MERIDIAN — When being at one's best mattered most, Sandpoint High's track & field team came through.

Seniors Isaac Schmit, Maverick Gomez, Kamren Ziarnick and junior Trey Blumenberg brought home a state title in the 4x100 relay as they led the Bulldogs to their first 5A State Championship title since 2003 after all was said and done on Saturday at Mountain View High.

The four, who have been breaking records all year, left no doubt in the 4x100 as they broke the school record and all-time state classification record with a time of 41.47 seconds — a time that would have won the 6A classification as well. Schmit, Gomez, and Blumenberg then teamed up with junior Knox Williams in the 4x200 relay and captured a silver medal with a time of 1 minute, 27.73 seconds, which was only second to Moscow, who broke a school and classification record with their time of 1 minute, 26.98 seconds. The race was so fast, the Bulldogs also broke the classification record despite placing second.

Individually, Gomez had no trouble in the 100-meter dash after a disqualification a season ago, sprinting to a gold medal with a new school record time of 10.55 seconds, nearly 0.2 seconds ahead of the next-best competitor. Gomez was also second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.61 seconds as he came away with a total of four medals from the state meet. Williams finished out Sandpoint's big day in the sprints, placing sixth in the 400-meter dash with a new school record time of 49.82 seconds.

In the distance events, sophomore Kai Budensiek and senior Paul Kent podiumed twice each as they finished back-to-back in the 1600-meter run and 3200-meter run. Kent was third in the 3200 with a time of 9 minutes, 35.17 seconds while Budensiek was fourth with a new personal best time of 9 minutes, 37.58 seconds. In the 1600, Budensiek was fifth with a time of 4 minutes, 23.01 seconds and Kent was sixth in 4 minutes, 24.21 seconds — both of which were new personal bests for the dynamic duo. The two are among top five in school history in both events.

On the field, sophomore Hayden Peterson won a state title in the javelin with a throw of 165 feet even, which was a new personal best by nearly seven feet. Freshman Clayton Ernst came up big in the triple jump with a fourth-place finish and a leap of 42 feet, 7.25 inches while sophomore Wyatt Neal rounded out the Bulldogs' state placers by clearing 13 feet in the pole vault to place fifth. Sandpoint beat out 25 other scoring teams as they piled on 78 points in total, 13 more than runner-up Lewiston and 23 more than fourth-place Moscow.

"We ran the numbers in a meeting on Monday and said if we do what we did at districts, there's a good chance we'd come home with a trophy — we just didn't know what color," Sandpoint High head coach Doug Fry said. "On paper, we all felt like we had a really good shot, and we pulled through."

It was Sandpoint's second boys state title in school history.

"This was a true team effort," coach Fry continued. "A head coach does a lot, but our assistant coaches do a great job in steering the kids in the right direction and empowering them to do their best. Our assistants do a great job and are really connected with our athletes."

Fry certainly had a great point as it was announced following the meet that Sandpoint High assistant track & field and sprints coach Tyler Haynes was named the District I Assistant Coach of the Year.

"In all my years of coaching, this is the first state title I have been a part of," coach Fry, who has over 20 years of coaching experience in multiple sports throughout the region, said. "All of our guys came through. This wouldn't have been possible without the state implementing the ability for at-large bids... this year was just so fun and so competitive, and it's even more fun coming out on top."

Storms breaks 800-meter school record, wins state title

In girls action, junior Elizabeth Storms led the Lady Bulldogs by winning the 800-meter run in a new school record time of 2 minutes, 16.94 seconds — 1.16 seconds better than the previous school record set by Hannah Davidson in 2017 and 2.23 seconds ahead of this year's runner-up. Also on the track, senior Elia Howard podiumed three times, placing fifth in the 100-meter dash (12.70), fifth in the 200-meter dash (26.55) and third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.36) for Sandpoint, which placed 11th out of 24 scoring teams with 27.5 points.

Junior Izzy Davidson captured a sixth-place medal in the pole vault (10 feet) to round out the Lady Bulldogs' podium finishes.

