Southeast\u2019s top high school runners will vie for bragging rights at the Alaska School Activities Association\u2019s cross country championships on Saturday at Bartlett High School in Anchorage. <\/p>\n
The Juneau-Douglas High School boys and girls qualified as the 4A team representatives with their Region V championships last weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur theme for this week is desire,\u201d JDHS co-coach Tristan Knutson-Lombardo said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about all the hard work and training our athletes have put in this season. The hay is in the barn and the hard workouts are over. Now they have to want it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 4A individuals that finished in the top 10 regardless of if their team won also will move on to state. <\/p>\n
Thunder Mountain High School senior Naomi Welling defended her 4A girl\u2019s region crown and will be Southeast\u2019s favorite for a state title.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur three girls have been to state at least twice,\u201d TMHS coach Scott May said. \u201cWith their experience they are going for course records, which will hopefully lead to competitive placing. Naomi could be in the top five this year if all come together for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
JDHS senior Alize Arthur topped the boy\u2019s regions, junior Ethan Goebel was close behind and freshman Arne Ellefson-Carnes placed third. The Crimson Bears\u2019 fourth- through seventh-place runners were solid and helped ensure their team\u2019s win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have four underclassmen on our girls team and this meet provides a great opportunity for them to get the lay of the statewide running land,\u201d JDHS coach Merry Ellefson said. \u201cIt is about building our future. They also have three seniors and state veterans to guide them as they prepare to race. Again, we see this with Arne and Clem on the guy\u2019s side. We want each of them \u2013 boys and girls \u2013 to know they are ready for whoever the course and day brings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Falcons will feature newcomers at the state level. <\/p>\n
\u201cOpposite from the girls, none of our three boys have been up to state,\u201d TMHS coach May said. \u201cUnderclassmen Justin (Sleppy) and Jonah (Penrose) hope to gain valuable experience for the future, whereas Obadiah (Dawson) will leave nothing out there. This is it for him. I know he is excited to see what he can do after a week of tapering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery athlete on Saturday\u2019s starting line will be nervous,\u201d Knutson-Lombardo said. \u201cSo our focus has been telling our runners to believe in themselves and their training. Our goal is for each runner to cross the finish feeling they gave it their all. While a team championship may not be in the cards, … we are looking for both teams to be finishing mid-pack. Ali (Arthur) has been leading our boy\u2019s team and a top 20 finish would be a very solid result. Ethan (Goebel) should be running tight with Ali, and Arne (Ellefson-Carnes) is one of the top freshmen in the state. Both Kat (Barrows) and Malia (Miller) will continue to push our girls team up front with top runs.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the 1A\/2A\/3A side, top finishers from each of the top three teams go to state as well as the top 15 individual finishers. The girl\u2019s teams were Petersburg, Mount Edgecumbe and Wrangell, and the boy\u2019s teams had Sitka, Craig and Mt. Edgecumbe advancing.<\/p>\n
The Sitka boys could be on track to dethrone Anchorages Grace Christian, the winner of the small school state title since 2006. The Wolves placed the top four finishers during last weekend\u2019s region championships.<\/p>\n
