Capital High senior didn’t want to be a thrower. Now she’s a district champion
They are track and field events that don’t seem compatible, but Gracie Strickland makes it work in a way few others can.
She’s a rare breed of strength, speed and explosiveness, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
Strickland didn’t want to be a thrower. But it’s a good thing Capital coaches convinced her otherwise.
With a throw of 41 feet, 4.5 inches, Strickland won the girls shot put at the 5A District Three track and field championships Friday at Kuna High. The gold-medal performance comes on the heels of winning both the triple jump (36-0) and discus (127-9.5) on Thursday. She also ran the third leg on Capital’s 4x100-meter relay team.
“It is unique, but it’s not surprising,” said Capital coach Frank Rohm, a former Boise State coach. “Honestly, she’s very raw still in terms of her throwing technique and her experience and development. She’s got an enormous amount of upside.
“But the fact that she can triple jump, the fact that she can run on a 4x100 and be very competitive, speaks to the fact of what it takes to be an elite thrower, which is somebody who’s very explosive and has speed.”
Strickland began her track and field career wanting to be a sprinter and jumper.
“All my coaches were like, ‘Gracie, you’ve just gotta try the throws.’ I was like, ‘OK,’ just to get them off my back,” Strickland said. “So I did it my freshman year. I did one meet and then I qualified for districts. I was like, ‘I’m not going to be a thrower. I don’t want to be a thrower. Absolutely not.’ And then I made it to state freshman year after doing two track meets.”
Raw as she was, Strickland finished seventh in the shot put in the district meet as a freshman and took 10th at state. Before COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 season, she threw the shot put at one meet, but was still doing everything she could to show coaches she belonged in the sprints and jumps.
Then she won the state title in the shot put last spring.
“We had to make some agreements,” Capital head coach Bryan Stith said. “About halfway through her freshman year, I said, ‘OK, you’re an OK jumper.’ Because that’s what she wanted to do. She wanted to jump and sprint. And I said, but you’re gonna be a great thrower. So if you want to keep jumping, you have to start throwing, and so she agreed to throw the shot put. She wouldn’t throw the discus. And then as time passed by, she realized that she was good at it.”
Barely a year into taking the throwing events seriously, Strickland is now receiving interest from Division I track programs, an opportunity she might have laughed off a few years ago.
“I was always thinking about going to college, but it’s kind of changed my idea of where I might go,” Strickland said. “It opens up more possibilities.”
A few weeks ago, Strickland set Capital’s school record in the shot put with a mark of 42-10.5, which ranks first in the state this season. And her 36-0 triple jump at the district meet Thursday was a personal best. The diverse success is a creating some friendly competition among Capital coaches, who all want to see Strickland excel at their respective disciplines.
“The throws coaches have kind of been fighting with me about she’s best if she doesn’t jump,” Stith said. “But because of her personality, I don’t think she would do as well in the throws if I tell her she can’t jump. It’s part of what makes her who she is. She’s not just a thrower, she’s an athlete. She wants to prove to everyone she’s an athlete.”
Meet highlights
Note: Highlights are limited to athletes who posted state-leading marks or multiple individual event wins.
▪ Boise senior Liam Murray enjoyed a sizable lead in the boys 400 while establishing a state best in the process with his time of 47.79 seconds. Murray finished the meet with three golds after running legs on the Brave’s winning 4x200 (1:26.89) and 4x400 (3:19.97) relay teams. Both relay times were tops in the state this season.
▪ Fellow Boise senior Mason Lawyer joined Murray on those winning 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams and collected two individual wins with his sweep of the boys 100 (10.68) and 200 (21.45).
▪ Meridian senior Caleb Woodland mastered the hurdle races with victories in the boys 110 (14.52) and 300 (38.71).
▪ Rocky Mountain’s Justin Charter, Kade Thompson, Isaac Thayer and Hunter Steacker combined for a state-leading time in the boys 4x100 relay at 42.45.
