Reigning state long jump champions break records at Region IV track and field championships

Making history at the Region IV track and field championships in the boys long jump on Friday morning at Dimond High School wasn’t the goal for Bartlett’s A’Lante Owens-Player.

But the senior standout did it anyway.

The reigning Division I state champion in both the triple and long jump didn’t just achieve his goal of setting a personal record on his first jump in the prelims. His mark of 22 feet, 3 inches, broke the meet record that stood for nearly 30 years -- and he wasn’t done there.

“I just wanted to hit 22 (feet),” he said. “That was my whole goal, because I had never hit 22 until today.”

The previous record was 22 feet, 1.5 inches, set by Tim Smith of Dimond in 1996. Owens-Player topped that mark on five of his six attempts, including breaking his own record with a mark of 22 feet, 10 inches, on his third jump in the prelims.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to be here after starting track in seventh grade. I didn’t think it would evolve into this, but it feels amazing.”

His preparation leading up to the final regional meet of his high school career included an intense regimen of weight training, a lot of running and 30-40 jumps per training session before dialing it back.

“The week coming into this was relaxing and trying to get my form as perfect as I can for this meet,” Owens-Player said.

Bartlett’s graduation took place earlier in the week on Tuesday night and as gratifying as receiving his high school diploma was, he admitted that breaking the long-standing long jump record takes the cake as far as the highlight of his week.

“This is what I’ve been training for the past three to four years,” Owens-Player said.

For him, becoming an elite jumper entails “a lot of dieting, hard work and dedication (along with) focusing on the craft and not the outside noise and really tapping into just doing the jump itself. Also loving it and having fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re not going to do the best.”

When he first started participating in track and field at Begich Middle School, he was a sprinter. Then he focused on high jump for two years. But since he got to high school, triple and long jump have been his main passions and chief events.

His next goal is to break the triple jump record officially after breaking it unofficially prior to the season with a mark of 48 feet.

“I want to jump it at state, so I can officially break it,” Owens-Player said.

On Saturday, he also broke the Region IV meet record in the triple jump as well with a mark of 46-feet, 10.25 inches.

His mindset heading into state is to just “do it all again and always try to do better than last time.”

After high school, Owens-Player plans to attend college and continue competing in track at an elite level. He has already been in contact with coaches from Division I programs such as the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California.

Lynx makes history on home turf

The boys record in the long jump wasn’t the only one to fall as reigning Division I girls long jump state champion Sarah Dittman of Dimond not only topped her previous best of 17 feet, 8.5 inches, her first-place mark of 17 feet, 10 inches, set a Region IV championship meet record.

“It feels really good, because I worked really hard for it,” she said.

The previous best mark 17 feet, 8 inches, was set by Addison Stevenson of South in 2018.

Dittman wasn’t aware of the meet record coming into regions but was focused on setting a personal best. The junior standout did that and then some by jumping one-and-a-half inches farther than she ever did previously.

As excited as she was for her own success, Dittman was just as elated to see Owens-Player succeed since the two trained together in the offseason.

“That was really cool, and it was nice to see both of us do it,” she said.

While Dittman admitted to always being nervous before an event, this latest result is a big confidence-booster heading into state next week.

“I’m going to keep training, obviously not as hard, but I’m going to keep thinking about what I did here and hopefully go from there,” she said.

Region IV Track and Field Championships

Finals

Boys 3,200 Meters Varsity

1. Vebjorn Flagstad, 9:39.77, South

2. Owen Hayes, 9:47.50, Chugiak

3. Jaxon Henrie, 9:50.16, South

4. Blaise Boyer, 9:56.20, South

Girls 3,200 Meters Varsity

1. Hannah Shaha, 11:26.53, Chugiak

2. Mia Stiassny, 11:35.31, South

3. Elizabeth Page, 11:35.32, South

4. Madeleine Lojewski, 11:35.57, East

Girls Shot Put - 4kg Varsity - Finals

1. Leileanah Toleafoa, 41′05.00, West

2. Josephine Mata, 35′00.25, West

3. Mona Koko, 34′01.50, West

4. Loseli Ofiu, 32′07.00, Chugiak

Boys Discus - 1.6kg Varsity - Finals

1. Sone Falealo, 155′10.00, West

2. George Lane, 145′10.00, East

3. Pusa Lilo, 144′09.00, East

4. Matthew Watson, 137′07.00, Eagle River

Girls High Jump Varsity - Finals

1. Nevaeh Watkins, 5′0.00, Dimond

2. Kayla Cagle, 4′10.00, South

2. Emily Moore, 4′10.00, Chugiak

2. Rachael White, 4′10.00, South

Boys High Jump Varsity - Finals

1. Phoenix Perkins, 5′8.00, Service

2. Bryson Jackson, 5′6.00, South

3. Marlin Burns, 5′4.00, Bartlett

4. Cameron Anderson , 5′4.00, Service

Girls Long Jump Varsity - Finals

1. Sarah Dittman, 17′10.00, Dimond

2. Makaylen King, 16′04.25, South

3. Samantha Jensen, 16′03.25, Chugiak

4. Maya Tirpack, 15′10.25, South

Boys Long Jump Varsity - Finals

1. A’Lante Owens-Player, 22′10.00, Bartlett

2. Ariel Sanchez, 22′00.75, West

3. Tyler Drake, 21′00.75, Bartlett

4. Jai Jordan, 20′09.50, Bartlett

Boys Triple Jump Varsity - Finals

1. A’Lante Owens-Player, 46′10.25, Bartlett

2. Isaiah Douyon, 42′02.25, South

3. Tyler Drake, 41′07.75, Bartlett

4. Marlin Burns, 38′04.50, Bartlett

Girls Triple Jump Varsity - Finals

1. Gabrielle Okorodudu, 36′00.00, Eagle River

2. Avrey Campbell, 33′04.25, Dimond

3. Makaylen King, 33′00.00, South

4. Maya Tirpack, 32′10.25, South

Boys 100 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Beckett Stolp, 11.30, West

