State track roundup: Capital sophomore with ‘quiet demeanor’ makes noise with 4 wins

Wearing a single, hot-pink sleeve on her left leg to combat shin splints, Christine Huckins was easy to pick out in a crowd.

But Huckins’ penchant for pink — complete with a pink bow, pink nails, pink glitter and a pink water bottle — wasn’t nearly as eye-catching as her performance.

The Capital High sophomore won four gold medals at the Idaho high school state track and field championships on Saturday at Mountain View High. And with every victory came an overall meet record.

Huckins finished first in the 5A girls 100 and 200 meters, and anchored the Eagles’ winning 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.

“She’s a special kid. Quiet demeanor. Works hard in practice,” Capital coach Bryan Stith said. “Obviously we’re just excited for what the future can hold.”

In her first race of the day, Huckins closed the gap from third to first as the Eagles’ final leg in the 4x200, out-leaning Boise by three-hundredths of a second for the victory along with teammates Kennedy Patterson, Eden Francis and Grace Russell in a time of 1:39.86. The old record was 1:41.13 by Mountain View in 2017.

“I knew that it was gonna be close,” Huckins said. “So just whoever wanted it more, and I’m just happy that I did what I did.”

Up next was the 100, where Huckins had set an overall meet record in the prelims the day before (11.85). She outdid herself in the final, clocking an 11.62.

With only one event between the 100 and the 4x100 relay, Huckins once again pulled off a record performance. Teaming up with Patterson, Russell and Stella Gray, the Eagles finished first in 47.45, bettering the previous record of 48.09 by Mountain View in 2017.

And Huckins wasn’t done yet.

She breezed to her fourth victory of the meet — and fourth record — in the 200 in 24.16.

“Now I know what I’m capable of,” Huckins said. “I know where I need to train in my technique, and my form, and my start to take off little points that matter and make a big difference. Even though I ran well, there’s still a lot I can do better.”

5A boys team title goes down to the wire

Braden Ankeny didn’t run in the 4x400 relay for Rocky Mountain at last week’s district meet. Rocky coach Brad Abbott kept him as an alternate just in case the Grizzlies needed a little magic at state.

With Rocky Mountain trailing Boise 101 to 99 going into the final race of the meet, Ankeny anchored the Grizzlies’ 4x400 to victory in 3:20.30.

The win helped the Grizzlies leapfrog Boise for a 109 to 107 victory in the 5A boys team championship. It was Rocky Mountain’s eighth straight title and 12th in the past 13 seasons.

“People came up to me before the race and told me we were like two points behind Boise in the standings,” said Ankeny, who also won the 200 (21.45). “They said we’ve gotta win this to tie with Boise, if Boise got second. So my goal was always just to go out and give it everything I had to try and beat Boise. I guess I did.”

Post Falls finished second (3:20.99) in the 4x400 and Boise was third (3:21.02).

“It’s a milestone. We’ve been talking about, can we do eight in a row?” Abbott said. “And you know what? Lightning does strike twice sometimes. We just feel so fortunate that we have the kids that we do and the parents that we do that helps us have moments like this.”

Loaded Boise girls win four in a row

Tami Steinbroner went out a state champion for Meridian in 1993, winning the 200 as a senior. Her daughter one-upped her — and then some — on Saturday.

Boise senior Sophia Clark won back-to-back titles in the 5A girls 400, setting a new overall record in the process. Clark clocked a 55.38 to better the previous record of 55.53, set by Pocatello’s Harlee Hales in 2016.

“I think she definitely gets a little more nervous than me,” Clark said of her mom. “I’ve learned to have mental toughness ... and I just tell myself that I’m awesome no matter what the situation is, and I think that really calms my nerves down.”

Clark, a Montana signee, finished her high school career with five state titles. She teamed with Lily Vertrees, Sammy Smith and Allie Bruce to win the 4x400 relay for the third time in the past four seasons, in an overall record of 3:54.60.

The Brave also hoisted the 5A girls team championship for the fourth year in a row with 121 points to second-place Mountain View’s 99.

Senior Autumn Shomaker helped add to Boise’s big day with a win in the long jump.

Shomaker had only one clean jump, but it turned out that’s all she needed.

After scratching on her first two attempts, Shomaker jumped 18-6.25 on her third try in the prelims, which was good enough to defend her state championship. She scratched on all three jumps in the finals.

“I definitely was getting very stressed. I scratched my first two jumps, so going into my third I think I’ve definitely been prepared this season. I’ve scratched quite a few,” Shomaker said. “Not that it was a good thing, but I think it’s definitely helped me prepare for this moment where I happen to do that again. I stayed calm and I’m happy I got a mark.”

Fellow senior Grace Lanfear swept the hurdle races for the Brave, winning the 100 hurdles in a personal-best 14.69 and then the 300 hurdles in another PR of 44.12.

Smith added another win for Boise in the 800. She was in third place on the back stretch on the final lap, but Smith found another gear and leaned past Rocky Mountain senior Brighton Heywood for the victory in 2:13.29.

