished the 3,200 meter run with Brooks in third, T. Hagerman in fourth and Evens in ninth.
Ben Zarlengo finished second in the 110 meter hurdles with Billy Ware coming in fourth and Kyle Hagerman finishing fifth.
In the 300 meter hurdles Zarlengo finished second followed by Ware in third and K. Hagerman in sixth.
The Viking team of Bunyi, Ware, Zarlengo and Evan Marsh finished second in the 4 x 100 meter relay and the team of Bunyi, Michael Brock, Marsh and Medalen finished second in the 4 x 200 relay.
Brooks, K. Hagerman, Medalen and Ware finished the 4 x 400 relay in third place and the team of T. Hagerman, Evens, Brooks and K. Hagerman finished third in the 4 x 800 relay.
Evan Marsh, who was participating in his first meet, finished second in the shot put to qualify for state competition and Allan Jensen finished second in the discus to qualify for state as well. Marsh and Jensen are the only boys who qualified for state competition.
For the high jump, Ware finished in second place and Brock finished sixth in the triple jump event.
The Lady Vikings finished second in the meet and had many top placers for the weekend.
In the 400 meter run Robyn Scwartz finished first, followed by Kylie Wallace in third and Hannah Pfundt in fifth. The 800 meter run found Schwartz in first followed by Diane Murph in third and Stephanie Pfundt finishing fourth.
Schwartz took first in the 1,600 meter run as well with Murph finishing third and S. Pfundt coming in fifth.
In the 3,200 meter run Grace Weller took first place; Murph and S. Pfundt finished this event third and fourth.
Weller also took second in the 100 meter hurdles along with Abigail Taylor who finished fifth. The 300 meter hurdles found Weller in first place and Taylor in second.
The Lady Viking Team of Summer Morton, H. Pfundt, S. Pfundt and Patricia Jackson finished third in the 4 x 100 relay and the team of H. Pfundt, Taylor, Morton and Jackson finished the 4 x 200 meter relay in third place.
The team of Weller, Taylor, Wallace and Schwartz took first place in the 4 x 400 meter relay and in the 4 x 800 meter relay, the team of Wallace, H. Pfundt, Morton and Murph finished second.
Jackson took seventh place in the shot put and fourth in the discus.
The triple jump event found Wallace in third place and Morton finished sixth.
The eight Vikings qualifying for state competition were Weller, Schwartz, Taylor, Morton, H. Pfundt, Marsh, Jensen and Wallace.
“I could not be prouder of these kids,” Taylor stated. “They did a great job and were a pleasure to work with.”
The team’s assistant coaches were: Tommy Thompson, who helped with distance; Marissa Collison, who helped in sprints; Lyndsay Trembley, who helped in hurdles and Vicki McIntosh, who helped in the throws.
“We had a lot of great help this year,” Taylor stated. “And that is crucial to make for a successful season.”
The state bound Vikings will leave Thursday for competition in Fairbanks.
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