The ASAA 2019 State Cross Country Running Championships are set for Saturday, October 4th on the trails at Bartlett High School with competition in both Division I and Division II, girls and boys featuring the top runners in Alaska.
The Kenai girls and boys and the Soldotna boys and girls have all qualified to the state championships based on finishes at the Region III running championships.
Division II: Kenai Kardinals
The Kenai girls are the defending Division II state champions from 2018 (the Kardinals were lead by an individual championship by senior Jaycie Calvert.) The Kardinal girls enter Saturday as the runner-up from Region III and will be lead by Jayna Boonstra, Logan Satathite and Leah Fallon, all top-7 finishers at the region meet. The Kardinal boys with Maison Dunham and Joe Hamilton look to improve on their 5th-place finish from 2018.
Division I: Soldotna Stars
The SoHi girls return a full squad of runners with state experience from 2018. Region III DI champion Erica Arthur, Jordan Strausbaugh, Ellie Burns, Cameron Blackwell and Jordan Ruffner all raced in 2018 with the Stars finishing 8th in the team scoring. The Soldotna boys placed 7th in 2018 and return Bradley Walters, Lance Chilton, Anchor Musgrave and Maleda Denbrock with state meet experience. The Stars finished third at the Region III championships last weekend.
Other Peninsula athletes to watch:
Autumn Daigle, senior at Homer High, topped the field at the Region III D-II race last Saturday and enters the state meet as the prohibitive favorite. Daigle won the state championship in Division II in 2017 and finished as runner-up in 2018.
ASAA/First National Bank Cross Country Running State Championships
Saturday October 5, 2019 on the Bartlett High School Trails
Race Times
10:00 a.m. Division III Boys
10:45 a.m. Division III Girls
Awards for D III at Football Field/Gym
12:00 p.m. Division II Boys
12:45 p.m. Division I Boys
1:30 p.m. Division II Girls
2:15 p.m. Division I Girls
Awards for D II and D I at Football Field/Gym
Photo: asaa.org