2. Marquez Nevitte, 11.43, Bartlett

3. Elijah Williams, 11.57, Chugiak

4. Semaj Walker, 11.571, Chugiak

Girls 100 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Jihsana Williams, 12.92, Chugiak

2. Anna Green, 13.25, South

3. Amaliah Layton, 13.36, East

4. Fatou Sallah, 13.46, West

Boys 200 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Alan Szewczyk Jr.,23.26, Eagle River

2. Jabari Johnson, 23.27, Chugiak

3. Marquez Nevitte, 23.54, Bartlett

4. Elijah Williams, 23.71, Chugiak

Girls 200 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Jihsana Williams, 26.61, Chugiak

2. Sarah Dittman, 26.89, Dimond

3. Anna Green , 27.63, South

4. Emilia Zych, 28.05, Service

Boys 400 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Ethan Stiller , 52.22, Dimond

2. Elijah Lemaster, 52.30, Bartlett

3. Matt Varney, 52.33, Chugiak

4. Akobo Riek, 53.05, East

Girls 400 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Alliyah Fields, 58.92, Chugiak

2. Petra Knox, 1:01.12, Chugiak

3. Skylar Morris, 1:01.40, South

4. Ryleigh Ervin, 1:01.48, Chugiak

Boys 800 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Owen Hayes, 2:00.60, Chugiak

2. Dash Dicang, 2:00.85, Dimond

3. AJ Glover, 2:01.39, Dimond

4. Luke Shaw, 2:01.70, Eagle River

Girls 800 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Ryleigh Ervin, 2:21.71, Chugiak

2. Alliyah Fields, 2:22.48, Chugiak

3. Petra Knox, 2:24.60, Chugiak

4. Hannah Shaha, 2:25.46, Chugiak

Boys 1600 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Vebjorn Flagstad, 4:31.32, South

2. Owen Hayes, 4:31.78, Chugiak

3. Jaxon Henrie, 4:35.30, South

4. Rowan Robinson, 4:38.85, South

Girls 1600 Meters Varsity - Finals

1. Hannah Shaha, 5:17.57, Chugiak

2. Elizabeth Page, 5:20.72, South

3. Ashlyn Paynter, 5:21.36, Eagle River

4. Mia Stiassny, 5:23.73, South

Boys 110m Hurdles - 39″ Varsity - Finals

1. Tyler Drake, 15.02, Bartlett

2. Alan Szewczyk Jr., 15.08, Eagle River

3. Isaiah Douyon, 15.84, South

4. Fafo Lefano , 16.51, South

Girls 100m Hurdles - 33″ Varsity - Finals

1. Nevaeh Watkins, 15.86, Dimond

2. Makaylen King, 16.04, South

3. Ellen Kruchoski, 17.38, Chugiak

4. Kensley Denmon, 17.47, Service

Boys 300m Hurdles - 36″ Varsity - Finals

1. Alan Szewczyk Jr., 41.01, Eagle River

2. Sean Gainan, 43.46, Bartlett

3. Malachi Coski, 43.79, Dimond

4. Makai Warren-Dowl, 44.18, Chugiak

Girls 300m Hurdles - 30″ Varsity - Finals

1. Nevaeh Watkins, 48.88, Dimond

2. Makaylen King, 49.09, South

3. Maya Tirpack, 51.36, South

4. Emily Moore, 52.07, Chugiak

Boys 4x100 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Chugiak, 43.88

2. Bartlett, 44.02

3. West, 44.60a

4.South, 44.75

Girls 4x100 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Chugiak, 51.84

2. Service, 52.79

3. Dimond, 53.10

4. East, 53.27

Boys 4x200 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. West, 1:32.18

2.Chugiak, 1:32.30

3. Bartlett, 1:32.91

4. South, 1:35.05

Girls 4x200 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Dimond, 1:46.33

2. Chugiak, 1:47.15

3. South, 1:48.80

4. Service, 1:53.78

Boys 4x400 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Chugiak, 3:31.12

2. Dimond, 3:35.28

3. South, 3:37.25

4. West, 3:38.16

Girls 4x400 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Chugiak, 4:10.60

2. South, 4:21.27

3. Dimond, 4:25.15

4. Service, 4:27.45

Boys 4x800 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. South, 8:13.73

2. Dimond, 8:27.24

3. Chugiak, 8:32.20

4. West, 9:07.44

Girls 4x800 Relay Varsity - Finals

1. Chugiak, 10:06.31

2. Dimond, 10:11.86

3. Eagle River, 10:25.81

4. West, 10:32.69

Boys Shot Put - 12lb Varsity - Finals

1. Deuce Alailefaleula, 51′02.50, Bartlett

2. George Lane, 48′09.75, East

3. Pusa Lilo, 44′00.25, East

4. Ryvre Howell, 43′11.75, Chugiak

Girls Discus - 1kg Varsity - Finals

1. Leileanah Toleafoa, 117′00.00, West

2. Mona Koko, 110′10.00, West

3. Shayvon Williams, 110′02.00, Chugiak

4. Meira Williams, 102′00.00, West