Sophomore Won 200 Meters, Second In 60 In Pair Of Photo Finishes At Simplot Games

By Marlowe Hereford for DyeStat

Photo by Donal Pearce

While Christine Huckins' track career is still in its early stages in Idaho, she has competed in the sport for almost a decade.

The sophomore's earliest memories of track go back to competing in invitational meets at age 7  in Washington, where she entered events she still competes in today.

"I'd get in the 60-meter dash or 100-meter dash," Huckins said. 

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She moved from Vancouver, Wash., to Idaho's Treasure Valley three years ago, ultimately placing second in the 100 (12.67) and 200 (25.61) at the USATF Regional 11 Youth Championships in summer 2021 in Orem, Utah, as a seventh grader. As a freshman at Skyview High in Nampa last spring, she won four medals at Idaho's 4A track state championships: third in the 4A girls 100 in 12.33, fourth in the 4A girls 200 in 25.72, first in the girls 4x100 in 48.18 and fourth in the sprint medley relay in 1:52.55.

During summer 2023, she joined Orchard Athletix, winning the Regional 11 Junior Olympic Qualifier 100 meters in her age division in 12.38 and placing second in the 200 in 25.32, going on to compete at the National Junior Olympic Championships at Hayward Field. 

Seven months later, Huckins had a Simplot Games debut she won't soon forget.

Competing for Orchard Athletix, which is in its second year, Huckins earned gold and silver on Saturday in Pocatello's ICCU Dome (formerly Holt Arena) in two incredibly close finals.

Early in the day, she placed second in the girls 60 dash finals in 7.59 while Mikaela Warr of Canyon County, Calif., won in 7.58. She hit the tape in the girls 200 finals at what appeared to be the same time as California sophomore Olivia Kirk, but a review determined Huckins to be the winner, 24.3802 to Kirk's 24.3859.

"Coming into Simplot, I was running a 24.7," Huckins said. "I knew I wanted to get a personal best. I didn't know if I was gonna win because there were some girls who were running better. I think it was a really big accomplishment for me." 

Huckins said she would have been happy either way, but the 200 win and her time provided affirmation of her training and a confidence boost as she turns her focus to outdoor season.

Idaho's first day of practice for the high school outdoor season is Friday.

"Now that it's set in and I can look back at it, I knew I gave it my all," Huckins said. "To show everyone the training I got in.... I was really blessed I was able to put out those times."

Huckins gave much credit to Orchard Athletix and the club program's owner and coach, Treigh Orchard, for the progess she has made since joining last summer. Like Huckins, Orchard is still new to Idaho, having moved to the Gem State from California in 2022. 

A sprinter herself, Orchard got her start in coaching in 2015 as an assistant cross country and sprints coach at El Camino Rel Charter High in Camarillo, Calif., while she trained as a professional track athlete with the Hurdle Mechanic crew at Cal State Northridge.

Orchard then coached for two years at College Park High in Pleasant Hill, Calif., helping athletes break school records in the boys 400 and girls 100 hurdles. In 2019, when she worked for eight months with an asthmatic 400 runner who wanted to join UC Berkeley's track team. She wrote his workouts, stayed in touch by text and met up with him three to four times in person. His 400 time dropped from 52 seconds to 48.1 seconds, and he made it onto the Golden Bears' roster.

An ambition to coach her own program and a correspondence with 2000 Olympic women's pole vault champion and Idaho State alumnus Stacy Dragila brought Orchard to the Treasure Valley. Dragila called Orchard to ask if she had interest in working at her pole vault facility, The Dragila Sports Complex in Garden City, Idaho, to train her athletes and perhaps create something uniquely her own in Idaho.

"It took me two years to get ready mentally for that kind of move when my business was in California, but I believed in my capabilities and also believed with Stacy as my mentor, things would go well here," Orchard said. "I got super lucky. I just needed a small group of athletes in Idaho to trust this out of state person with their track career and I knew the rest would be history."

Orchard took Dragila up on her offer and moved to Idaho in June 2022. Not knowing anyone in Idaho at first other than Dragila, Orchard turned to social media to begin building her club program. She looked up local athletes on athletic.net who she thought had potential, found them on Instagram, asked if they were interested in taking their times to another level and if so, to have their parents reach out to her.

She began with five athletes in the first year of Orchard Athletix and now has 24 in her second year, including Huckins. She purchased uniforms from Etsy and created practice schedules based on weather: inside Dragila's facility for lifting days in severe weather, and at parks for hill sprints and recovery grass runs and some workouts at Capital High School, where Orchard is an assistant sprints coach.

