PALMER — Alissa Pili wrapped up her sophomore year at Dimond High this weekend by collecting state championships in the shot put and discus, the final touches on a year filled with triumphs and titles.
Before becoming a double-winner in track, she won state championships in volleyball and wrestling and was the Class 4A girls basketball Player of the Year.
She toiled through practice after practice as she progressed from one standout season to the next. Games, matches, meets – nearly every week, it seemed, she competed in something.
Her toughest task? Preparing for a day when she didn't have to compete.
A month after helping the Lynx to the state volleyball championship and two weeks before heading to Las Vegas for a basketball tournament, Pili went to the Cook Inlet Conference wrestling championships in mid-December with the goal of qualifying for the state championships.
She hadn't wrestled in a single match heading into the CIC meet but because she was the only girl in the 220-pound weight class, all she had to do was stand on a scale and make weight. But it wasn't as easy as it sounds.
"I just had to make weight, and that was the biggest challenge, because I was 20 pounds over," Pili said after winning Friday's shot put at Machetanz Field. "I had to lose 20 pounds in two weeks."
She did it, but she doesn't recommend the way she did it.
"It wasn't a very healthy diet," Pili said.
And it was lots and lots of work.
"I worked out every day and went to wrestling practices and wore sweaters and stuff."
She sweated off enough pounds to make weight, and a week later at the state meet won all three of her matches to claim a championship.
Basketball is Pili's best sport. A 6-foot forward, she's strong, agile and versatile. She's a double-double waiting to happen and has been on the radar of Division I college coaches for more than a year.
Pili started playing basketball in third grade and picked up track, volleyball and wrestling during middle school.
In track, she owns personal-bests of 43 feet, 1 inch in shot put and 133-6 in discus.
"It's just another sport that I'm pretty good at," Pili said. "It's good to use all the talent that God gave me."
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Ith goes out on top
For the second time in her high school career, Izabelle Ith of Petersburg left the Class 1-2-3A track championships with state titles in four individual events.
She became a four-time champion in two events — triple jump and the 100 hurdles — a three-time champ in the 300 hurdles and a two-time champ in the long jump.
In the hurdles, Ith posted personal-bests at both distances – 46.15 seconds in the 300 hurdles and 14.92 in the 100 hurdles. She won the triple jump with a mark of 36-1.5 and the long jump with a mark of 16-11.25.
At the May 17-18 region championships in Juneau, Ith sailed 18-1 in the long jump, which may be the best effort in Alaska history by a girl not named Janay DeLoach.
DeLoach, the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in long jump, was the first Alaska girl to go 18 feet, jumping a state-record 18-0.5 as a sophomore at Eielson. She set the current state record of 19-5 as a senior in 2003.
Petersburg coach Brad Taylor told Petersburg radio station KFSK that Ith is the only other Alaska girl to break the 18-foot barrier.
Few can match Ith's career haul at the state meet: 13 individual championships and three runnerup performances.
Rivals today, teammates tomorrow
Kenai Central's Josh Jackman and Colony's Brandon Nicholson finished 1-2 in the Class 4A long jump after a tense final-round duel, but the rivals are about to become teammates.
Both are headed to UAA to compete in track.
Each won two titles at the state meet, with Jackman topping the long jump and 200 and Nicholson winning the high jump and triple jump.
At UAA, they will join a track program that produced the 2008 NCAA Division II national champion in the long jump, David Registe.
Nicholson, who was named Outstanding Athlete of the meet for Class 4A boys, said he got a boost this season by training with Registe.
"He's one of the only people who gives me negative criticism," Nicholson said. "He pushes me."
After matching his PR of 6-4 to win the high jump on Friday, Nicholson broke his own record in Saturday's triple jump with a leap of 46-7.5. Last year, he set the record at 46-2.