Southeast 4A girls qualifiers<\/strong><\/p>\n Welling (1st in regions, 19:37), TMHS sophomore Erin Wallace (2nd, 19:56), Ketchikan freshman Erika Rodanhisler (3rd, 19:58), JDHS freshman Malia Miller (4th, 21:47), JDHS senior Katline Barrows (5th, 21:49), KTN senior Sarah Cool (6th, 21:56), JDHS senior Maddy Handley (7th, 22:06.16), KTN freshman Elizabeth Knight (8th, 22:06.59), TMHS senior Dunya Hermann (9th, 22:10), JDHS\u2019 senior Toma Kimlinger (10th, 22:18), JDHS freshman Kyra Barrows (11th, 22:21), JDHS sophomore Gillian Smith (12th, 22:55) and JDHS freshman Nicole Mannix (15th, 24:01).<\/p>\n Southeast 4A boys qualifiers<\/strong><\/p>\n JDHS\u2019 Arthur (1st, 17:13), JDHS\u2019 Goebel (2nd, 17:26), KTN senior Sylvan Blankenship (3rd, 17:28), JDHS\u2019 Ellefson-Carnes (4th, 17:48), KTN senior Leif Svenson (5th, 18:01), KTN junior Trent Rodanhisler (6th, 18:09), TMHS junior Justin Sleppy (7th, 18:11), TMHS sophomore Jonah Penrose (8th, 18:15), TMHS senior Obadiah Dawson (9th, 18:16), KTN freshman Leif Stephens (10th, 18:23), JDHS sophomore Tim McKenna (11th, 18:29), JDHS\u2019 freshman Clem Taylor-Roth (12th, 18:34), JDHS junior John White (13th, 18:45) and JDHS senior Ryan Moritz (21st, 21:00).<\/p>\n Southeast small school boys qualifiers<\/strong><\/p>\n SHS SO. Colin Baciocco (1st, 17:01), SHS JR. David Wilcox (2nd, 17:05), SHS FR. Joseph Pate (3 rd, 17:23), SHS JR. Jordan Zellhuber (17:43), Wrangell SR. Matthew Gerald (5th, 17:57), Craig SO. Andrew Marker (6th, 18:00), SHS Triston Rosas (7th, 18:04), Skagway freshman Danny Brady (8th, 18:14), PSG senior Tucker Hagerman (9th, 18:22), SHS senior Neil Little (10th, 18:31), Hoonah JR. Emmanuel Budke (11th, 18:39), PSG JR. Nathaniel Lenhard (12th, 18:47), MTE JR. Kendrick Hoblet (13th, 19:10), SHS SO. Connor Buxton, (14th, 19:10), CHS SR. Wyatt Patten (15th, 19:12), MTE SR. Kobe Rutherford (19th, 19:25), MTE SO. Aaron Rose (20th, 19:30), MTE SR. James Simeonoff (22nd, 19:41), CHS SR. Morgan House (26th, 20:12), CHS SR. Seth Packer (27th, 20:12), CHS FR. Gabriel Almenzor (30th, 20:24), CHS JR. Timber Burnham (31st, 20:29), MTE SR. Joseph Kewan (32nd, 20:31), MTE SO. Karl Ivanoff (36th, 20:47), MTE FR. Brayden Bahnke (38th, 21:07) and CHS JR. Isaiah Records (41st, 21:20).<\/p>\n Southeast small school girls qualifiers<\/strong><\/p>\n WHS SO. Reyn Hutten (1st, 21:13), PSG SO. Kayleigh Eddy (2nd, 22:00), PSG FR. Avery Skeek (3rd, 22:08), PSG SR. Hannah Pfundt (4th, 22:40), Hoonah SR. Jordan McLuckie (5th, 22:52), PSG SO. Erin Pfundt (6th, 22:56), CHS JR. Aspen Hansen (7th, 22:57), MTE SO. Laura Ekada (8th, 22:59), Hydaburg SR. Lillian Borromeo (9th, 23:13), PSG SO. Julia Murph (10th, 23:18), Skagway SO. Alexandra Weber (11th, 23:20), SHS SO. Ayla McNeilley (12th, 23:25), Skagway JR. Hailey Jensen (13th, 23:26), MTE SR. Jasmine Jemewouk (14th, 23:28), MTE JR. Bianca Willis (15th, 23:33), MTE SR. Victoria Thomas, Victoria (18th, 23:52), MTE FR. Rebecca Hollander (20th, 24:41), WHS JR. Kaylauna Churchill (24th, 25:12), MTE SR. Madison Clark (25th, 25:16), MTE JR. Julie Amaktoolik (29th, 25:54), PSG SO. Madisyn Parker (31st, 26:21), WHS FR. Helen Decker (35th, 26:39), PSG JR. Alexandra Bless (37th, 26:55), WHS FR. Abigail Gerald (40th, 27:59) and WHS SO. Kiara Meissner (50th, 30:38).<\/p>\n Top 4A girls statewide<\/strong><\/p>\n Region III – Kenai\u2019s Riana Boonstra 19:04, Jaycie Calvert 19:27, Ithaca Bergholtz 19:32 and Addison Gibson 20:14; Colony\u2019s Jill Bowker 19:46; Kodiak\u2019s Zoe Bigley 20:18; Soldotna\u2019 Daisy Nelson 20:22. Region IV \u2013 South\u2019s Morgan Lash 18:52; Bartlett\u2019s Carolynn Pype 19:45; Chugiak\u2019s Emma Nelson 19:36 and KayLee Manwaring 19:51; West\u2019s Molly Gellert 19:02 and Lauren Corkran 19:48; Service\u2019s Sarah Souders 20:13; Eagle Rivers Paige McManus 19:43; and Dimond\u2019s Kylie Judd 20:18. Region VI \u2013 West Valley\u2019s Jenna Difolco 20:39.<\/p>\n Top 4A boys statewide<\/strong><\/p>\n Region III \u2013 Kodiak\u2019s Michael Parnell 16:22 and Keith Osowski 16:23; Wasilla\u2019s Quincy Fuller 16:37; Colony\u2019s Tracen Knopp 16:42; and Soldotna\u2019s Aaron Swedberg 17:02. Region IV \u2013 West\u2019s Finn Walker 15:43; South\u2019s Derek Steele 15:56; Chugiak\u2019s Ty Jordan 15:39; and Services\u2019 Gus Schumacher 15:41. Region VI \u2013 West Valley\u2019s Ti Donaldson 17:16.<\/p>\n \u2022 Contact Sports editor Klas Stolpe at 523-2228 or at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Southeast\u2019s top high school runners will vie for bragging rights at the Alaska School Activities Association\u2019s cross country championships on Saturday at Bartlett High School in Anchorage. The Juneau-Douglas High School boys and girls qualified as the 4A team representatives with their Region V championships last weekend. \u201cOur theme for this week is desire,\u201d JDHS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":20568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20567"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}