{"id":112554,"date":"2024-10-05T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-06T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/home\/petersburg-boys-and-girls-sweep-division-iii-state-xc-team-titles\/"},"modified":"2024-10-05T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T05:30:00","slug":"petersburg-boys-and-girls-sweep-division-iii-state-xc-team-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/petersburg-boys-and-girls-sweep-division-iii-state-xc-team-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"Petersburg boys and girls sweep Division III State XC team titles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t\t\t
The Petersburg High School cross-country running teams put a big Viking hurting on the competition with two team titles in the 2024 ASAA Division III State Championships Saturday on the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I am just so happy and proud for these boys and girls,” Petersburg coach Casey Gates said. “They’ve been working so hard for it all season long. They wanted it so bad to go out there and achieve their goals today is awesome. I don’t even know what to think right now. I’m speechless. I can’t believe they came out here and got it done like that. Incredible. It was a super hard day out there. The course was brutal and the kids had to battle all day.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The PHS boys scored 10 points to nip Glennallen with 13, Wrangell 28, Dillingham 42, Tanalian 45, Skagway 73, Unalaska 80, Cordova 81, Nenana 89 and Nunamiut 135.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Wrangell junior Boomchain Loucks (565) leads Craig sophomore Aulis Nelson (170) and Glennallen senior Andrew Severs (226) during the Division III boys 2024 ASAA cross-country running state championships Saturday on the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The Vikings boys placed their top three runners across in third as junior Gaje Ventress hit 17:58, fourth with junior Alex Holmgrain in 18:00 and seventh with senior Elias Ward at 18:15.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It’s pretty big,” Ventress said. “I didn’t get a season my sophomore year, I broke both my arms and I was pretty devastated. And the year before that I moved up here from Spokane so this is my first season for the Petersburg Vikings. I had a great time. We pushed each other and competed against Wrangell this entire race. It is so important to have a team behind you. I enjoy every presence of everybody on the team, boys and girls. It is fun being with them when we are not racing and when racing.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The Division III girls begin the 2024 ASAA cross-country running state championships Saturday on the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Craig sophomore Aulis Nelson ran in the middle of the racers through the first 150 meters and then blasted away with Wrangell defending junior state champion Boomchain Loucks, the three Vikings and a pair of Glennallen harriers. Loucks would not finish the race due to illness, two Vikings broke up Glennallen and Nelson would continue to edge ahead and bring the Panthers a state title in 17:22.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“This took a lot of hard work,” Nelson said. “I gave it my all in practices, but the real big thing was visualization. My coach told me to visualize, really think about this race and get in the right mindset and picture myself running it. I got to run the course a few times and I saw myself neck-and-neck with somebody, so I had that coming into the race. It really helped…I didn’t visualize myself doing this, I just saw myself running my best race no matter what place I came in.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“All the Southeast runners are so supportive and I’m friends with a lot of the runners across Southeast. We’re all very kind to each other, we support each other, compliment each other on our races. It is such a cool community to be a part of. I love Southeast and the runners I get to compete with. It is truly such a blessing. My mom always told me ‘God gave you this ability. See it as a blessing.’ And I do. I love competing. There is really nothing like running, especially against runners who are competing and are complimentary. It is really fun. I thank God for it.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Petersburg freshman Arielle Tucker (412) leads Susitna Valley junior Calla Fish (497) to the finish of the Division III girls 2024 ASAA cross-country running state championships Saturday on the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage. (Klas Stolpe \/ Juneau Empire)<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
The PHS girls scored 16 points to topple Nenana 23, Unalakleet 29, Hoonah 39, Glennallen 45, Dillingham 55, Kake 71, Wrangell 87, Tikigaq 100, Sand Point 100 and Unalaska 110.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“It was really fun,” Petersburg freshman Arielle Tucker said. “I heard a lot that the course was pretty hard, but I’m really glad that our team did really well. The hills were hard, just because you needed a lot of energy for them and you had to channel it on the downhills to use it to go up them.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The Vikings girls placed their top three runners across the finish with Tucker fourth in 21:46, sophomore Maria Toth eighth in 22:20 and freshman Cadence Flint ninth in 22:47.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t