    Sandpoint High sophomore Kai Budensiek, left, and senior Paul Kent, middle, track down Hillcrest's Luke Frandsen, right, while competing in the 1600-meter run at 5A State Championship meet.

5A

BOYS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Sandpoint 78. 2, Lewiston 65. 3, Century 58. 4, Moscow 55. 5, Columbia 54. 6, Bishop Kelly 47. 7, Pocatello 46. 8, Skyline 45. 9, Twin Falls 44. 10, Blackfoot 32.5. 11, Wood River 30. 12, Lakeland 24. 13, Vallivue 23. 14, Preston 22.5. 15, Skyview 19. 16, Middleton 18.5. 17, Idaho Falls 18. 18, Hillcrest 13. 19, Minico 12. 20, Shelley 10. 21, Burley 8. 22, Jerome 7. 23, Mountain Home 6. 24, Nampa 3. 25, Emmett 1.5. 26, Bonneville 1.

100 — 1, Maverick Gomez, Sandpoint, 10.55; 2, Caleb Heywood, Moscow, 10.74; 3, Dylan Gale, Bishop Kelly, 10.86; 8 (finals), Isaac Schmit, Sandpoint, 11.28; 13 (prelims), Trey Blumenberg, Sandpoint, 11.14. 200 — 1, Caleb Heywood, Moscow, 21.47; 2, Maverick Gomez, Sandpoint, 21.61; 3, Cody Renzello, Pocatello, 22.02. 400 — 1, Jakobe Davis, Vallivue, 47.40; 2, Cody Renzello, Pocatello, 48.24; 3, Connor Horne, Moscow, 48.74; 6, Knox Williams, Sandpoint, 49.82. 800 — 1, Owen Gregory, Blackfoot, 1:50.93; 2, Ethan Hansen, Century, 1:53.80; 3, Collin Christensen, Pocatello, 1:55.88; 13, Jack Lovin, Sandpoint, 2:01.85. 1600 — 1, Ethan Hansen, Century, 4:13.14; 2, Christopher Peterson, Skyview, 4:16.38; 3, Ammon Bitton, Century, 4:18.96; 5, Kai Budensiek, Sandpoint, 4:23.01; 6, Paul Kent, Sandpoint, 4:24.21. 3200 — 1, Ethan Hansen, Century, 9:25.17; 2, Ammon Bitton, Century, 9:27.57; 3, Paul Kent, Sandpoint, 9:35.17; 4, Kai Budensiek, Sandpoint, 9:37.58; 12, Hobbes Conley, Sandpoint, 10:08.81.

110 hurdles — 1, Tyson Winkelman, Columbia, 14.93; 2, Trip Eckert, Lewiston, 15.22; 3, Benjamin Thomas, Skyline, 15.39; 16, Kelton Vasile, Sandpoint, 17.25. 300 hurdles — 1, Eli Thompson, Twin Falls, 40.14; 2, Tyson Winkelman, Columbia, 40.79; 3, Bryce Sifers, Lewiston, 40.91. 4x100 relay — 1, Sandpoint (Trey Blumenberg, Maverick Gomez, Kamren Ziarnick, Isaac Schmit), 41.47; 2, Bishop Kelly (Dominic Wolthuis, Charlie Dahl, Jared Thiel, Dylan Gale), 42.20. 4x200 relay — 1, Moscow (Owen Lassen, Connor Horne, George Stott, Caleb Heywood), 1:26.98; 2, Sandpoint (Trey Blumenberg, Knox Williams, Maverick Gomez, Isaac Schmit), 1:27.73. 4x400 relay — 1, Moscow (Connor Horne, Trenton Stypa, John Dyer, Caleb Heywood), 3:23.20; 2, Pocatello (Cody Renzello, Olin Rose, Ethan McKee, Kyle Covey), 3:23.98. SMR 1600 — 1, Blackfoot (Efren Bermudez, Marcus Searle, Royce Lyon, Owen Gregory), 3:31.43; 2, Pocatello (Kellen Walker, Austin Wellard, Kyle Covey, Collin Christensen), 3:32.06.

