Olyvia Mamae
East Anchorage’s Olyvia Mamae defended not one, not two, but all three of her state titles, doubling her gold medal tally and helping the T-birds to runner-up finishes in the 4×100-meter relay and team standings at the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Track & Field State Championships in Palmer.
The dual-sport multi-discipline athlete capped her final state showing in dominant fashion, completing an undefeated season against Alaska competition in the 100, 200, and 100 hurdles for the second year in a row.
In the prelims, Mamae left nothing up for grabs, running the quickest times in heats to lock in her spot and secure a prime position in the finals.
When the starting gun went off, the senior dashed out of the blocks, just as she had done all season, closing in on the finish line with a quick lean. Mamae clocked 12.58 in the 100 dash, 26.04 over 200, and 15.25 in the 100 hurdles, but her closest finish came in the 4×100 relay.
In a rivalry as old as time, the Eagles bettered the T-birds by one-tenth of a second, finishing in 51.56.
Even more impressive is Mamae’s unmatched consistency, having only placed outside of the top four on two occasions during her high school career. Across three seasons, Mamae won an impressive 73 times out of her 93 races, added her name to the Alaska all-time list three times, and tallied nine state medals — six of which were gold.
East’s Olyvia Mamae, Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Goon Gallery
While Mamae defended her sprint-hurdle triple crown, Chugiak’s Campbell Peterson also repeated in a pair of distance events.
Peterson, the defending state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200, ran with confidence. The senior covered the eight-lap race in 11:16.54, only gapping her nearest competitors in the final two laps. Her strategy paid off, registering a near two-second personal best, while coming back in the 1,600 (5:10.95) to almost snag another personal best.
Teammate Skyler Belmear led a 1-2-3 finish in the 400 (59.09) with Alliyah Fields and Petra Knox, while Addison Capozzi defended her title in the 800 (2:21.29). The Mustangs went on to win three of the four relays and score points in nearly every event.
Soldotna’s Anaulie Sedivy won her first state title in the 300 hurdles (47.91), while teammate Katelyn Morrison capped off an undefeated season in the high jump (5 feet, 0 inches).
Sophomores Sarah Dittman of Dimond and Eagle River’s Gabrielle Okorodudu found their way back top in the long jump (16 feet, 3.75 inches) and triple jump (35 feet, 3.50 inches), respectively, after bursting into the lead during the early season.
Wasilla’s Layla Hays collected gold in the shot put (37 feet, 2 inches) and silver in the discus, while West Anchorage’s Norah Brown completed an undefeated season in the discus (129 feet, 11 inches), demolishing her previous best by nearly 17 feet.
The Chugiak girls won their second consecutive team title with 113 points, while Dimond and East tied for second, accumulating 55 points.
On the boys side, the Colony Knights were also fueled, in part, by their distance contingent.
Matthew Rongitsch
Led by Matthew Rongitsch, the senior turned in a spectacular showing, leaving no race up to chance by making decisive moves in each of his three races and powering to victories by significant margins. Like a handful of distance greats before him, which includes Kodiak’s Levi Thomet, Kenai Central’s Allie Ostrander, Soldotna’s Ari Goldstein, and West Valley’s Daniel Abramowicz, Rongitsch completed the distance triple crown. He sped to wins in the 3200 (9:42.45), 1600 (4:23.65), and 800 (1:58.33), scoring personal bests in the latter two.
Teammate Ethan McNulty launched a massive throw in the discus (151 feet, 10 inches) to claim his first state title, while collecting top-five finishes in the field events from multi-sport athletes Jayce Underwood, Jack Nash, Kenton Phelps, and Trevor Jamison.
The Colony boys claimed the team title amassing 73 points; East finished runner-up with 54 points.
Bartlett’s A’lante Owens-Player soared to victory in the horizontal jumps. The junior defended his title in the triple jump (44 feet, 2.5 inches), pushing his winning streak to 16 over two consecutive seasons. In three seasons, Owens-Player has finished no lower than third place in the triple jump.
After gaining momentum on day one, the Bartlett Golden Bear grew his gold-medal count in the long jump (21 feet, 7.50 inches), surging to the top of the field on his fourth attempt. The close competition saw four jumpers surpass the 21-foot barrier, with Owens-Player jumping to a personal best by four and a half inches, rocketing to his furthest distance in over a year.
AJ Szewczyk
Eagle River’s AJ Szewczyk hurdled his way to a pair of titles, joining Rongitsch and Owens-Player as multi-time state champions. The junior found his rhythm on day two, defending his title in the 300 hurdles (39.28), nearly surpassing his personal best, and cruising to victory in the 110 hurdles (15.05). Szewczyk also added a fifth place showing in the 200 (23.15).
Ketchikan’s Jason Lorig sparked the state’s attention after his performance at the Region V Championships. Coming into the state meet, all eyes were on the sophomore from the Salmon Capital of the World. Lorig delivered with the narrowest of victories in the 100 (11.26), winning by one-hundredth of a second over Bartlett’s Marquez Nevitte and earning his first state title.
East’s Brian Morris returned to the top of the podium for the first time in two years after winning the 200 (22.48). The senior, who previously won the title in 2021, returned to form with a vengeance, clocking under 23 seconds for all nine of his competitions and finishing the season undefeated in the event. Morris also placed third in the 100 (11.36) and ran a leg on the winning 4×200 relay and runner-up 4×100 relay.
Chugiak’s Anders Larsen stormed to victory in the 400 (49.81), clocking the first sub-50 mark at the state meet in seven years, while West Valley’s Alex Emers and Wasilla’s Eric Kolomeychuk repeated in the high jump (6 feet, 2 inches) and shot put (52 feet, 8.75 inches), respectively.
Dimond’s Max Johnson edges Kodiak’s Elias Litzow at the finish of the 4x800m relay. Photo by Peter Pounds.
All four relays proved to be close, with each race being determined by less than a second.
West edged East in the 4×100 (43.61) by one-hundredth of a second, while East won the 4×200 (1:30.97). South Anchorage took top honors in the 4×400 (3:29.97), while Dimond battled for the win in the 4×800 (8:12.56) by one-tenth of a second over Kodiak.
View full meet results here.