PREP TRACK AND FIELD: From Emerging to Elite ... St. Maries senior Gustaffe sweeps in hurdles at Post Falls meet

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

POST FALLS — St. Maries High senior Isaiah Gustaffe learned a valuable lesson in mid March while competing in the Nike Indoor National meet in New York. 

There’s always something to build on. 

On Tuesday, that work did wonders in the rain at the annual Christina Finney Coed Relays meet at Post Falls High. 

Gustaffe, who is drawing recruiting interest from Division I schools, won the boys 110-meter hurdles in 15.34 seconds, setting a meet record. 

“I’m just trying to do the same work that I’m doing in practice,” said Gustaffe, who finished 38th in the Emerging Elite 55-meter hurdles at nationals. “I just continue to show up and put my work in. When I went to nationals, there was definitely a lot of really good competition there. This is really nothing compared to that. I learned that I’ve got a lot of room to grow. There’s a lot of good competition out there, and I’ve got a lot to improve on.” 

Gustaffe, who also won the 300 hurdles, is undecided on his future plans. 

“I’m going to run somewhere,” Gustaffe said. “But I’m just not sure yet. I really enjoy the technical aspect of the hurdles. There’s always someone that’s a little better or faster and I’m trying to catch them.” 

Work in the weight room has helped contribute to a strong start in the relay events for the Lakeland girls, who claimed a win in the 4x200 relay behind freshman Ashlyn Karle, sophomore Casey Foster, freshman Ruby Kindy and sophomore Tessa Lovell in 1 minute, 46.83 seconds. 

“Ashlyn, Ruby and I have ran this together since middle school,” said Lovell, who also won the 400 on Tuesday in 1:02.41. (Lakeland head track and field coach Tim) Kiefer’s weight program has really helped us a lot. The work we’ve put in during practice has helped us get better week to week. Our practices are super intense and we get a lot of reps in practice.” 

Karle is the first leg, and Lovell is the anchor leg in the race. 

“I get really nervous,” Karle said. “Trying to catch up to people, if it looks like you’re not running fast enough, you’re not doing well (because of the stagger). So I tend to get nervous at the start of the race.” 

Karle also competes on the school’s 4x100 relay along with Foster, senior Karstyn Kiefer and junior Sapphire Ruelle, which won in 50.26 seconds. 

“I really like how we’re always working together,” Karle said. “I really enjoy the relays and how we’re always working as a team.” 

Lakeland won the combined team title with 258 points, followed by Coeur d’Alene with 236.

In the coed meet, team scores are combined with the boys and girls scores to come up with one team champion. 

“Our boys continue to perform well,” Coeur d’Alene coach Shawn Amos said. “We have not had a meet yet with all our athletes available. I’m excited to see what we can do when it all comes together. Now, it is the push to regionals.” 

COMBINED TEAM SCORES — 1, Lakeland 258. 2, Coeur d’Alene 236. 3, Sandpoint 206. 4, Post Falls 194. 5, Timberlake 115. 6, Lake City 101.5. 7, Bonners Ferry 98. 8, St. Maries 88. 9, Priest River 40. 10, Wallace 14. 11, Kootenai Classical 9. 

BOYS 

4x200 relay — 1, Sandpoint (Trey Blumenberg, Kamren Ziarnick, Maverick Gomez, Isaac Schmit), 1:30.91. 2, Coeur d’Alene, 1:32.78. 3, Lakeland, 1:34.66. 1,600 — 1, Rowan Henry, Coeur d’Alene, 4:31.28. 2, Caleb Royce, Timberlake, 4:32.70. 3, Kai Budensiek, Sandpoint, 4:33.24. 110 hurdles — 1, Isaiah Gustaffe, St. Maries, 15.34. 2, Camden Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, 15.76. 3, Griffin Carpenter, Post Falls, 16.29. 400 — 1, Knox Williams, Sandpoint, 53.05. 2, Jaron Yeager, Coeur d’Alene, 53.07. 3, Emmett McLachlan, Coeur d’Alene, 53.85. 100 — 1, Santiago Prenzato, St. Maries, 11.18. 2, Chase Young, Lake City, 11.30. 3, Jordan (JJ) Yearout), St. Maries, 11.43. 800 — 1, Johnathan Barnhart, Timberlake, 1:59.58. 2, Cruz Andrich, Post Falls, 1:59.62. 3, Wyatt Morgenstern, Coeur d’Alene, 2:00.96. 

4x100 relay — 1, Lake City (Chase Young, Paul Karvonen, Dylan Mason, Caden Tony), 43.14. 2, Lakeland, 44:06. 3, Coeur d’Alene, 44.81. 300 hurdles — 1, Isaiah Gustaffe, St. Maries, 39.98. 2, Camden Johnson, Coeur d’Alene, 40.29. 3, Wyatt Kuklinski, Coeur d’Alene, 42.46. 200 — 1, Santiago Prenzato, St. Maries, 22.90. 2, Jackson Harvey, Post Falls, 22.92. 3, Trey Blumenberg, Sandpoint, 23.57. 3,200 — 1, Andrew Grady, Coeur d’Alene, 10:20.37. 2, Parker Sterling, Lakeland, 10:22.41. 3, Frank McCarthy, Lakeland, 10:30.44. 4x400 mixed relay — 1, Lakeland (Karstyn Kiefer, Ryan Engelbrecht, Tessa Lovell, Jaron Yager), 3;47.87. 2, Post Falls, 3:48.13. 3, Timberlake, 3:54.60. 