Shot put — 1, Parker Bagley, Lewiston, 53-6.5; 2, Evret Eells, Vallivue, 52-6.5; 3, Brayden Carrel, Lakeland, 52-6. Discus — 1, Gabriel Kessinger, Lewiston, 164-5; 2, Bill Smith, Wood River, 163-10; 3, Alex Ratliff, Wood River, 156-5; 8, Damian Porter, Sandpoint, 142-9. Javelin — 1, Hayden Peterson, Sandpoint, 165-0; 2, Wyatt Tolman, Skyline, 162-10; 3, Peyton Hillman, Lakeland, 157-3. Pole vault — 1, Ammon Hammer, Columbia, 16-0.25; 2, Landon Hammer, Columbia, 14-6; 3, Henry Patterson, Twin Falls, 14-0; 5, Wyatt Neal, Sandpoint, 13-0. High jump — 1, D'Carreih-Jo Lumpkin, Preston, 6-5; 2, Kasen Bryce, Preston, 6-2; 3, Freddy Velasco, Wood River, 6-0. Long jump — 1, Keaton Monsen, Century, 22-9.25; 2, Chandler Tissot, Hillcrest, 21-6.5; 3, Axel Oelerich, Wood River, 21-3.5. Triple jump — 1, Henry Patterson, Twin Falls, 44-7.75; 2, Tieg Mitchell, Burley, 44-0.5; 3, Boedy Callister, Blackfoot, 43-5.5; 4, Clayton Ernst, Sandpoint, 42-7.25.

    Sandpoint High sophomore Hayden Peterson, right, and Sandpoint High assistant track & field coach David DeMers, left, are all smiles after Peterson was named a 5A state champion in the javelin with a throw of 165 feet even. DeMers is the only coach on Sandpoint High's coaching staff to have been a part of both the 2003 and 2026 state championships.
  

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES — 1, Moscow 130. 2, Lakeland 85. 3, Twin Falls 67. 4, Blackfoot 51.5. 5, Skyview 49. 6, Preston 32. 7, Hillcrest 30. 8, Idaho Falls 28.5. t-9, Bishop Kelly, Skyline 28. 11, Sandpoint 27.5. 12, Middleton 27. 13, Lewiston 26. 14, Century 25. 15, Emmett 24. 16, Shelley 20. 17, Pocatello 19. 18, Jerome 13.5. 19, Vallivue 11. 20, Nampa 9. 21, Burley 5. t-22, Minico, Bonneville 2.5.

(top three individuals, top two relays, locals)

100 — 1, Jasmine Carr, Moscow, 12.31; 2, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 12.55; 3, Emryail Warnock, Century, 12.62; 5, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 12.70. 200 — 1, Jasmine Carr, Moscow, 25.38; 2, Sapphire Ruelle, Lakeland, 25.66; 3, Emryail Warnock, Century, 26.43; 5, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 26.55. 400 — 1, Isabelle Pelayo, Twin Falls, 57.45; 2, Stevie Reed, Skyline, 58.77; 3, Stefanie Callahan, Shelley, 58.89. 800 — 1, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 2:16.94; 2, Addisyn Storm, Lewiston, 2:19.17; 3, Raelee Richardson, Twin Falls, 2:19.60; 9, Ruthie Laughridge, Sandpoint, 2:26.58. 1600 — 1, Raelee Richardson, Twin Falls, 5:06.65; 2, Clare Murphy, Bishop Kelly, 5:09.45; 3, Katie Boyle, Pocatello, 5:11.44; 8, Elizabeth Storms, Sandpoint, 5:20.31; 14, Ruthie Laughridge, Sandpoint, 5:34.40. 3200 — 1, Katie Boyle, Pocatello, 11:15.40; 2, Raelee Richardson, Twin Falls, 11:15.60; 3, Jaycee Jensen, Idaho Falls, 11:24.65; 12, Delaney Barron, Sandpoint, 12:07.95.

