Students from Juneau’s high schools made a strong showing at the state cross country championship, with two boys and one girl placing in the top 15 for their divisional categories.<\/p>\n
Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé High School seniors Tim Degener and Finn Morely placed fourth and 14th respectively in their Division 1 category, and Thunder Mountain High School junior Kiah Dihle placed eighth in her race.<\/p>\n
“The mitigation measures worked well (wave starts) and it was great to be back at Kincaid on a course which we’ve trained well for in Juneau- rolling, ups and downs, corners, a flat soccer field at one point,” said JDHS co-coaches Merry Ellefson and Tristan Knutson-Lombardo in an email. “(It’s) tricky to run one lap, as we are used to loops, but the weather goddess provided a perfect day to race.”<\/p>\n
The meet was the first in-person meet of the season, and numerous measures were enacted to mitigate possible coronavirus spread, said TMHS coach Sandi Pahlke in an email.<\/p>\n
Hockey tournament attendees advised to isolate<\/ins><\/p>\n “(The Alaska School Activities Association) did a good job with the mitigation. The kids ran in groups of eight and started every minute,” Pahlke said. “It was different because both boys and girls were on the course at the same time which was hard from a coaching\/spectator perspective if you were watching more than one athlete.”<\/p>\n Runners met the end of the season on their own terms, said Ellefson and Knutson-Lombardo.<\/p>\n “There’s adrenaline, expectations. Some people show up and have the race of their season, others show up and feel like they let their team down. So, yes, there are highs and lows at any meet- that’s the journey of our sport,” said Ellefson and Knutson-Lombarto. ”And it was great to have two teams there to process the day and unwind together. Most of our athletes are already thinking about what they’d do differently or what strategies they felt good about. The reflection gives us an opportunity to support and guide them as coaches.”<\/p>\n JDHS’ girls put up a strong showing with its many underclass runners, which bodes well, said the JDHS coaches.<\/p>\n “It was great to see the “pack” or close running, on our girls squad, a testament to their pace-group training and depth,” said Ellefson and Knutson-Lombardo. “The girls finished with Skylar leading in 19:46 and McKenna in fifth — running 20:23 and a personal record. They were spread out by less than 35 seconds, which speaks to a fast team future.”<\/p>\n TMHS also showed strongly despite its relatively small contingent of runners, and Dihle, who cracked the top 10, is only a junior.<\/p>\n