▪ Mountain View senior Jackson Beck swept the boys shot put (56-6.5) and discus (161-10).
▪ Two-time defending state triple jump champion Eli Lawrence of Meridian dominated the competition in the boys long and triple jumps. The senior won the long jump (22-11.5) by more than a foot and the triple jump (48-4.25) by nearly 5 feet.
▪ Boise senior Logan Smith appears in good form to defend her state title in the girls 800 after running a state-leading time of 2:11.11 to win the event Friday. Smith collected four first-place finishes over the two-day meet, adding a victory in the 200 (25.81) and running legs on the Brave’s winning 4x400 (3:52.87) and 4x800 (9:22.68) relay teams, which also established state bests.
▪ Smith wasn’t the only Brave to win multiple individual events. Sophomore Allie Bruce ran to victory in the 1,600 (5:02.23) and 3,200 (10:55.22) and was part of Boise’s winning 4x800 relay.
▪ Boise had several runners who contributed heavily to its girls relay success: junior Lydia Nance (4x200, 4x400, 4x800), junior Sophia Clark (4x200, 4x400) and freshman Kunie Hirai (4x200, 4x400).
▪ Timberline’s Avery Navest, Lauren McCall, Ella Boson and Brynn Celani showcased their speed in the 4x100 relay, winning in a state-leading time of 49.06.
▪ Rocky Mountain won the boys team title with 138.5 points to runner-up Boise’s 111. Defending girls state team champion Boise collected the district championship with 172 points to second-place Timberline’s 103.
5A District 3 Track & Field Meet
At Kuna
Thursday-Friday
Girls team scores
1, Boise 172. 2, Timberline 103. 3, Capital 73. 4, Rocky Mountain 66. 5, Centennial 52.5. 6, Meridian 47. 7, Mountain View 42.5. 8, Eagle 42. 9, Skyview 28. 10, Borah 27. 11, Owyhee 25.5. 12, Kuna 23.5.
Girls individual results
Top 9 individuals to state
Top 4 relays to state, one at-large bid
100: 1, Asia Lawyer, Centennial, 12.38a (1.3)SR. 2, Brynn Celani, Timberline, 12.47a (1.3)SR. 3, Sophia Clark, Boise, 12.59a (1.3). 4, Brianna Hayhurst, Eagle, 12.66a (1.3). 5, Kaila Mederios, Meridian, 12.87a (1.3). 6, Avery Navest, Timberline, 12.87a (1.3). 7, Adele Davis, Boise, 12.90a (1.3). 8, Ciara Brown, Rocky Mountain, 12.97a (1.3).
200: 1, Logan Smith, Boise, 25.81a (0.6). 2, Brynn Celani, Timberline, 25.92a (0.6). 3, Sophia Clark, Boise, 25.98a (0.6). 4, Brianna Hayhurst, Eagle, 26.01a (0.6). 5, Adele Davis, Boise, 26.46a (0.6). 6, Asia Lawyer, Centennial, 26.82a (0.6). 7, Avery Navest, Timberline, 26.83a (0.6). 8, Kennedy Patterson, Capital, 27.66a (0.6).
400: 1, Marion Packer, Meridian, 58.59a. 2, Lydia Nance, Boise, 59.11a. 3, Alexandria Fletcher, Eagle, 1:00.55a. 4, Rylee Dawe, Owyhee, 1:00.58a. 5, Kennedy Patterson, Capital, 1:00.87a. 6, Madeline Weatherford, Rocky Mountain, 1:00.96a. 7, Lauren McCall, Timberline, 1:03.21a. 8, Tylee Smith, Timberline, 1:04.01a.
