Kappen and Graham medal to lead Bulldogs at 4A State Track Championships

As the leaders of the 4A boys 800 meter race threatened to pull away from the pack, Sandpoint junior Seth Graham came to a crossroads.

On one hand: The 500 meter mark of the 800 is where most runners hit the wall. Focusing on the pain and losing sight of the goal — to break two minutes and compete against the state’s best— would have been easy.

On the other hand: Sandpoint athletes rarely compete against the best that Idaho has to offer. While meets down in Coeur d’Alene, Timberlake and even Pasco might be crowded from a numbers standpoint, it’s no secret that the Boise schools have the most talented athletes in Idaho. All 19 of the Bulldogs who made the trip down to state took advantage of the competition from the southern schools last weekend and, for athletes like Graham and long jump bronze medalist Braden Kappen, their efforts paid off in tangible ways. Both Kappen and Graham took home medals last weekend.

But in order to get that medal, Graham had to weigh his options quickly. With the race hurtling towards the final turn, Graham made up his mind, surged towards the front pack and entered the final turn with his sights set on the state title contenders.

“I counted the runners in front of me and chased the front pack,” Graham said. “The four runners that ended up ahead of me have quite the reputation, even though I knew I wouldn’t catch them, seeing a possible fifth place gave me some adrenaline.”

That decision paid off. The junior clawed his way towards the front pack and fended off several competitors along the home stretch to finish fifth with a 1:59.09. Saturday’s race was Graham’s first time breaking the two-minute barrier.

“I actually had no idea what I was on pace for,” Graham said. “As I was crossing the line I glanced to the side and saw 1:59 on the clock, I couldn’t help but smile.”

Graham wasn’t the only Bulldog with his head high after state. Sophomore jumper Braden Kappen capped off a breakthrough month with a third-place finish in the long jump with a 20-10.5.

“It’s really great seeing my hard work pay off,” Kappen, who competed at state for the first time on Saturday, said. “It was a great experience.”

Not bad for an athlete who started jumping this season.

Kappen, who also qualified for the 100 meters and runs a leg of Sandpoint’s 4x100 relay team, became a jumper serendipitously. After trying it out on a whim in practice and seeing he had the talent, he turned jumping into a discipline under the direction of Sandpoint jumps coach Dave DeMers. From there, he quickly emerged as one of the state’s best regardless of division — first with a breakthrough 21-4 districts-winning jump, then with Saturday’s third-place finish.

“I don’t think Braden ever doubted his ability to jump far,” DeMers said. “Being a sophomore, he is pretty special in his ability. He just put it together. I am really proud of him.”

As the only underclassmen to make state in the 4A long jump, the sky is the limit for Kappen.

“I have coached many great jumpers at Sandpoint,” DeMers said. “All of the had ability. All of them were good athletes and were coach-able. The similarities between them and Braden were that they could focus on the moment and use their ability to perform to championship expectations. I guess, in a nutshell, they believe they can and they just do it.”

The sophomore’s self-belief was palpable after the state meet. Now that he knows what competing against the best, Kappen will carry this experience first into football season and then into next spring.

“I’m looking forward to getting that gold next year,” Kappen, whose lone competitor returning next season will be state champion Stockton Lott from Jerome, said. “I’m definitely going to shoot for it.”

Yet not all state finishes need validation from an oval medal encased in a plastic box. Sometimes the most important state meet experiences come from embracing the competition and setting a new PR, moving up the program record board, or from merely feeling the butterflies flutter in one’s chest and seeing more fans in the grandstand than usual. With a young team like Sandpoint, these less-visible milestones from competing on the state’s biggest stage are building blocks towards future success.

For throwers Kayla Remsen and Brandon Casey — plus first-year throws coach Ryan Knowles — last weekend was their first times at the state track meet. The throwing crew, like their teammates, now know what the state experience is like. As a freshman and a junior, respectively, Remsen and Casey have opportunities to make it back to Boise in 2020.

“They had some good throws, some bad,” Knowles said. “All in all, they ended up right where they were seeded. The experience will help them next time. It was a great atmosphere.”

Next year, however, the road to state for Remsen won’t be as difficult. In the throes of the season, Remsen sustained an injury playing another sport that nearly put her track season in jeopardy. Yet she emerged amongst a crowded, Sandpoint-heavy field of shot put contenders to nab the district’s second at-large bid.

“I was not sure how she would perform at districts, but she got it done,” Knowles said. “That is all the matters. For a freshman to letter is an tall task. She should be very proud of what she has done. I am proud of her and she will be back.”

Even though the state qualification process becomes complicated next season — District 1’s automatic bids whittle from two to one next season — Sandpoint’s distance team can rely on sophomores Nikolai Braedt and Jett Lucas, both of whom not only broke the program’s sophomore 1600 meter record, but also ran times that will put them in good standing for at-large bids next season.

