May 9—Moscow’s Jasmine Carr crossed the finish line after anchoring the victorious 1,600-meter relay and immediately collapsed on the turf next to the field. She proceeded to be surrounded by her teammates, cheering loudly and stretching her out, nearly piling on top of her.
With the win in the final race of the meet, the Bears stamped their girls team title at the District 1-2 5A Championships track and field meet at the end of Day 2 on Friday at Lewiston High School.
That 1,600 relay team of Addie Lassen, Izzabel Fender, Ashlyn Fakhouri and Carr set the Moscow school record with a time of 4 minutes, 1.52 seconds in the process.
Carr also set three other school records on the day — one with the 400 relay in 48.08, another in the 100 in 12.03, and the final in the 200 in 24.84.
The junior said she felt great about the 200 the most because she has been trying to break the 25-second mark for more than a year and finally accomplished it.
But to be with this specific team and to do well with this Bears group is special to her.
“I just love being here with my friends,” Carr said. “We have such a good group and I really love them all. So it was just really great. And it’s sad because most of them are seniors, so this is our last year together. So it was really just special.”
The Moscow girls repeated as the district champions with a total of 97.5 points. The Lewiston girls came in fourth with 51.5 points.
On the boys side, Moscow came in second at 80.67 points and Lewiston came in third with 68.33 points.
Carr, Nuhn and the Moscow girls shine
Carr was a part of four school records on Friday. During the 1,600 relay, she said she pushed herself to go faster than she had before.
“I remember I passed Lakeland and Lewiston, and that felt good, and (Moscow coach Phil Helbling) was telling me the last 100 is my hardest part,” Carr said. “He’s always telling me to turn over (and) act like I’m running a 100, and I think that just helped. … I ran a split of 57 (seconds), so that was really cool. I’ve never done that before.”
Also on Day 2, Moscow’s Mattea Nuhn set a school record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 44.02. Nuhn won the 300 hurdles by more than two seconds. She also won the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.14.
On Day 1, she set the long jump record with a distance of 19 feet, 1/2 inches.
“I loved long jump. Me and my long jump coach are like best friends, and she’s the best. So finally, hitting that 19 feet is super exciting, and something I’ll remember for a long time,” Nuhn said. “And also just getting one final district (title). We have a lot of girls seniors on the team, so getting one final up north meet with them is just very special.”
She also tied the school record in the high jump with a height of 5-6 on Day 1, matching her own personal record she shared with Moscow legends Andrea Lloyd (1982) and Heather Owen (1992).
On racing in the hurdles, Nuhn said she is focused on trying to beat herself rather than on her opponents.
“I’m not focused on (winning), or it’s not like a conscious moment,” Nuhn said. “I’m worried about racing the clock because, like, no matter who’s around you, it can always be competitive. You’re racing yourself. … Just continuing to PR throughout the season and just know that trusting my coaches and their practice plan is going really well, and then being able to trust myself that no matter who’s running next to me, I can still impress myself.”
In addition, Cora Crawford of Moscow won the 3,200 by nearly 10 seconds with a time of 12:14.45 and won the 1,600 meters on Day 1 in 5:17.02.
Moscow’s Saskia Hohenlohe took gold and set the school record in the triple jump on Day 1 with a distance of 36-8, surpassing Jami Patten’s 35-11 1/4 leap from the 2003 4A State Meet.
Boys standouts
Moscow’s Caleb Heywood holds the best state mark in the 200 in 21.43 seconds.
During the championships, he took second in the 100 with a time of 10.72 and placed first in the 200 with a time of 21.56.
He said he “felt a little off today” and mentioned that due to the longer wait of the schedule he felt like he was “pretty cool” by the time he ran the 100.
However, Heywood made State for both events and said that’s not where he wants to stop.
“It feels good,” Heywood said. “I mean, this is my third time doing it. I like to be humble, but it’s just like, it’s kind of a thing now. Like, I’m more prepared for it than I was. I don’t want to just get complacent with just making it, I want to go and place at State, I want to go win.”
Moscow’s Connor Horne won the 400 in 49.79.
The Bears’ boys 800 relay team of Owen Lassen, Horne, George Stott, and Heywood won in 1:27.31, and the 1,600 relay team of Horne, Trenton Stypa, John Dyer and Heywood won with a time of 3:20.70.
Lewiston’s 1,600 relay team of Renin Jackson, Bryce Sifers, Hunter Edelen and D.J. Wilkerson set a school record and came in second with a time of 3:22.84.