100 hurdles — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 14.48; 2, Lauren Christiansen, Blackfoot, 15.26; 3, Elia Howard, Sandpoint, 15.36. 300 hurdles — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 43.99; 2, Karstyn Kiefer, Lakeland, 46.21; 3, Paisley Badejo, Nampa, 46.82. 4x100 relay — 1, Moscow (Ella Julye, Ashlyn Fakhouri, Addie Lassen, Jasmine Carr), 48.50; 2, Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Karstyn Kiefer, Sapphire Ruelle), 48.71. 4x200 relay — 1, Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Ruby Kindy, Tessa Lovell), 1:43.66; 2, Blackfoot (Lauren Christiansen, Sailor Tomazin, Paige Eldredge, Carly Christiansen), 1:44.05. 4x400 relay — 1, Moscow (Addie Lassen, Izzabel Fender, Ashlyn Fakhouri, Jasmine Carr), 4:00.41; 2, Lakeland (Jorja Coppinger, Tessa Lovell, Sapphire Ruelle, Karstyn Kiefer), 4:07.36. SMR 800 — 1, Twin Falls (Jasmine Mottern, Gracee Payne, Brooklyn Gambrel, Elektra Cresswell), 1:47.13; 2, Lakeland (Ashlyn Karle, Casey Foster, Tessa Lovell, Karstyn Kiefer), 1:49.00.

Shot put — 1, Jackie Robbins, Lakeland, 43-1.5; 2, Anna Baird, Idaho Falls, 38-3.5; 3, Emmy Roberts, Lewiston, 38-1. Discus — 1, Eva Grimm, Blackfoot, 144-11; 2, Jackie Robbins, Lakeland, 141-3; 3, Finlee Fried, Middleton, 129-10. Javelin — 1, Hallie Spackman, Preston, 137-4; 2, Alexa Weatherly, Hillcrest, 124-0; 3, Macie Winder, Shelley, 121-3; 13, Jordyn Tomco, Sandpoint, 88-0. Pole vault — 1, Addi Richards, Emmett, 12-6; 2, SkotLynd Cagle, Skyview, 12-0; 3, Lexie Hoekstra, Middleton, 11-0; t-6, Izzy Davidson, Sandpoint, 10-0. High jump — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 5-6; 2, Saskia Hohenlohe, Moscow, 5-4; 3, Natalie Mecham, Skyview, 5-4; t-10, Jasmin Laing, Sandpoint, 4-10. Long jump — 1, Mattea Nuhn, Moscow, 18-6.5; 2, Aaja Martin, Century, 17-2.25; 3, Carly Christiansen, Blackfoot, 17-1.5. Triple jump — 1, Lauren Christiansen, Blackfoot, 36-8.75; 2, Saskia Hohenlohe, Moscow, 36-2.75; 3, Cadence Steele, Middleton, 36-0.25.

    Sandpoint High junior Elizabeth Storms competes in the 800-meter run at the 5A State Championship meet. Storms won the event by over two seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 16.94 seconds.

Porinchok, Lamanna grab two medals at 3A State Championship

MIDDLETON — Priest River High senior Niki Porinchok went out on a high note.

The standout thrower placed second in the discus with a new school record throw of 174 feet, 5 inches — the fifth best throw in the entire state regardless of classification — as he led the Spartans at the 3A State Championship held Friday and Saturday at Middleton High.

Porinchok, whose previous best in the discus was 168 feet, 9 inches, was also third in the shot put with a toss of 48 feet, 6.5 inches for the Spartans, which placed 11th out of 20 scoring teams with 30 points. Senior Ian Lamanna grabbed two medals of his own, finishing second in the pole vault (14 feet) and second in the long jump (21 feet) — his finish in the long jump being tied for the best finish at state in school history.

In girls action, junior Haylee Jepson finished ninth in the javelin with a throw of 94 feet, 4 inches, which ranks as No. 2 all-time in school history and was a personal best by over 15 feet. Junior Ashlynn Korff was 11th in the long jump with a new personal best leap of 15 feet, 0.5 inches and ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 32 feet, 1.5 inches, also a new personal best. Korff's mark in the triple jump ranks as No. 5 all-time in school history.

"We are looking forward to these two girls leading the way next year on the girls side," Priest River High head coach Jared Hughes said. "We bring back all the girls [from this year's roster] and will be bringing up a strong girls group that won the junior high eighth grade track meet a couple of weeks ago."