Shot put — 1, Brayden Carrel, Lakeland, 47-6 ½. 2, Niki Porinchok, Priest River, 45-11 ½. 3, Gavin Beckenhauer, Coeur d’Alene, 44-5 ½. Discus — 1, Niki Porinchok, Priest River, 151-2. 2, Damian Porter, Sandpoint, 142-2. 3, Archer Higgins, Timberlake, 137-4. High jump — 1, Logan Archibald, Bonners Ferry, 6-0. 2, Cashton Bodman, Post Falls, 5-8. 2, Riley Beggerly, Bonners Ferry, 5-8. Pole vault — 1, Ian Lamanna, Priest River, 13-0. 2, George Mitchell, Coeur d’Alene, 12-6. 3, Logan Archibald, Bonners Ferry, 12-0. Long jump — 1, Ian Lamanna, Priest River, 20-10. 2, Gibson Comstock, Coeur d’Alene, 20-8. 3, Jordan (JJ) Yearout, St. Maries, 20-4. Triple jump — 1, Jaxon Lysne, Post Falls, 41-8 ½. 2, Shooter Jones, Sandpoint, 40-8 ½. 3, Levi Abbott, Lakeland, 40-5 ½. Javelin — 1, Landon Goodwin, Post Falls, 154-9. 2, Peyton Hillman, Lakeland, 149-1. 3, Hayden Peterson, Sandpoint, 146-3.  

GIRLS 

4x200 relay — 1, Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Ruby Kindy, Tessa Lovell), 1:46.83. 2, Post Falls, 1:49.97. 3, Lake City, 1:55.14. 1,600 — 1, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 5:29.62. 2, Delaney Barron, Sandpoint, 5:32.93. 3, Ruthie Laughridge, Sandpoint, 5:37.73. 100 hurdles — 1, Alexis Hoss, Coeur d’Alene, 16.02. 2, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 16.03. 3, Annabelle Tucker, Post Falls, 16.58. 400 — 1, Tessa Lovell, Lakeland, 1:02.41. 2, Melia Lapham, Coeur d’Alene, 1:03.59. 3, Taylor Poppelreiter, Lake City, 1:03.76. 100 — 1, Adelynn Archer, Timberlake, 12.72. 2, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 12.89. 3, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 12.90. 800 — 1, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 2:24.39. 2, Ainsley Parker, Post Falls, 2:27.72. 3, Violet Hernandez, Lake City, 2:29.81.  

4x100 relay — 1, Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Karstyn Kiefer, Sapphire Ruelle), 50.26. 2, Timberlake, 52.84. 3, Sandpoint, 56.45. 300 hurdles — 1, Annabelle Tucker, Post Falls, 46.96. 2, Karstyn Kiefer, 47.31. 3, Emily Wright, Timberlake, 49.15. 200 — 1, Adelynn Archer, Timberlake, 26.31. 2, Raevyn Yearout, St. Maries, 26.51. 3, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 26.79. 3,200 — 1, Anna Christman, Coeur d’Alene, 11:13.61. 2, Dorothy Pope, Post Falls, 12:18.57. 3, Olivia Meredith, Lakeland, 12:28.48. 4x400 mixed relay — 1, Lakeland (Karstyn Kiefer, Ryan Engelbrecht, Tessa Lovell, Jaron Yager), 3;47.87. 2, Post Falls, 3:48.13. 3, Timberlake, 3:54.60.

Shot put — 1, Hallie Hartman, Bonners Ferry, 39-9. 2, Hana Hartman, Bonners Ferry, 38-1. 3, Courtney Johnson, Lake City, 32-1 ½. Discus — 1, Jackie Robbins, Lakeland, 129-10. 2, Hana Hartman, Bonners Ferry, 117-10. 3, Hallie Hartman, Bonners Ferry, 110-6. High jump — 1, Jasmin Laing, Sandpoint, 5-0. 2, Lillee Ward, Timberlake, 4-8. 3, Emmy Parris, Coeur d’Alene, 4-8. Pole vault — 1, Alyssa Hinkle, Lakeland, 8-6. 2, Madison Whipp, Coeur d’Alene, 8-6. 3, Gemma Loose, Lake City, 8-6. Long jump — 1, Reagan Hutchinson, Post Falls, 15-4. 2, Jasmin Laing, Sandpoint, 15-1. 3, Holly Reed, Coeur d’Alene, 14-11 ½. Triple jump — 1, Jorja Coppinger, Lakeland, 32-3. 2, Vivian Haag, Sandpoint, 31-5 ½. 3, Layla Webb, Timberlake, 30-11 ½. Javelin — 1, Dimercia Spooner, St. Maries, 97-1. 2, Rylie Gump, Post Falls, 89-6. 3, Madelyn Putzig, Lake City, 84-11.  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeland sophomore Tessa Lovell runs the final 100 meters of the girls 4x200 relay in the Christina Finney Coed Relays at Post Falls High on Tuesday.