Representative Rauscher presented a citation from the Alaska House and Senate to Coach Langseth and players Linnea and Sydney recognizing Valdez High School as the 2018 State 3A Volleyball champion.

State Track and Field meet – Coach Walker and Coach Chadwick

Kassi Howard 3rd Place High Jump

Becky Walker – One of the highlights of this weekend’s track meet was Kassi Howard’s high jump of 5’1”. That jump earned her a 3^rd place medal and also broke her own VHS school record of 5’. Normally a jump like that would be a guaranteed 1^st place, but all three girls left in the high jump that day were jumping the best they’ve ever had and each set new personal records. All three however, were not able to complete the 5’2” inch jump, so the medal determination came down to scratches (misses) on the previous jumps that day.

Other state medal winners were:

Dustin Woods 3^rd place in the high jump with a 5’10 inch jump.

Girls 4X100 3^rd place, with a time of 55.25–Jade Watts, Sophia Palomar, Katie Wadsworth, and Kassi Howard

Girls 4X200 3^rd place, with a time of 1:55.71—Jade Watts, Sophia Palomar, Katie Wadsworth, and Kassi Howard.

These girls work together like a well-oiled machine. In fact it’s difficult sometimes to see when the baton exchange happens because there is no disruption of the sprint!

Although they didn’t medal, several other team members had some great moments. Sophomore, Owen Chadwick made it into the finals of both the 100m and 400m races. He finished 8^th in the 100m and 5^th in the 400m, just a fraction of a second from a 4^th place medal. Expect to see great things from him in the future. He has talent, the desire to do well and the persistence, drive, and self-motivation to make it happen. He is one of the hardest working kids I’ve coached.

Hayden Howard, a freshman, qualified for finals in the 200m on the first day of the meet and finished 7^th place overall. He has set personal records at almost every meet this season and I believe with his dedication and hard work, he will continue to excel next season.

Jeffrey Prevost, another one of our freshman that qualified for State, ran the 110m Hurdles. He finished strong and set a personal record of 20.70 seconds. As his form improves, Jeffrey is on his way to becoming a pretty outstanding hurdler.

The boys 4X200—Hayden Howard, Kyle Sodergren, Kyler LaBonte, and Owen Chadwick placed 5^th, again just a fraction of a second outside of medal range at 1:39.68.

In the 4X100—Hayden Howard, Kyle Sodergren, Kyler LaBonte, and Luke Baczuk took 6^th place overall with a time of 48.63. All four had a great race with clean hand-offs and strong sprints.

Another freshman, Marianne Prax, qualified and competed in the 300m Hurdles, finishing with a time of 59.77. Running hurdles takes a lot of strength, speed, and courage, and despite taking a few spills, Marianne continues to get out there again and again and run it faster.

Destiny Gray is another team member that runs both the 100m and the 300m Hurdles. Destiny advanced to the finals in the 300m Hurdles and finished in 5^th place overall with a personal record of 53.61. Destiny also competed in High Jump and finished 7^th with a jump of 4’6”.

It was a beautiful, sunny weekend (something we hadn’t encountered yet this season) and the Bucs competed well. They ran their hearts out, gave every event 100 % effort, showed great sportsmanship, and supported and cheered each other on. It was a pleasure to coach them and see their hard work pay off.