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Douglas High track and field

Tiger girls second at regionals

Douglas boys send a handful of competitors, too

Douglas High's Julianne James, with baton, and Bliss Moody hit the first corner of the Class 5A girls' regional 4x100 competition Friday night. James, Moody, Kaylee Bradford and Jessica James posted a school record in the event, finishing in 49.51

Douglas High's Julianne James, with baton, and Bliss Moody hit the first corner of the Class 5A girls' regional 4x100 competition Friday night. James, Moody, Kaylee Bradford and Jessica James posted a school record in the event, finishing in 49.51
Photo by Carter Eckl.

By Carter Eckl

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

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 There was plenty for Douglas High track and field to celebrate after the three-day Class 5A regional track and field meet at Reed High School.
Overall, the Tigers will send numerous athletes to the state meet this coming Friday and Saturday, also at Reed.
The girls’ team was second in the regional team rankings when all was said and done with 112 points, finishing only behind Galena (143).
Plus, Douglas has some record books to update after the girls 4x100 broke the previous school record in the event.
As to what led to the fastest time in school history, “lots and lots of handoffs,” laughed the group.
Julianne James got out of the blocks for the Tigers before handing off to Bliss Moody for the second leg of the sprint relay.
Moody exchanged to Kaylee Bradford, who hit the final corner before passing the baton to senior Jessica James.
“As was going as fast as I can,” said Bradford.
“It was brand new to me. All the handoffs were amazing,” said Moody.
Down the final stretch it was Reno running neck-and-neck with the Tiger team.
“They really helped push us,” said Jessica James.
The event was late Friday night as the track lights took over for the sun that had set by the time the race got underway.
The group joked they were half asleep in warm-ups prior to the event.
“I’ve been running for a while and have never gotten a good time,” said Julianne James. “I got a really good time I’m proud of.”
Moody and Bradford are both freshman while Julianne James will head to the state meet as a junior.
Jessica James, a senior, qualified for two more events at the upcoming state tournament in the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash and the 4x1.
In the open 400, James put together a 58.04 in the finals to win the event by four-hundredths of a second.
“I would’ve never thought I’d be going to state in the 400,” said James. “Ever since then I’ve PR’d at every meet. Now, it’s one of my favorite races. I never thought I’d say that.”
James said her transition from the 100-meter to the 400 meter is a lot, but maintaining focus and relaxing down the final stretch is what led to her win Saturday morning, in her eyes.
James was second in the 100 with a time of 12.57.
Though James didn’t run to defend her regional title in the 200, Moody took care of business and qualified third for the Tigers in 26.41.
The top four places in every event made the state meet.
Elsewhere, Moody qualified for the state meet in the long jump with a mark of 16–3.25, taking second.
Logan Karwoski will be heading to the state meet in the girls high jump after taking second place with a mark of 4–10.
In the girls’ pole vault, Carissa Bildberback was second with a jump of nine feet, three inches.
Juniors Sophie Marchut and Megan Strand will both be headed to state in the shot put and discus with matching finishes in each event.
Marchut took second in both regional events while Strand was third.

(Jessica James gets her foot across the line first in the Class 5A regional 400-meter dash Saturday morning at Reed High School. James won the regional title by 0.04 seconds and qualified for the state meet in three other events over the three-day meet. / Carter Eckl)

Douglas boys send athletes to state
The Douglas boys didn’t have the same team results as the girls, but will still have some competitors back at Reed High School over the upcoming weekend for the state meet.
Jackson Davis continued to prove he’s one of the top distance runners in the North with a time of 4:36.63 in the 1,600, which was good for fourth place at the regional meet.
Davis also qualified for the state meet in the 3,200 with a fourth place finish in 9:54.93.
In the 4x200, the Tigers were second behind McQueen in 1:31.89, taking their season one weekend further.
Douglas’ 4x2 consisted of AJ Thurston, Isiah Missaugh, Grady Frensdorff and Dakota Jones.
The same foursome was fourth in the 4x100, making the state meet as well.
Overall, the Douglas boys team finished with 29 points.

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