Former Hazen shot putter qualifies for NCAA Preliminary Round
May 31, 2012
A former Hazen High School track and field standout joined a dozen other University of Idaho men’s and women’s track and field athletes that officially advanced to the NCAA West Preliminary Round with the NCAA’s announcement of the meet’s declared athletes May 17.
Idaho sophomore Andrey Levkiv won the 3A shot put title for the Highlanders his senior year at the school.
“We feel really good about our group,” Idaho director of track and field/cross country Wayne Phipps said. “We had two more who had qualified but were unable to compete, so for us to have 15 who qualified, and 13 who will be competing is very good for us as a program.”
By Spencer Farrin Andrey Levkiv starts an attempt in the shot put at the Western Athletic Conference Championships on May 11. Levkiv won the conference title with a throw of 56 feet, 5.75 inches.
Levkiv is a first-time NCAA qualifier this year.
“It’s an exciting and amazing accomplishment for anyone to be a repeat qualifier, and for us to have this many new people is a great sign for our program that we’re progressing and moving in the right direction,” Phipps said.
The NCAA Preliminary Round system replaced the Regional Championships in 2009. The nation is split between the East and West regions, with the top 48 athletes in each event advancing to the NCAA Preliminary Round, at which they compete in the opening rounds through the semifinals of NCAA competition, depending on the event.
The top 12 finishers in each event advance to the national finals, which will be held June 6-9 at Des Moines, Iowa.
“I like that everyone is on an equal playing field once you get there, but it does put a ton of pressure on each student-athlete to compete,” Phipps said. “There’s an incredible level of competition and there’s no room for error, whatsoever.”
Former Hazen shot put champion receives collegiate award
May 3, 2012
Former Hazen High School track and field standout Andrey Levkiv was named the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Athlete of the Week for the week of April 16-22.
Levkiv, a sophomore who now attends the University of Idaho, won a 3A state shot put title for the Highlanders his senior year. He jumped into Idaho’s all-time top-10 in the shot put at the Beach Invitational in Norwalk, Calif.
Andrey Levkiv
He hit 57 feet, 7.75 inches (17.57 meters), a 2-foot, 4-inch personal best, to extend his WAC lead to nearly a 4-foot margin. The mark is currently ranked 26th in the NCAA West performance list and moves Levkiv to ninth all-time at Idaho.
He also competed in the shot put at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., posting a toss of 54-2 1/2. Levkiv also entered the discus at both the Bryan Clay Invitational and Beach Invitational, posting marks of 149-5 and 151-1, respectively.
The athlete of the week award is Levkiv’s second of the season.
Newcastle runner wins 50K championship
April 5, 2012
Newcastle resident Joseph Gray, 28, was the overall winner of the Merrell of Huntington Village Caumsett State Park 50 Kilometer Run on March 4 in New York.
The run, for the fifth straight year, was the USA Track and Field National Road 50 Kilometer Championship.
More than 100 athletes from across the country finished the 50K race.
A newcomer to the 50-kilometer ultramarathon distance, Gray clocked a winning time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 43 seconds, which is 1 minute and 41 seconds shy of runner-up Michael Wardian’s course record that was set in 2008.
Wardian, of Arlington, Va., came in second during this year’s event with a time of 3:02:55.
Wardian was the runner-up at the 2011 IAU 100 Kilometer World Championships and was named USATF’s Ted Corbitt Award winner for Ultra Runner of the Year, while Gray was last year’s USATF Mountain Runner of the Year.
Wardian was the defending champion in the event for the past four years in a row.
Gray and Wardian have announced their intention to continue their rivalry at the 2013 edition of the run.
Newcastle runner wins national 50K championship
March 9, 2012
NEW — 4:25 p.m. March 9, 2012
Newcastle resident Joseph Gray, 28, was the overall winner of the Merrell of Huntington Village Caumsett 50 Kilometer Run on March 4. The run, for the fifth straight year, was the USA Track and Field National Road 50 Kilometer Championship.
A newcomer to the 50 kilometer ultramarathon distance, Gray clocked a winning time of 2 hours, 56 minutes and 43 seconds, which is one minute and 41 seconds shy of Michael Wardian’s course record that was set in 2008.
Wardian came in second during the event with a time of 3:02:55.
Wardian was the runner up at the 2011 IAU 100 Kilometer World Championships and was named USATF’s Ted Corbitt Award winner for Ultra Runner of the Year, while Gray was last year’s USATF Mountain Runner of the Year.
Hazen track athletes, Liberty golfers go to state
July 1, 2011
Hazen High School track and field athletes and Liberty High School golfers advanced to their respective state tournaments this spring.
Liberty High School junior Krysta Dawson finished 20th in the 3A state golf tournament in May with a two-day score of 175. By Greg Farrar
At the state track and field championships at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School on May 28, Hazen senior Kyle Martin took third in the pole vault with a jump of 14 feet. In the girls 100-meter dash preliminaries, senior Starr Williams took ninth with a time of 12.82 seconds.
Williams did not advance to the finals, finishing .05 seconds behind the eighth place finisher.