“Honestly, it frustrates me,” Sandpoint head coach Matt Brass said. “We proved that we can compete in a highly competitive state meet today, and because of state politics we lose one automatic qualifier. But it also excites me to use that as a motivator to become more competitive at regionals and take as many of those at large as we can.”

Breaking the sophomore record was easier said than done. Seeded as the last two runners in the race, both Braedt and Lucas knew beforehand that they needed not only be discouraged by the seed time, but also put themselves in the mix of things — even during the most demanding parts of the race. Their resolve apparent during the second and third laps, in which both Lucas and Braedt threw in surges to stay with the pack.

State was unfamiliar territory for the pair from the north, who see the same handful of distance athletes at nearly every meet.

“Living in northern Idaho is a bit of a struggle to find many competitive meets,” Braedt said. “When leading a race, it is much harder to push yourself beyond what you believe you’re capable of as there is nobody in front of you to latch on to. Having the opportunity to race here at state is a great chance to strive for a good PR. Both Jett and I knew we could use the competition to our advantage, and we did.”

Both sophomores finished in 4:27s, yet Braedt edged out Lucas in a crowded finish with a 4:27.80 to claim the program’s sophomore record by seven-tenths of a second.

“I’m incredibly excited that I broke the sophomore record, and it almost feels like a dream,” Braedt said. “The fact that I have another two years to push myself past limit after limit takes the excitement from breaking the record and multiplies it by at least 10.”

Braedt didn’t go into the season with the sophomore record on his radar. The sophomore had a rocky start to a busy season, yet used several PRs in early April to empower him for the rest of his busy season, in which he ran everything from a 400 up to the 3200 and set new PRs across the board. The 1600, however, was his event of choice.

“I had a few races at around 4:50, and they proved to be a little off-putting,” Braedt said. “But then came a huge PR at our home meet, and from there a confidence began to grow that pushed me to where I got to today.”

Lucas, who also competed at state for the first time last weekend, saw his 1600 time drop from a 4:51.9 to a 4:27.87 throughout the course of the season. Although he managed to win all five 1600 meter races going into state, he didn’t let finishing in tenth deter his confidence going into next season.

“Personally, I’m going to take away the fact that there is almost always someone faster,” Lucas said afterwards. “And that’s not something to dwell on, but rather a gift and an opportunity to push oneself to the next level.”

The next level for some Sandpoint athletes will be the podium. Juniors Paige Davidson (pole vault) and Bionce Vincent (800) placed seventh in their events — one spot away from medaling. Finishing that close, however, will carry both of them into next season.

“Thinking about where I was last track season and where I am now makes me proud of what I’ve accomplished,” Vincent, who set a new PR in the 800 with a 2:23.52 said. “My biggest takeaway is the experience. Every year, races get more competitive, and the experience I’ve gained only gives me more confidence.”

Vincent’s race was proof of how close the difference between medaling and not truly is in the 4A ranks. Last Saturday, a mere 1.05 seconds separated fourth and eighth place in the 800 meters, which is a quasi-sprint event, nonetheless. Preparing for such a packed race was one of the race’s biggest challenge for both Vincent and distance coach Angie Brass, who tried alleviating any worries about a hectic, physical race by framing Vincent’s race as a celebration for her training.

“I knew the race was going to be congested and that was probably my biggest worry,” Vincent said. “I told myself over and over again, ‘Get out, don’t get boxed in.’ Most of my mental preparation was dedicated to the first 200 meters and putting myself in a good position right from the get-go.”

Despite getting boxed in on the first lap, Vincent rode the momentum from the pack to a quick first lap that put her in position for the rest of the race. Although seeing her time at the bell lap was enough to cause some concern, Vincent threw time out the window and embraced the opportunity to compete.

“I had to ask myself what I was willing to do to get where I wanted,” Vincent said. “I [reminded] myself of the work I put in this season. Everyone was trying to run their best race, so I had to too.”

As a whole, Sandpoint track and field will have to ask itself similar questions in 2020, ranging from finding replacements for a bevy of seniors on the girls distance team, to two legs of both 4x100 teams. These solutions will be found in due time. But for now, the Bulldogs will ride off youthful optimism. No moment encapsulated the young team’s drive quite like an interaction between Matt Brass and the girls 4x100 team.

As the meet announcer’s voice rattled off a slew of Boise-area schools in contention for the 4A state title, Bailee Klopman, Valerie Wickboldt and Sofia Platte asked a simple question: Why not us?

Even though giving the trio the straight answer — one mired in districts’ red tape, winnowing at-large berths and the mathematical advantages most southern schools have — was difficult, Brass takes solace in the fact that the Bulldogs are willing to ask that question in the first place.

“It excites me that they want to know what it takes to reach another level,” Matt Brass said. “It’s something to build on. The hard part of answering that question is we will have a very tough time competing for a state trophy with the current numbers we get to state. But I love that they asked and it is something to build numbers and performance off of.”