Sifers won the 300 hurdles with a personal record time of 40.50.
Sifers said that right after the first hurdle he felt like he had a good lead, and used his peripheral vision to see if anyone had caught up in the inside or outside lanes, and saw nobody and felt like he was in good position.
“It boosts my confidence a lot, and it makes me proud of myself, because my family’s really proud of me and all my family has done track,” Sifers said. “My brother was a state champion, and just seeing myself as a district champ, it just makes me motivated for State.”
Trip Eckert of Lewiston won the 110 hurdles in 15.20.
On Day 1, the Bengals’ Gabe Kessinger took gold in the discus with a throw of 153-9.
Also on Day 1, Moscow’s Cameron Fairbanks won the pole vault at 13-6 and Lewiston’s Reid Krahn won the long jump with a distance of 21-9 1/2.
Looking forward to State
The top-two finishers from each event go to State, while there are three at-large bids for each event.
Helbling mentioned he was “soaking in” the elite competition at this meet.
“I mean, what an experience,” the Moscow coach said. “Quite honestly, as we’re sitting here on Day 2, I can’t help myself to think about just how competitive these two days have been, and how strong the north is, especially the 5A. I mean, we saw a ton of state-caliber talent, top-end state-caliber talent right here in this meet.”
Helbling said that he is “extremely proud” of his team, but is an ultra-focused coach who is all about business and pushing his athletes to be successful. He said he will always be supportive and positive, but is ready to push his athletes to become state champions.
“But obviously I am already thinking ahead,” Helbling said. “I’m thinking about what we need to do to get ourselves that much better, refining the little details. So I’m extremely proud, but the work’s not done. And that’s, that’s what’s important. We’ve got bigger things on our mind.”
BOYS
Team scores — 1. Sandpoint 101; 2. Moscow 80.67; 3. Lewiston 68.33; 4. Lakeland 38.
100 — 1. Maverick Gomez, Sand, 10.69; 2. Caleb Heywood, Mos, 10.72; 3. Trey Blumenberg, Sand, 10.98.
200 — 1. Heywood, Mos, 21.56; 2. Gomez, Sand, 21.60; 3. Connor Horne, Mos, 22.27.
400 — 1. Horne, Mos, 49.79; 2. Knox Williams, Sand, 49.95; 3. Jaron Yager, Lak, 50.89.
800 — 1. Jack Lovin, Sand, 1:58.63; 2. John Dyer, Mos, 1:58.91; 3. Trenton Stypa, Mos, 1:59.11.
1,600 — 1. Paul Kent, Sand, 4:27.11; 2. Kai Budensiek, San, 4:27.36; 3. Orion McClory, Mos, 4:29.80.
3,200 — 1. Kent, Sand, 9:40.07; 2. Budensiek, Sand, 9:41.95; 3. McClory, Mos, 9:43.59.
110 hurdles — 1. Trip Eckert, Lew, 15.20; 2. Kelton Vasile, Sand, 16.44; 3. Mark Perryman, Mos, 17.17.
300 hurdles — 1. Bryce Sifers, Lew, 40.50; 2. Renin Jackson, Lew, 41.33; 3. Levi Abbott, Lak, 43.38.
400 relay — 1. Sandpoint (Blumenberg, Gomez, Kamren Ziarnick, Isaac Schmit), 41.82; 2. Lewiston, 42.66; 3. Lakeland 42.97.
800 relay — 1. Moscow (Owen Lassen, Connor Horne, George Stott, Caleb Heywood), 1:27.31; 2. Sandpoint, 1:27.35; 3. Lewiston, 1:28.62.
1,600 relay — 1. Moscow (Horne, Trenton Stypa, John Dyer, Heywood), 3:20.70; 2. Lewiston, 3:22.84; 3. Lakeland, 3:27.09.
SMR 1,600 — 1. Lakeland (Sean Burke, Kayden Karle, Jaron Yager, Ryan Engelbrecht), 3:36.05; 2. Moscow, 3:39.32; 3. Sandpoint, 3:56.46.
Shot put — 1. Brayden Carrel, Lak., 52-10; 2. Parker Bagley, Lew, 50-8; 3. Riley Bontrager, Mos., 47-10.
Discus — Gabriel Kessinger, Lew, 153-9; 2. Bagley, Lew, 144-1; 3. Porter, Sand, 143-1.