800: 1, Logan Smith, Boise, 2:11.11a. 2, Marion Packer, Meridian, 2:14.27a. 3, Allie Bruce, Boise, 2:19.03a. 4, Abby Stamper, Timberline, 2:19.36a. 5, Sam Knight, Mountain View, 2:20.23a. 6, Belle Draney, Rocky Mountain, 2:20.90a. 7, Karsyn Roldan, Timberline, 2:21.06a. 8, Abigail Krzemien, Skyview, 2:21.14a. 9, Sydney Massey, Rocky Mountain, 2:21.73a.
1,600: 1, Allie Bruce, Boise, 5:02.23a. 2, Brighton Heywood, Rocky Mountain, 5:02.99a. 3, Peyten Woodruff, Rocky Mountain, 5:07.90a. 4, Kaleena Narus, Timberline, 5:08.28a. 5, Brooklyn Lowry, Mountain View, 5:12.26a. 6, Annika Zuschlag, Boise, 5:12.66a. 7, Cameron Moore, Eagle, 5:12.79a. 8, Lily Simmonds, Timberline, 5:13.21a. 9, Aubrey Kohler, Meridian, 5:13.41a.
3,200: 1, Allie Bruce, Boise, 10:55.22a. 2, Rilyn Stevens, Mountain View, 11:10.41a. 3, Annika Zuschlag, Boise, 11:13.08a. 4, Aubrey Kohler, Meridian, 11:16.17a. 5, Cameron Moore, Eagle, 11:19.82a. 6, Allie Hipwell, Eagle, 11:28.32a. 7, Sophie Cooper, Timberline, 11:31.63a. 8, Faith Johnson, Owyhee, 11:34.15a. 9, Audrey Chitwood, Mountain View, 11:38.77a.
100 hurdles: 1, Jamie Hamlin, Boise, 15.54a (2.0). 2, Ashley McGary, Meridian, 15.64a (2.0). 3, Maggie Shirazi, Capital, 15.74a (2.0). 4, Emily Winans, Capital, 16.09a (2.0). 5, Millie Bledsoe, Borah, 16.35a (2.0). 6, Hallie Esmiol, Borah, 16.39a (2.0). 7, Liv Mortensen, Owyhee, 16.42a (2.0). 8, Hazija Mberwa, Capital, 17.13a (2.0).
300 hurdles: 1, Lauren McCall, Timberline, 44.62a. 2, Maggie Shirazi, Capital, 45.00a. 3, Jamie Hamlin, Boise, 46.01a. 4, Liv Mortensen, Owyhee, 47.72a. 5, Reese Case, Skyview, 47.89a. 6, Aysha Peery, Eagle, 48.15a. 7, Juniper Ammirati, Boise, 48.31a. 8, Hannah Pinegar, Rocky Mountain, 48.70a.
4x100: 1, Timberline 49.06a. 2, Boise 49.97a. 3, Centennial 50.10a. 4, Skyview 50.13a. 5, Meridian 50.64a.
4x200: 1, Boise 1:42.34a. 2, Timberline 1:43.11a. 3, Rocky Mountain 1:46.27a. 4, Capital 1:47.40a. 5, Kuna 1:48.24a.
4x400: 1, Boise 3:52.87a. 2, Rocky Mountain 4:04.33a. 3, Timberline 4:04.44a. 4, Owyhee 4:04.98a. 5, Skyview 4:07.24a.
4x800: 1, Boise 9:22.68a. 2, Rocky Mountain 9:32.76a. 3, Timberline 9:35.32a. 4, Mountain View 9:50.02a. 5, Skyview 10:03.33a.
Shot put: 1, Gracie Strickland, Capital, 41-4.5. 2, Grace Layton, Eagle, 35-0.5. 3, Taylor Crout, Borah, 35-0. 4, Hope Hughes, Centennial, 33-7. 5, Brianna Hettinga, Kuna, 33-4. 6, Alexis DeAlba, Boise, 33-1.5. 7, Aaliyah Bos, Kuna, 33-0.5. 8, Keira Holder, Timberline, 32-5. 9, Maddie Romberg, Borah, 32-1.