More Treasure Valley champions and records

▪ Meridian junior Blake Johns and Centennial senior Kai Twaddle-Dunham each reached 59 feet, 2.5 inches in the 5A boys shot put. But the title went to Twaddle-Dunham, who won the discus a day earlier, based on his second-best throw of 58-5.75 to Johns’ 58-1.5.

“It feels great,” Twaddle-Dunham said. “I definitely feel like it’s a great way to end my high school career.”

▪ On his final throw in the prelims, Bishop Kelly senior Rakeem Johnson tossed the disc 191-01, setting a 4A boys discus record. He beat his nearest competitor by more than 40 feet.

Johnson entered the event as the defending state champion with a ranking of No. 6 in the nation, but he knew there were no guarantees.

“I actually was a bit nervous,” said Johnson, who won the shot put on Friday. “I just really wanted to set that record, but my hands kept on sweating. So I had to get some chalk. But it feels really good. I just kept on building and kept on working.”

▪ Rocky Mountain senior Brady Abbott set a personal-best by 7 inches to win the 5A boys pole vault. Abbott became the only Idaho vaulter to clear 16-0 this season, doing so on his first try.

“It’s been something that’s been a long time coming,” Abbott said. “I’ve been working on this since I was a little kid. It’s been a dream of mine since I was vaulting with sticks in the back yard.”

▪ McKenna Chavez woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday to drive back to the Treasure Valley from North Idaho. The sophomore from Capital had spent the past two days playing shortstop for the Eagles’ softball team, helping them bring home a fourth-place trophy at state.

Somehow, she mustered up the energy for another big performance.

Chavez won the 5A girls shot put with a throw of 42-8.50. The winning toss came on her second throw of the prelims.

“I was definitely really banged up,” Chavez said. “But we just pumped me with some ibuprofen and an energy drink, and just went for it.”

▪ After missing out on a second straight state title in the triple jump Friday by a few inches, Capital senior Victor Byaundaombe eked out a win in the 5A boys long jump. Byaundaombe jumped a personal-best 22-8 to edge Meridian’s Carver Martin by 2 inches.

“I just got amped up and went for it, to be honest,” Byaundaombe said. “I just wanted that title. I wanted to leave with something.”

▪ Three of the four 4x200 relay races went down in history. In addition to the Capital girls, Ridgevue’s Xavier Fraley, Uluaifiu Tinoifili, Cash McKie and Caden Warren set the 4A boys record in 1:28.11. Kuna’s Luke Selto, Izaiah Allen-Heinrich, Jay Monroe and Myles Johnson-Nicholson established an overall record (1:26.42) in the 5A boys race.

▪ Skyline senior Nelah Roberts established herself as one of the best distance runners in Idaho history. After winning a fourth straight 3,200 title on Friday in record fashion, she won her fourth 4A girls 1,600 title in a class record 4:48.26. And for good measure, she won the 800 (2:14.09), too.

▪ Mountain View senior Rilyn Stevens added another gold medal to her collection with a victory in the 5A girls 1,600 in a personal-best 4:51.03. Stevens also won the 3,200 on Friday.

▪ When he rounded the final turn on the last lap of the 5A boys 1,600, Meridian junior Nate Stadtlander turned on the jets. Stadtlander went from fourth to first with a time of 4:10.65.

▪ For the second straight day, Highland sophomore Spencer Van Orden set a record in the 5A boys 110 hurdles. Van Orden ran 13.96 in Friday’s prelims, and then won Saturday’s finals in 13.90. The previous class record had been held by Boise’s Darrin Harris (14.08) since 1985.

▪ Ridgevue senior Xavier Fraley held off a late push from Canyon Ridge’s Bryson Paul for a victory in the 4A boys 400 in 49.09.

▪ The 5A boys 100 title went to Centennial senior Kolton Osborn for the second year in a row. Osborn ran a personal-best 10.63.

▪ Boise senior Noe Kemper was in the middle of the pack when the bell sounded, signaling the first-place runner had just begun the last lap of the 5A boys 800. Kemper then weaved his way through the crowd and into first on the final turn to win the two-lap race in 1:53.18.

▪ Treasure Valley teams swept all four races of the 4x100 relay. In addition to the Capital’s record run, Skyview’s Melissa Eyer, Megan Cahoon, Brylee McNicol and Makayla Naylor won the 4A girls race (49.26). Ridgevue’s Cash McKie, Uluaifiu Tinoifili, Caden Warren and Michel Kabika took the 4A boys race (43.24). And Rocky Mountain’s Jacob Shade, Charles Dodd, Parker Simmonsen and Braden Ankeny took first in the 5A boys competition in an overall record of 41.19.

▪ Beck Humphrey, Isaac Edwards, Charlie Goss and Liam Durcan combined to win the 4A boys 4x400 relay for Bishop Kelly in 3:25.08.

▪ The Bishop Kelly boys ran away with the 4A team title, their fourth straight, and the Skyview girls held off Twin Falls 72-70 for their first championship since 2000.