Adarra Hagelund
One week after breaking into the NAIA top-three rankings for high jump, Soldotna’s Adarra Hagelund had a monstrous jump to claim the top spot, clearing 5 feet, 8.75 inches.
The Dickinson State sophomore opened her competition at 5-1 at the NAIA Preview, clearing each of the first three heights in two attempts or less.
She cleared 5-7 on her third attempt, and as the only jumper remaining, Hagelund impressively cleared 5-8.75 on her second attempt. She took three attempts at 5-11 before concluding her competition.
After first achieving the NAIA A standard in her season opener back in December, Hagelund has continued to ascend the ranks, both in program and collegiate history.
The sophomore has reeled off three consecutive wins, improved her program record by 1.25 inches and is now tied for eighth-best performer and holds the 15th-highest clearance in NAIA indoor history. Of the nine athletes tied or listed above Hagelund, five have won NAIA titles.
The mark is also one of the highest in recent years by an Alaskan, trailing Eagle River’s Emma Nelson who cleared 5-10 in 2022 while at Oregon State.
As for Hagelund, she was pleased with her performance.
“Coming into the season my goal was really just to reach 1.68m (5-6) to qualify for nationals,” said Hagelund. “I’m very happy to have reached higher than that.”
Also collecting a win and moving up in the NAIA season rankings was none other than teammate, Galen Brantley III.
The Dickinson State junior launched the shot put 52 feet, 8.25 inches at the NAIA Preview while also snagging a personal best in the weight throw (48-4.75) to improve by nearly six inches, in addition to competing in the discus (124-5).
Brantley, who moved into a tie for ninth in the shot put, went on to better his mark by 14.25 inches at the Bison Open. The junior currently sits at No. 7 in the NAIA this season.
Teammate Dylan Dahlgren showed massive improvement at the Bison Open, collecting personal bests in both the shot put (46-7.5) and weight throw (52-8.75). The sophomore improved by over three feet in the weight throw and two inches in the shot put.
Girdwood’s Ava Earl also had another stellar meet, this time over 3,000 meters, recording a time of 9 minutes, 5.65 seconds to place runner-up at the UW Invite.
Northwestern’s Ava Earl (3402) competes in the 3,000 at the UW Invite. Photo by Jamie Mitchell.
The Northwestern junior lopped nearly 20 seconds from her previous best, which currently ranks 21st among D1 athletes this season, after finishing as the top collegian and just 6.79 seconds behind Briana Scott who competed unattached.
The mark moved Earl up to No. 2 all-time in Alaska history among known performers. Earl only trails Allie Ostrander’s time of 8:48.94 ran during her victorious effort at the 2020 Millrose Games.
Earl’s former teammate, Rachel McCardell, holds the program record of 9:02.90 set last season.
Alaska Women’s All-Time 3,000m
- Allie Ostrander, 8:48.94 (2/20)
- Ava Earl, 9:05.65 (1/24)
- Maggie Callahan, 9:20.09 (2/14)
- Molly Callahan, 9:36.85 (2/15)
- Kendall Kramer, 9:44.16 (5/19)
- Morgan Ekemo, 9:47.94 (2/04)
- Anna Dalton, 9:48.35 (2/22)
- Ruby Lindquist, 9:52.12 (2/22)
- Kristi Klinnert, 9:52.50 (1991)
- Briahna Gerlach, 9:53.10 (1/20)
A strong contingent of Alaskans joined Earl in competing at the UW meet, held in Seattle.
Palmer’s Sophie Wright stormed to a personal best, program record, D2 provisional mark, and No. 5 on the Alaska all-time list in the mile, running 4:52.96.
Sophie Wright
The Western Washington junior sliced 5.22 seconds from her time set nearly one year ago to finish fourth in her heat and catapult from No. 4 in program history to program record holder. Wright bettered the record set last season by current teammate, Gabi Davis, by 0.55 seconds.
Wright sits 31st among D2 performers this season and also moves up to No. 5 for known Alaskan performers behind Allie Ostrander, Ava Earl, Kaarin Knudson and Ruby Lindquist. The junior also holds the program record as a part of the distance medley relay set last season.
Haines’ Avery Williamson made her official mile debut for UAA, finishing in 5:19.65, while Anchorage’s Payton Smith made her collegiate track debut for Oregon State in the 3,000 (10:32.02), improving her time from 2020 by 22 seconds.
Homer’s Lance Seneff made his collegiate debut for UAA in the mile (4:30.37), shaving off more than 16 seconds from his 2021 time, while also competing in the 800 (2:04.57). Seneff finished three seconds ahead of Sitka’s Silas Demmert (4:33.76) who represents Seattle Pacific.
Eagle River’s Anders Larsen set a personal best in the high jump (5-8.75) to become the No. 8 performer in UAA indoor history while also competing in the long jump (19-11.75) and 60 hurdles (9.06).
Teammate Brian Morris, formerly of East High, tied his collegiate best in the 200 (22.59) after running well in the 60 (7.27), where he finished just ahead of former West High standout JR Zamora (7.28) who competes for Seattle University.
Sitka’s Joei Vidad officially opened her season in the 400 (59.69), while teammate Ty Elliott of Anchorage neared his personal best in the 3,000 (8:34.66).
Joining Hagelund and Brantley in the winner’s circle were a trio of athletes in their specialty events.
Eagle River’s Logan Mathieu had himself a weekend at the UND Open, where he won the 60-meter dash in a personal best of 6.86 seconds and finished runner-up in the 60 hurdles (8.06). The North Dakota State junior is now tied for No. 9 in program history for the dash, after setting personal bests in the prelims and finals.
Soldotna’s Cody Nye opened his season at the CSU/SJU Alumni Meet with a win in the shot put (51-8.25) while also placing eighth in the weight throw (41-3). The Minnesota-Morris senior currently ranks 31st among D3 athletes this season.
Lastly, Juneau’s James Connally helped Eastern Oregon to a dominant win in the 4×400-relay at the Inland Northwest Invitational, in addition to competing in the 400 (51.93). Connally ran the third leg of the relay which finished in 3:21.55 to top the 10-team field. The time ranks fourth in EOU history and the quickest mark since 2019.
Feature image photos by Northwestern Athletics & Anders Norman.