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Photo by Eric Engman

Photo by Eric Engman

The Eielson boys and Hutchison girls cooked up different recipes on Saturday to secure the same result — the first team titles awarded in Class 3A at the Region VI Track and Field Championships.

Eielson’s boys relied on team depth to hold off a resilient Delta Junction squad, while Hutchison’s girls depended on Kim Wilson and Anna Johnson to hold off Monroe Catholic.

Each way, victory sure tasted sweet on a long and mostly sunny day at Lathrop High School.

“It means everything. It’s about as good as it gets,” said Eielson senior Luke Parson, whose gutsy win in the penultimate event, the 200-meter dash, clinched the Ravens’ 103-85 win over Delta. Monroe Catholic (32 points) and Hutchison (29) rounded out the boys field.

Hutchison’s title — achieved without fielding a single relay team — came two days after Wilson and Johnson graduated from the fourth-year school known more for its strong academics than athletic prowess.

“We’re trying to go for the state title ... and it’s the first year for a graduating class,” Wilson said. “Region title, that’s about all we can ask for right now.”

Wilson spurred the Hawks to the championship by adding 100- and 200-meter wins Saturday to her long jump and triple jump victories from Friday (in three of those events, she even bested the top Class 4A performers).

Johnson chipped in with shot put and high jump wins, Brandi Swanson took both hurdles races and Stasia Rohn added the best discus throw. Those wins comprised most of Hutchison’s 70 points, better than Monroe (58), Eielson (41) and Delta (40).

Next up is the state championships Friday and Saturday at Lathrop, where the aforementioned quartet will represent Hutchison in the first state meet that will crown a 1A-2A-3A champion. With the likes of Anchorage Christian School and others participating, however, the competition will be much stiffer.

“I think we’ll be fine as long as we don’t take it to our head that we came out here and got first,” Wilson said. “People from Anchorage are going to be coming, and we gotta be ready for it.”

Hutchison’s performance — its first region title in any sport — should help the Hawks get noticed.

“I think it’s very significant,” head coach Marcia Martin said. “A lot of times, people tend to think of Hutch as the old Hutch with all the academics and that we can’t do anything (in athletics). I think we’re showing them that we can. We’re going to be contenders here.”

Lizzy Bennett (1,600 and 800) and Nicole Schreder (400 and 3,200) led Monroe Catholic with two wins apiece.

On the boys side, Eielson came in as the favorite, but Delta Junction — aided by four wins from senior Logan Schiler — kept the meet competitive.

However, the Ravens, who lost significant points due to a no-show by shot putter Dwanye Fearon and injuries to Chase Renfro and Charles King, came through by winning eight events and scoring at least one point in all 17.

Parson led the way with victories in the 200 and 400, while also anchoring the meet-ending 4X400 first-place relay squad. Eielson also snagged both sprint relays. In addition, Ethan Kazmierczak won the 3200 and prevailed in a tactical 1600 and Colten Growden sped through the 100 in 11.95 seconds.

“The depth, that was our biggest strength,” Eielson head coach David Dyer said. “It takes four good guys to put together a relay team. We happen to have enough depth that we can outlast everyone else.”

Delta only had 12 guys, but made each one count.

“(Delta) coach (Mike) Pelto’s been doing this for a long time, so he’s really smart about entering kids where they’re going to score points,” Dyer said. “They placed their best athletes where it’s most strategic for them to earn points.”

Monroe Catholic’s Kevin Rima — following in the footsteps of his sister, Marjorie, who now jumps at Arizona State University — won three times for the Rams. Because of simultaneous events early Saturday morning, Rima had to alternate between the long jump pit and the discus field, changing shoes each time, but he nevertheless secured both events.

Contact staff writer Matias Saari at 459-7591.