Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday’s league meet at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — Del Norte sophomore Deken Hanks and Ferndale senior Isaak Kasso were once again among the top performers at the second H-DNL track and field meet of the spring on Wednesday.

Competing at McKinleyville, Hanks and Kasso each won multiple events for the second straight week, while Arcata’s Nathan Whitney and Evan Poston also won a pair of events to lead the Tigers to the team win.

Kasso has been particularly impressive early in the new season, and one week after wining three events and setting four PRs in the league opening meet at Fortuna, he took first in both 110 meter hurdles and the triple jump, setting another PR in the latter.

The Ferndale standout won his hurdle race in a time of 15.67 seconds and won the triple jump with a jump of 41’.

Hanks, meanwhile, continued to dominate in the sprints, placing first in the both the 100m and 200m for the second straight week.

He beat teammate Caden Harrison across the line in the 100m in a time of 11.28 seconds, and edged McKinleyville’s Orphao Nowell-Grande for the victory in the 200m.

Fortuna teammates Kavi Bolden and Jack Stacy placed third in the 100m and 200m, respectively.

Whitney won the 800m in a time of 2 minutes, 7.34 seconds and also teamed with Poston, Levi Browne and Noah Macknicki to place first in the 4x800m relay, with Poston also winning the 1600m with a PR time of 4:44.46, followed by teammate Reece Thompson in second and Eureka’s Chase Jimenez in third.

The Arcata boys scored an impressive 151 points to take the team win, with Del Norte placing second with 133 points, and Fortuna (77), Eureka (60) and McKinleyville (50) rounding out the top five.

It was also a good day for Fortuna’s Luke Kamrud, who recently signed a letter of commitment to compete for College of the Redwoods after graduation.

The Huskies senior won the 400m with a PR time of 53.03 seconds, followed by Arcata’s Eric Jackson in second and Eoin McGoldrick in third.

Del Norte’s Dylan Rodriguez also had a PR on his way to winning the 3200m in a time of 10:3.31, followed by Arcata’s Thompson and Browne in second and third, respectively.

Rodriguez also was second to Whitney in the 800m, with Arcata’s Kai Firmodig in third.

Fortuna’s Russell Pascascio, who will join Kamrud at CR next year, had another good showing on his to a comfortable win in the high jump, with his jump of 6’ 3” beating the field by five inches.

Arcata’s Jackson was second, followed by Del Norte’s Brandt Pennington in third.

Pascascio also placed second in the triple jump, followed by Eureka’s Xavier De La Rosa in third, while Jackson teamed with McGoldrick, Palavi Vainuku and Jordan Gaskell to win the 4x400m relay for the Tigers.

Rounding out the races, Del Norte’s Harrison was first across the line in the 300m hurdles, winning in a time of 45.11 seconds, with McKinleyville’s Brayden Adkins in second and Eureka’s Luis Garcia-Anderson in third, while the Fortuna foursome of Bolden, Stacy, Payson Johnson and Mako Limon won the 4x100m relay.

Younger brother Anthony Kasso placed second to his older sibling Isaak in the 110m hurdles, followed by Eureka’s McCormick Petrus.

In the throwing events, Arcata’s Skyler Collenberg won the shot put for the second straight week with a toss of 44’ 2.25”, with teammate Neiko Bryson second and McKinleyville’s Nick Maher in third.

Bryson also placed second in the discus, behind Del Norte’s Aaron Burger, who won with a PR throw of 131’ 9”, with Arcata’s Jared Pereira in third.

Fresh from an impressive winter on the basketball courts, Del Norte’s Lyon Rigden placed first in the pole vault with a mark of 12 feet, followed by Fortuna’s Christopher Duey in second and Del Norte’s Cody Burshem in third, while McKinleyville’s Nowell-Grande took top spot in the long jump with a PR jump of 19’ 4”, followed by Harrison in second and Pascascio in third.

The H-DNL athletes will take a two-week break from league action before the third league meet of the spring at Del Norte on April 17.