Liberty golfers Krysta Dawson, Alex DuVall and Molly Culwell took to the state golf tournament at Liberty Lake Golf Course in Spokane May 24 and 25.
Dawson shot an 86 on the par-70 course, taking 18th place the first day and advancing to the second round. DuVall and Culwell shot 96 and 97 to finish 50th and 52nd, respectively. DuVall and Culwell did not advance to the second round.
In the second round, Dawson shot an 89, bringing her two-day score to 175 for a 20th-place finish.
Liberty boys track and field team places second at state
June 3, 2011
The Liberty High School boys team placed second overall out of the 3A schools at the state championship track and field meet at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School May 27 and 28, thanks to phenomenal performances from Josh Gordon and the school’s boys 4×400 meter relay team.
Gordon, a junior, took first in the 3A long jump with a 22-10 1/2 jump and second in the high jump, clearing 6-6.
The latter set a new personal best and a school record.
Devin Bennett, Liberty High School senior, flies in the air for his 44-foot, 8 1/2-inch triple jump, to take fifth place at the 3A state track championships May 28 in Tacoma. By Greg Farrar
“The last few weeks, I’d been really down, only clearing 6, 6-2, so to come out on a nice day and get that was really great,” Gordon said about the high jump. “It just felt really good. I just came off just flying through the air. I’m over the bar and I don’t feel it yet. It was just really a great feeling.”
The 4×400 team — Gordon, Devin Bennett, Joseph Bergmann and Hamilton Noel — took first place with a time of 3 minutes, 22.08 seconds.
Also, Liberty’s Hiron Redmon, a sophomore, took third in the 800-meter dash with a time of 1:56.1; Bennett took fourth in the 400 with a time of 51.01; and Noel took sixth in the pole vault with a jump of 13-6.
Liberty High School track and field athletes set records throughout April
May 6, 2011
Liberty High School’s track and field team set several new school records in April, overshadowing what was a mostly gloomy month for other spring sports.
Liberty’s baseball team went 4-8 in April, bringing its conference record to 3-8 and its overall record to 6-10.
The softball team went 4-5 in April, bringing its conference record to 5-6 and its overall record to 6-6. The boys soccer team went 2-5-1 for the month, bringing its conference record to 3-7-2 and its overall record to 4-8-2.
In track and field, junior Josh Gordon led the way, setting three personal records in the long jump, beginning with a 22-foot, 7-inch jump April 8 at the Arcadia Invitational just outside Pasadena, Calif. He followed up the performance with a 22-foot, 8.5-inch jump April at the Eason Invitational at Snohomish High School, and a monstrous 23-foot, 7.5-inch jump at the Viking Relays April 23 at Curtis High School in University Place.
The latter was the longest jump recorded by a 3A athlete in the state this year.
Hazen sports blaze through spring on the back of loaded baseball team
May 6, 2011
Hazen High School’s baseball was red hot through April, going 7-2 during the month to finish its season with a 13-3 overall record and a 12-2 conference record.
The team was awaiting results from Lindbergh High School’s final two games May 4, which was after Newcastle News’ deadline, to find out if it would be crowned Seamount Champions for the year.
Hazen’s boys soccer team — now under the direction of coach Ken Matthews, the school’s girls soccer coach — went 2-3-1 in April, bringing its overall record to 5-6-1 and its conference record to 5-4-1. The Highlanders are third in the Seamount League behind Kennedy Catholic and Highline high schools.
Meanwhile, numerous athletes on the track and field team set new school records.
Liberty boys win track championships, send top qualifiers to state
June 3, 2010
The Liberty High School boys track team had a strong push into the post season. First they won the 3A Sea-King district championship May 21, sending top qualifiers to the state championship meet May 27-29 at Tacoma’s Mount Tahoma High School. There, the Patriots took seventh place overall.
District champs
The district championship was the first for the boys track team. At the district meet, the Patriots compiled 100 points to beat out 3A KingCo Conference champion Bellevue, in second with 87 points.
“We are pretty pleased with that,” Liberty coach Michael Smith said of the Patriots’ championship.
Liberty’s 4-by-400 meter relay team of (from left) Devin Bennett, Joshua Gordon, Eric Bice and Troy Solly catch some oxygen as they celebrate, after their state 3A track second-place finish of 3:21.47. By Greg Farrar
“All of the guys we were expecting to pick up points picked up points,” he said. “In fact, they picked up a lot of points.”
Liberty had two individual district champions and also won the 1,600 relay.
Peter Stacy, who has had an exceptional senior year in the throwing events, took first place in the javelin with a toss of 179-3. He also placed second in the discus with a throw of 145-10.
Stacy was fifth in the shot put, but failed to qualify for state in the event. The top four finishers in each event qualified for the 3A state meet.
Highlander Andrey Levkiv among nation’s top shot putters
April 30, 2009
Hazen High School senior Andrey Levkiv has the top shot put and discus toss distances in the state. At the April 18 Pasco Invitational, Levkiv threw the shot put 62 feet, 2 inches, a personal best by more than 17 inches.