Discus: 1, Gracie Strickland, Capital, 127-9.5. 2, Cami Ellis, Rocky Mountain, 115-2.5. 3, Aaliyah Bos, Kuna, 114-6.5. 4, Keira Holder, Timberline, 111-7. 5, Maddie Romberg, Borah, 109-9. 6, Taylor Crout, Borah, 109-6.5. 7, Madilyn McCarty, Mountain View, 108-1.5. 8, Emily Edmondson, Capital, 105-8. 9, Hailey Patchett, Skyview, 101-0.
High jump: 1, Emily Roberts, Capital, 5-0. 2, Alex Gustavel, Boise, 5-0. 3, Kennedy Voorhies, Rocky Mountain, 4-10. 4, Avery Quigley, Kuna, 4-10. 4, Josie Davis, Owyhee, 4-10. 6, Aubrey Hart, Mountain View, 4-10. 7, Eliana Tia, Centennial, 4-8. 7, Sydney Hyde, Mountain View, 4-8. 9, Audrey Sherfick, Centennial, 4-8.
Pole vault: 1, Eva Lowder, Centennial, 12-3. 2, Amber Miller, Mountain View, 11-9. 3, Suzi Woodall, Boise, 11-9. 4, Ani Smith, Boise, 11-3. 5, Michaela Gier, Boise, 11-3. 6, Annie Pinkerton, Kuna, 10-3. 7, Ellie Galloway, Centennial, 9-9. 8, Emily Winans, Capital, 9-9. 9, Ashley McGary, Meridian, 9-3. 9, Avery Quigley, Kuna, 9-3.
Long jump: 1, Ashlyn Sandow, Timberline, 17-5.25. 2, Jayden Glaze, Skyview, 17-0.5. 3, Kaila Mederios, Meridian, 16-11.5. 4, Tatum Erlandson, Rocky Mountain, 16-10. 5, Julia Niederer, Borah, 16-10. 6, Autumn Shomaker, Boise, 16-8. 7, Eliana Tia, Centennial, 16-7.75. 8, Jayden Rehwalt, Centennial, 16-3.75. 9, Adrienne Russell, Boise, 16-3.5.
Triple jump: 1, Gracie Strickland, Capital, 36-0. 2, Ashlyn Sandow, Timberline, 35-10. 3, Autumn Shomaker, Boise, 34-11.75. 4, Jayden Rehwalt, Centennial, 34-10.5. 5, Evelyn Madsen, Centennial, 34-8. 6, Julia Niederer, Borah, 34-6. 7, Sydney Hyde, Mountain View, 33-10. 8, Emily Winans, Capital, 33-10. 9, Grace Lanfear, Boise, 33-9.25.
Boys team scores
1, Rocky Mountain 138.5. 2, Boise 111. 3, Mountain View 108. 4, Meridian 76.5. 5, Centennial 62. 6, Eagle 60.5. 7, Capital 40. 8, Timberline 34.5. 9, Skyview 26. 10, Borah 25. 11, Kuna 12. 12, Owyhee 8.
Boys individual results
Top 9 individuals to state
Top 4 relays to state, one at-large bid
100: 1, Mason Lawyer, Boise, 10.68a (0.9). 2, Kade Thompson, Rocky Mountain, 10.78a (0.9). 3, Hunter Steacker, Rocky Mountain, 11.06a (0.9). 4, Jacob Webster, Centennial, 11.10a (0.9). 5, Ayden Martinez, Skyview, 11.13a (0.9). 6, Josiah DeChambeau, Centennial, 11.18a (0.9). 7, Ian Duarte, Eagle, 11.21a (0.9). 8, Barrett Davis, Eagle, 11.53a (0.9).
