SILVERDALE — Any doubts of North’s top dog standing within the ranks of Kitsap County track and field were erased May 5 at the Kitsap County Classic.

The Viking boys’ team was crowned champion out of the five county high schools, while the Lady Vikes’ determination earned them a second place finish.

The NK boys topped the standings with 171 points over second-place South Kitsap, which came in with 128, and third place Central Kitsap, which collected 113 team points.

On the ladies’ side, South ruled with 174 team points, while NK finished second with 108 and CK came in third with 103.

Collectively, North Kitsap acquired first-place finishes in 10 events across the board — including an impressive Viking men’s sweep of the three relays — with numerous second-fifth place performances providing support.

The NK support system mantra of “family” this season has had increasingly impressive results.

“Oh man!” NK pole-vaulter Garren Dukes replied when asked what the high point of this season has been. “I’ve PR’d almost every week so that’s just really rewarding, you know?”

At the Kitsap County Classic, Dukes had sealed up first place in the pole vault with a jump of 13-1, but with the support of his team beside the pit, he wanted more. However, chasing the 1975 school record of 13-6 which is currently held by Ray Parsons, Dukes hit the bar on all three attempts.

Still support came from the sideline.

“No pressure Garren, we’ve got a lot of season left,” Aaron Bilbao — who jumped to third in the Classic with a leap of 11-0 — encouraged his teammate.

The postseason lay ahead of the Vikings and began May 11 with Narrows League preliminaries at South Kitsap High School.

WHAT NKHS BOYS/GIRLS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE FINALS??? which is ongoing in Port Orchard today.

“Now you can’t just get by with talent, you have to have determination and good work ethic, which I think most of our team has,” Lady Viking jumper/thrower Jade Neimeyer noted of championship pressure. “Nobody really cares what happened in school or anywhere else, they are just here to work hard. It’s been really enjoyable.”

On the ladies’ track at the Classic, Bremerton’s Jacki Hill swept the 100M, 200M and 400M sprints, but in two of the three, North’s girls were right on her heals.

Jodie Mitchell finished second in the 200M dash in 27.82 while Jen Gregg came in second in the 400M in 1:03.21. On the long track, NK’s Kelly Cates championed the 1600M with a one-second advantage at 5:38.22.

On the short track for the boys, Dak Kongela topped the 100M dash with a time of 11.02 and Greg Ottele finished third in 11.32. While on the long track, Will Cameron picked up first place in both the 800M and 1,600M runs. Cody Bradwell also added a second-place finish in the 1,600M.

“We’ve been encouraging each other and pushing each through, it’s been a great team atmosphere,” Kongela said, noting an ecstatic feeling the boys team felt at April’s Bremerton Relays as one of the many high points of the season. “That was really cool because it was the whole team, the guys team was a strong team. It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just Will … it was everyone.”

Even so, as North heads into and through the post season, not everyone will move on. Regardless, the support that has been built will still serve as the foundation for all NK athletes who will possibly reach into the district and state tournaments upcoming.

First things first, the NL finals are today in Port Orchard.

“This season has been — by far — the best season in sports, in general, that I’ve ever had,” Neimeyer said. “It’s just been phenomenal.”