Wrangell may see a return of track and field for high school athletes.
The effort is starting small. Wrangell junior Boomchain Loucks, a standout cross-country runner, competed Saturday, May 3, at the South Sound Classic at Puyallup High School east of Tacoma, Washington.
Loucks, who had started practicing in mid-April, was the only Wrangell athlete with enough practices under his feet to qualify for the meet, explained Mason Villarma, who is volunteering as track and field coach this year.
“My goal for this year is to get it off the ground,” said Villarma, who also coaches the high school cross-country team — in addition to his full-time work as borough manager.
Wrangell has not fielded a high school track and field team since 1991. Comebacks were tried several times over the years but never succeeded in gaining enough students or support.
It will be a school-sanctioned sport this year, not school-sponsored, said Tammi Meissner, the school district’s activities director. That means the students, their parents, coach and supporters will need to pay the costs of any travel.
District policy requires a minimum of eight students in an activity to qualify as school-sponsored, she explained.
For example, the high school cheerleading squad had just four participants for the 2023-2024 school year, not enough to qualify as school-sponsored. But when 14 signed up for the 2024-2025 year, the squad became eligible for school funding, Meissner said.
Mason said six more students have signed up for track and field — in addition to Loucks — and if they can get in enough practices, he hopes to take a squad to the Southeast regional meet May 23-24 in Juneau.
Lacking a track for training is not a big problem, he said. “You can train pretty effectively without a track.” The students run on the golf course and, for a flatter surface, go out to Pats Lake, Villarma said.
In addition to the field events like the shot put, javelin toss, pole vault and triple jump, track and field meets include 100-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter, 1,600-meter, relay and hurdle races.
The South Sound Classic “is one of the more competitive races in Washington,” Villarma said.
Loucks placed 40th of 68 runners in his first 1,600-meter race — just 9 feet more than a mile — with a time of 4:35.39, 23 seconds off the winner’s 4:12.07.
First place went to Cooper Boyle, of Tahoma High School, who ran faster than Villarma’s 2015 school record of 4:12.44 at South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, Washington. Villarma ran the mile and half-mile while a student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, where he set the third-best time for the indoor mile in school history with a race of 4:08.49.
Loucks placed 29th in the 800-meter race at South Sound, with a time of 2:02.88, just eight seconds behind the winner.
Villarma said he sees the potential for Loucks to run his way into a college scholarship. Competing at the South Sound Classic was a good step. “He’s got to get some exposure.”
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