Javelin — 1. Hayden Peterson, Sand, 150-2; 2. Peyton Hillman, Lak, 144-4; 3. Cairn Rookey, Sand, 137-10.
High jump — 1. Caleb Thomlinson, Sand, 5-10; 2. Reid Krahn, Lew, 5-10; 3. Curtis Carr, Mos, 5-8.
Pole vault — 1. Cameron Fairbanks, Mos, 13-6; 2. Wyatt Neal, Sand, 13-6; 3. Noah Hoger, Mos, 11-0.
Long jump — 1. Krahn, Lew, 21-9 1/2; 2. Carr, Mos, 21-4 1/2; 3. Dawson Bernatz, Lew, 20-10.
Triple jump — 1. Clayton Ernst, Sand, 43-1/2; 2. Levi Abbott, Lak, 41-8 1/2; 3. Bryant Scruggs, Mos, 41-6.
GIRLS
Team scores — 1. Moscow 97.5; 2. Lakeland 85; 3. Sandpoint 54; 4. Lewiston 51.5.
100 — 1. Jasmine Carr, Mos, 12.03; 2. Elia Howard, Sand, 12.29; 3. Ashlyn Karle, Lak, 12.36.
200 — 1. Carr, Mos, 24.84; 2. Howard, Sand, 25.92; 3. Sapphire Ruelle, Lak, 25.96.
400 — 1. Tessa Lovell, Lak, 1:00.10; 2. Mia Mellinger, Lew, 1:00.48; 3. Trinity Bonebrake, Lew, 1:00.86.
800 — 1. Elizabeth Storms, Sand, 2:18.13; 2. Addisyn Storm, Lew, 2:20.44; 3. Ruthie Laughridge, Sand, 2:23.47.
1,600 — 1. Cora Crawford, Mos, 5:17.02; 2 Elizabeth Storms, Sand, 5:23.15; 3. Ruthie Laughridge, Sand, 5:23.48.
3,200 — 1. Crawford, Mos, 12:14.45; 2. Delaney Barron, Sand, 12:24.82; 3. Oliva Meredith, Lak, 12:31.43.
100 hurdles — 1. Mattea Nuhn, Mos, 14.14; 2. Elia Howard, Sand, 14.88; 3. Jessa Skinner, Mos, 15.34.
300 hurdles — 1. Nuhn, Mos, 44.02; 2. Karstyn Kiefer, Lak, 46.96; 3. Ani Vick, Sand, 48.36.
400 relay — 1. Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Kiefer, Ruelle), 48.02; 2. Moscow, 48.08; 3. Lewiston, 52.33.
800 relay — 1. Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Ruby Kindy, Tessa Lovell), 1:44.13; 2. Moscow, 1:44.94; 3. Lewiston, 1:47.75.
1,600 relay — 1. Moscow (Addie Lassen, Izzabel Fender, Ashlyn Fakhouri, Carr), 4:01.52; 2. Lakeland, 4:02.69; 3. Lewiston, 4:05.24.
SMR 800 — 1. Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Tessa Lovell, Karstyn Kiefer), 1:49.05; 2. Moscow, 1:51.97; 3. Lewiston, 1:54.03.
Shot put — 1. Jackie Robbins, Lak, 40-8; 2. Emmy Roberts, Lew, 37-9; 3. Suzie Huff, Lew, 32-2.
Discus — 1. Robbins, Lak, 128-4; 2. Roberts, Lew, 114-9; 3. Rylee Crocker, Lak, 113-7.
Javelin — 1. Anabella Palaniuk, Lak, 104-6; 2. Jordyn Tomco, Sand, 98-9; 3. Kessinger, Lew, 89-4.
High jump — 1. Mattea Nuhn, Mos, 5-6; 2. Jasmin Laing, Sand, 5-2; 3. Aliah Winterbottom, Lew, 5-0.
Pole vault — 1. Alyssa Hinkle, Lak, 10-0; 2. Izzy Davidson, Sand, 10-0; 3. Reesa Saxe, Lak, 9-6.
Long jump — 1. Nuhn, Mos, 19-1/2; 2. Skinner, Mos, 16-11 1/2; 3. Winterbottom, Lew, 16-2 1/2.
Triple jump — 1. Saskia Hohenlohe, Mos, 36-8; 2. Ella Julye, Mos, 35-7; 3. Skinner, Mos, 34-6 1/4
Junt can be reached at 208-848-2258, tjunt@lmtribune.com or on X @TrevorJunt.