200: 1, Mason Lawyer, Boise, 21.45a (0.3). 2, Kade Thompson, Rocky Mountain, 21.98a (0.3). 3, Jacob Webster, Centennial, 22.31a (0.3). 4, Liam Murray, Boise, 22.75a (0.3). 5, Ayden Martinez, Skyview, 22.78a (0.3). 6, Troy Wilkey, Rocky Mountain, 22.81a (0.3). 7, Conner Christy, Capital, 23.25a (0.3). 8, Josiah DeChambeau, Centennial, 23.30a (0.3).
400: 1, Liam Murray, Boise, 47.79a. 2, Nicholas Hendry, Borah, 49.37a. 3, Jackson Criner, Rocky Mountain, 50.10a. 4, Kaden Davis, Mountain View, 50.47a. 5, Charles Fales, Eagle, 50.99a. 6, Isaiah LaGrange, Centennial, 51.03a. 7, Conner Christy, Capital, 51.49a. 8, Crayton Reese, Eagle, 51.94a.
800: 1, Tyler Sainsbury, Rocky Mountain, 1:54.74a. 2, Bryson Blaser, Centennial, 1:56.76a. 3, Jesse Halladay, Mountain View, 1:57.41a. 4, Mark McIntyre, Boise, 1:59.91a. 5, Aidan Thayer, Rocky Mountain, 2:00.36a. 6, Brayden Bowen, Owyhee, 2:00.38a. 7, Kaden Helder, Boise, 2:00.44a. 8, Porter Carlson, Rocky Mountain, 2:00.87a. 9, Addison McOmber, Centennial, 2:01.12a.
1,600: 1, Sean Janecko, Timberline, 4:15.93a. 2, Trent Wigod, Rocky Mountain, 4:17.14a. 3, Clay Shumaker, Skyview, 4:18.14a. 4, Zac Pollock, Rocky Mountain, 4:19.59a. 5, Landon Heemeyer, Rocky Mountain, 4:20.83a. 6, Tyler Sainsbury, Rocky Mountain, 4:20.86a. 7, Jesse Halladay, Mountain View, 4:21.52a. 8, Noe Kemper, Boise, 4:21.62a. 9, Nate Stadtlander, Meridian, 4:22.61a.
3,200: 1, Trent Wigod, Rocky Mountain, 9:22.30a. 2, Clay Shumaker, Skyview, 9:25.78a. 3, Noe Kemper, Boise, 9:29.15a. 4, Carter Collett, Centennial, 9:29.64a. 5, Landon Heemeyer, Rocky Mountain, 9:31.03a. 6, Andrew Ringert, Eagle, 9:33.47a. 7, Zac Pollock, Rocky Mountain, 9:37.32a. 8, Tristan Wardle, Kuna, 9:40.04a. 9, Kaden Helder, Boise, 9:42.84a.
110 hurdles: 1, Caleb Woodland, Meridian, 14.52a (1.3). 2, Porter Coffield, Boise, 14.69a (1.3). 3, Crew Kelson, Rocky Mountain, 14.81a (1.3). 4, Luke Johansson, Capital, 15.15a (1.3). 5, Anderson Kron, Mountain View, 15.28a (1.3). 6, Caden Kelley, Rocky Mountain, 15.76a (1.3). 7, Jinho Kim, Timberline, 15.87a (1.3). 8, Logan McDougal, Timberline, 18.18a (1.3).
300 hurdles: 1, Caleb Woodland, Meridian, 38.71a. 2, Porter Coffield, Boise, 38.76a. 3, Crew Kelson, Rocky Mountain, 39.59a. 4, Anderson Kron, Mountain View, 39.61a. 5, Luke Johansson, Capital, 39.66a. 6, Ryker Kendall, Meridian, 41.05a. 7, Joseph Curtis, Boise, 42.08a. 8, Jinho Kim, Timberline, 42.55a.
4x100: 1, Rocky Mountain 42.45a. 2, Centennial 42.54a. 3, Mountain View 42.68a. 4, Eagle 42.77a. 5, Kuna 42.79a.