Hughes said his two other state qualifiers, Daniel Gunkle and Gunnar Pettit, ran into some learning curves, but competed well.

"Both Gunnar and Daniel will return as seniors next year and will be the leaders on a young returning team," Hughes said. "While we had a team smaller in numbers this year, we had a great year adding to our school records and all-time top-10 list."

BOYS

(top three individuals, locals)

400 — 1, Ian Johnson, Nampa Christian, 49.62; 2, Ethan Lee, Nampa Christian, 50.55; 3, Davin Harju, Kellogg, 50.80; 16, Gunnar Pettit, Priest River, 54.27. 800 — 1, Ethan Willis, West Side, 1:55.06; 2, Chase Dawson, Nampa Christian, 1:59.76; 3, Boston Burbidge, Malad, 1:59.78; 16, Daniel Gunkle, Priest River, 2:15.59. 3200 — 1, Boston Burbidge, Malad, 9:36.50; 2, John Harris, Community School, 9:46.41; 3, Jace Nalder, Malad, 9:59.15; 16, Daniel Gunkle, Priest River, 11:23.12.

Shot put — 1, Cole Garbett, Soda Springs, 58-2.25; 2, AJ Peak, Kellogg, 48-10; 3, Niki Porinchok, Priest River, 48-6.5. Discus — 1, Cole Garbett, Soda Springs, 182-6; 2, Niki Porinchok, Priest River, 174-5; 3, AJ Peak, Kellogg, 150-3. Pole vault — 1, Tanner Henderson, West Side, 14-0; 2, Ian Lamanna, Priest River, 14-0; 3, Braxton Grimm, West Side, 13-0. Long jump — 1, Rhett Franklin, Melba, 21-2.75; 2, Ian Lamanna, Priest River, 21-0; 3, Owen Reid, North Fremont, 20-10.25; 16, Gunnar Pettit, Priest River, 15-2.25.

GIRLS

(top three individuals, locals)

300 hurdles — 1, Marley Smith, Nampa Christian, 47.29; 2, Laine Smith, Kellogg, 49.16; 3, Paityn Messick, Firth, 49.63; 16, Haylee Jepson, Priest River, 55.82. Javelin — 1, Dimercia Spooner, St. Maries, 113-7; 2, Izzy Haycock, Malad, 112-1; 3, Maddie Newton, Ririe, 108-7; 9, Haylee Jepson, Priest River, 94-4. Long jump — 1, Avery Reece, Nampa Christian, 17-8; 2, Mara Rodgers, Declo, 17-1; 3, Shelbie Perry, Firth, 16-10; 11, Ashlyn Korff, Priest River, 15-0.5. Triple jump — 1, Mara Rodgers, Declo, 35-0.5; 2, Daisha Sorensen, Firth, 34-4; 3, Samantha Anderson, Declo, 34-1.5; 9, Ashlyn Korff, Priest River, 32-1.5.

Clark Fork's Caven hurdles to two podium finishes at 2A State Championship

MIDDLETON — Clark Fork High's Westin Caven placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a new personal best time of 42.67 seconds as he represented the Wampus Cats at the 2A State Championship held Friday and Saturday at Middleton High.

The standout senior also picked up a medal in the 100-meter hurdles, placing sixth with a time of 16.79 seconds as he scored eight points for Clark Fork, which finished tied for 29th out of 37 teams thanks to his efforts.

BOYS

(top three individuals, locals)

110 hurdles — 1, Bridger Livesay, Butte County, 15.27; 2, Parker Yost, Grace, 15.75; 3, Braxtyn Parsons, Butte County, 15.96; 6, Westin Caven, Clark Fork, 16.79. 300 hurdles — 1, Jonah Wilkerson, Grace, 40.50; 2, Tanner Clemenhagen, Kendrick, 41.54; 3, Derrick Huter, Notus, 41.96; 4, Westin Caven, Clark Fork, 42.67.

    Clark Fork High senior Westin Caven, second from right, shows off the medal he received after finishing fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 42.67 seconds at the 2A State Championship meet held Friday and Saturday at Middleton High.