Instagram also ultimately put Huckins in touch with Orchard. Huckins made a post last summer asking for recommendations on club teams. She soon heard from Orchard, who was not the only club coach to reach out to her, but Huckins was impressed with how personal the message was.

"She said, 'I've seen you. I've been to some of your meets,'" Huckins said. "That meant a lot to me." 

Huckins said Orchard was a good fit for her right away. Shortly after working with her, she began seeing results, including a 100-meter time that was initially hand timed at 11.5 before being converted to 11.8.

"Right off the bat, my times dropped instantly," Huckins said. "She focuses on the smallest things. She not only gets to know you as an athlete. She gets to know you as a person."

Orchard described Huckins as 'a star in my book,' and gave much credit to Huckins' dad, Elijah, for supporting his daughter's goals. 

"As a sophomore, she possesses all the characteristics of a champion and she's only getting started," Orchard said. "She stays true to herself, to her faith, to her family and to her team. As a person, she is funny, lovable, smart, goofy, driven and disciplined. As a student-athlete, she is coachable, dedicated to her education and training, tough and a leader."

Huckins has also found a good fit with the other Orchard Athletix athletes. She and Orchard both described the program's environment as supportive and encouraging.

"First joining the team, the athletes were so welcoming to me," Huckins said. "Nobody's coming from the same school except one or two people. I've gotten to build relationships with each of them. Nobody ever puts each other down. There's no drama."

That's the culture Orchard set out to create.

"There is pure joy in what they do," Orchard added. "No attitude, no ego, no disrepect. When you as a coach begin to build confidence in these young athletes, the sky is the limit." 

Huckins was equally joyous for her club teammates who reached Saturday's finals, including  Mountain View sophomore Quincy Keller (fourth in the girls 60 in 7.69) and Meridian junior Hannah Bingham (fourth in the girls 400 in 57.80).

"Simplot was the goal for us," Huckins said. "It made so happy and proud for them to see so many of them push through and accomplish their goals."

Orchard predicted a Simplot Games win hours before the finals began, writing that her favorite moment of her stay in Pocatello was 'winning the Simplot Games' in all caps in the checkout book of her Airbnb early Saturday morning.

"I knew someone had to win it," Orchard said. "I really felt like all my six finalists would make podium. I'm super proud of them all."  

That prediction became reality with Huckins, who has gained a deeper appreciation for the 200 since her Simplot win. 

"The 200, I see a lot of room for improvement," Huckins said. "There's so much you can improve on in that race. It's just an amazing event. I'm starting to love it more. I would like to break 24 for the 200. For the 100, (my goal) would be an 11.5 or 11.6."

Those times would make her the fastest all-time on record in Idaho for those events.

The fastest Idaho girl on record for the outdoor 200 is Century senior and three-time defending 4A girls 200 champion, Matejah Mangum (personal best 24.59), who was fourth in Saturday's Simplot Games girls 200 finals in 25.23, tied for sixth in girls high jump (5-2) and tied for sixth in the girls 60 (7.73).

Furthermore, only two girls have ever broken 11.9 for the 100 in Idaho, and it happened last season: Rigby's Abby Hancock (11.86 at the 5A District 5-6 championships and a wind aided 11.82 at the 5A state meet) and Skyline's Claire Petersen (11.83 at the 4A District 6 championships and a wind aided 11.81 at the 4A state meet). Hancock, a two-time Idaho 5A girls 100 and 200 state champion, is now at Weber State, and Petersen, a three-time Idaho 4A girls 100 state champion, three-time Idaho 4A girls 300 hurdles state champion and two-time Idaho 4A girls 100 hurdles state champion, is now at Utah State.

"I was in that (4A state 100 final) with Claire," Huckins said. "It was cool to see."

Orchard said she is looking forward to what is ahead for Huckins, adding that 'her plan is my plan' and she anticipates a 23-second 200-meter time and 11.6 100 from her in the future.

"She's so young and I just want her to focus on her grades and enjoy the process as much as possible," Orchard said. "These years go by fast. Winning is fun and exciting, but that shouldn't be the focus. Personal development on and off the track is so much more valuable."

Huckins said while winning is fun, the community is what she enjoys most about track. 

"A lot of people would say the victory of track (is their favorite thing), but I'd say it's the community and the people around me," Huckins said. "Girls I've never met hugging everyone at the finish line, making new friends in the track community."