4x200: 1, Boise 1:26.89a. 2, Rocky Mountain 1:28.51a. 3, Centennial 1:28.97a. 4, Mountain View 1:29.29a. 5, Kuna 1:29.95a.
4x400: 1, Boise 3:19.97a. 2, Mountain View 3:23.09a. 3, Rocky Mountain 3:24.72a. 4, Centennial 3:25.14a. 5, Capital 3:25.90a.
4x800: 1, Rocky Mountain 7:58.47a. 2, Boise 8:00.37a. 3, Mountain View 8:00.57a. 4, Eagle 8:01.41a. 5, Timberline 8:01.75a.
Shot put: 1, Jackson Beck, Mountain View, 56-6.5. 2, Mason Ashby, Mountain View, 50-10.5. 3, Tyler Halford, Mountain View, 49-9. 4, Kenai Herrick, Eagle, 49-3.5. 5, Charles Judy, Skyview, 48-8. 6, Brandon Stewart, Eagle, 48-5. 7, Jed Rathbun, Eagle, 47-11. 8, Graham Johnson, Centennial, 47-6. 9, Kody Biggs, Kuna, 46-11.5.
Discus: 1, Jackson Beck, Mountain View, 161-10. 2, Brandon Stewart, Eagle, 161-8. 3, Mason Ashby, Mountain View, 158-11. 4, Collin Ferguson, Capital, 156-2. 5, Tyler Halford, Mountain View, 144-8.5. 6, Jonathan Wattles, Timberline, 140-3. 7, Kai Twaddle-Dunham, Centennial, 138-3. 8, Kody Biggs, Kuna, 137-10. 9, Joseph Miraya, Mountain View, 134-8.
High jump: 1, Christian Meter, Meridian, 6-2. 2, Diante-Cobb, Mountain View, 6-2. 3, Jevon Nelson, Borah, 6-0. 4, Alex Lowe, Timberline, 5-10. 4, Charles Fales, Eagle, 5-10. 6, Braden Wuthrich, Meridian, 5-10. 7, Maliki Dozier, Mountain View, 5-10. 8, AJ LaBeau, Timberline, 5-10. 9, Mekhi Dorrell, Capital, 5-8.
Pole vault: 1, Seth Nelson, Boise, 15-9. 2, Noah Peterson, Meridian, 14-9. 3, Cameron Hone, Centennial, 14-3. 4, Nathan Shearman, Rocky Mountain, 13-9. 4, Christian Meter, Meridian, 13-9. 6, Tucker Briggs, Boise, 13-9. 7, Kapp McCallister, Meridian, 13-3. 8, Grant Joslyn, Mountain View, 13-3. 9, Riley Brewer, Skyview, 12-9. 9, Austin Hammond, Borah, 12-9. 9, Dillon Houck, Eagle, 12-9.
Long jump: 1, Eli Lawrence, Meridian, 22-11.5. 2, Makeo Sneddon, Eagle, 21-7.25. 3, Henry Hill, Borah, 21-5. 4, Tyson Acree, Meridian, 21-4.5. 5, Nathaniel White, Mountain View, 20-11.5. 6, Haydin Weaver, Borah, 20-9.5. 7, Micah Teague, Kuna, 20-8. 8, Victor Byaundaombe, Capital, 20-8. 9, Barrett Davis, Eagle, 20-8.
Triple jump: 1, Eli Lawrence, Meridian, 48-4.25. 2, Ladu Aggrey, Capital, 43-7.25. 3, Victor Byaundaombe, Capital, 43-4. 4, Alex Lowe, Timberline, 42-10.5. 5, Barrett Davis, Eagle, 42-8.5. 6, Malik Sullivan, Rocky Mountain, 42-0.25. 7, Camden Hyde, Mountain View, 41-10.25. 8, Haydin Weaver, Borah, 40-10. 9, Benjamin Price, Rocky Mountain, 40-7.75.
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 10:45 PM.
