Cross country runners from throughout the state competed in a pair of invitational cross country running events to open September’s running schedule.
Palmer Inviational
Allie Ostrander and Jonah Theisen, both from Kenai Central High School, recorded victories in the 4A division at the Palmer Invitational on Saturday, September 6th on the Palmer trails.
Palmer Inviational: Girls Varsity Results
Ostrander dominated the field posting a 5-K time of 16:40, over two minutes in front of the field and second -place finisher Olivia Hutchings from Soldotna High. The SoHi girls finished second in the team scoring behind West Anchorage, with Dani McCormick and Daisy Nelson finishing in the top 15 at 12th and 14th.
Ostrander’s time of 16:40 is the fastest recorded 5-kilometer race time in the nation in 2014 for high school girls. Her time stands 46 seconds faster than the second-fastest girl’s time in the nation set by Sarah Kettel of Michigan.
Palmer Inviational: Boys Varsity Results
KCHS’s Jonah Theisen held-off Chugiak’s Ty Jordan and Kenai’s Jordan Theisen for the boys individual title at the Palmer Invitational. The Kenai boys finished fifth in the team scoring; Wasilla raced to the team title.
ACS XC Class Challenge
The ACS Class Challenge featured races divided by year-in-school with a freshman-sophomore and a junior-senior race in both girls and boys divisions.
Girls Freshman-Sophomore
Reigning 1-2-3A state champion Briahna Gerlach posted the fastest girls time of the day, winning the freshman-sophomore race with a time of 11:35. SoHi’s Elana Bramante(13), Molly Erickson(14) and Jazi Larrow(15) finished in the top 15.
Boys Freshman-Sophomore
Hunter Kratz from Seward posted the fastest time of 10:19.
Girls Junior-Senior
Grace’s Cheyenne Applegate posted a 12:20 for the fastest age-group time. SoHi’s Daisy Nelson finished third at 12:53 and Emily Warner finished 8th.
Boys Junior-Senior
Galena’s Kaleb Kortz turned in the fastest time of the day with a 10:09.
Palmer Invitational Results 5 kilometer
Boys 4A Team Scores: 1. Wasilla, 74; 2. South, 79; 3. West Valley, 84; 4. West, 116; 5. Kenai, 136; 6. Colony, 174; 7. Lathrop, 178; 8. Palmer, 194; 9. Dimond, 201; 10. Chugiak, 253; 11. Soldotna, 290; 12. East, 317; 13. Bartlett, 320; 14. Eagle River, 375; 15. North Pole, 420.
Boys 4A Individual Results
1. Jonah Theisen, Kenai Central 16:01; 2. Ty Jordan, Chugiak 16:07; 3. Jordan Theisen, Kenai Central 16:14; 4. Max Donaldson, West Valley 16:19; 5. Spencer Mitton, South Anchorage 16:48; 6. Hamish Wolfe, South Anchorage 16:48; 7. Travis Cooper, Kenai Central 16:48; 8. Quincy Fuller, Wasilla 16:50; 9. Tristan Sayre, West Valley 16:51; 10. Colton Pulver, Wasilla 16:54.
Other Peninsula finishers: 39. Daniel Shuler, Soldotna 17:47; 54. Aaron Swedberg, Soldotna 18:15; 61. Ian Ashley, Kenai Central 18:27; 63. Brenner Musgrave, Soldotna 18:31; 66. Karl Danielson, Kenai Central 18:39; 67. James Butler, Kenai Central 18:40; 69. Levi Michael, Soldotna 18:45; 70. Josh Shuler, Soldotna 18:46; 74. Shane Larrow, Soldotna 18:58; 76. Tristan Landry, Kenai Central 19:03; 77. Koby Vinson, Soldotna 19:06.
Girls 4A Team Scores: 1. West, 68; 2. Soldotna, 77; 3. Colony, 106; 4. Kenai, 124; 5. West Valley, 132; 6. South, 146; 7. Chugiak, 158; 8. East, 160; 9. Eagle River, 185; 10. Palmer, 237; 11. Wasilla, 241; 12. Dimond, 336.
Girls 4A Individual Results
1. Allie Ostrander, Kenai Central 16:40; 2. Olivia Hutchings, Soldotna 18:52; 3. Jill Bowker, Colony 18:58; 4. Alex Mathis, Colony 19:03; 5. Morgan Lash, South Anchorage 19:10; 6. Molly Gellert, West Anchorage 19:15; 7. Megan Fink, East Anchorage 19:35; 8. Jenna Difolco, West Valley 19:40; 9. Riley Burroughs, Wasilla 19:41; 10. Kayle Blackmore, West Anchorage 19:49.
Other Peninsula finishers: 12. Dani McCormick, Soldotna 19:54; 14. Daisy Nelson, Soldotna 19:58; 21. Riana Boonstra, Kenai Central 20:12; 23. Sadie Fox, Soldotna 20:19; 26. Molly Erickson, Soldotna 20:30; 29. Addison Gibson, Kenai Central 20:37; 33. Ithaca Ann Bergholtz, Kenai Central 20:52; 45. Alex Bergholtz, Kenai Central 21:22; 47. Emily Werner, Soldotna 21:33; 62. Kellie Arthur, Soldotna 22:15; 69. Katie Cooper, Kenai Central 22:30; 83. Mackenzie Lindeman, Kenai Central 23:29.
ACS XC Class Challenge 3 kilometer
Girls Freshman-Sophomore: 1. Briahna Gerlach, Glennallen, 11 minutes, 35 seconds; 2. Brook Wedin, Seward, 12:12; 3. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 12:12; 4. Alaina Wolgemuth, Bar, 12:30; 5. Tessa O’Hara, ACS, 12:34.
Other Peninsula finishers: 10. Ashley Guernsey, Sew, 13:26; 11. EmmaLee Moore, Sew, 13:29; 13. Elena Bramante, Sol, 13:37; 14. Molly Erickson, Sol, 13:38; 15. Jazi Larrow, Sol, 13:47; 16. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 13:47; 17. Jalee Martushev, Hom, 13:54; 18. Alex Mosley, Hom, 13:54; 19. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 13:58; 20. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 13:58; 21. Megan Pitzman, Hom, 13:59; 22. Haley Knott, Hom, 14:01; 24. Rachel Seneff, Hom, 14:07; 29. Kinzie Hauze, Sew, 14:28; 30. Audrey Russell, Hom, 14:32; 31. Ashlyn Johnson, Sol, 14:36; 41. Elizabeth Lisenby, Sol, 15:31; 45. Kami Martin, Sol, 16:25; 46. Fiona Boze, Sol, 16:29; 56. Maddy Katsma, Sew, 21:24.
Girls Junior-Senior: 1. Cheyenne Applegate, Gra, 12:20; 2. Sara Hamberger, Cor, 12:49; 3. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 12:53; 4. Katrina Wood, Gra, 13:08; 5. Christine Buffas, Nome, 13:18.
Other Peninsula finishers: 6. Josephine Braun, Sew, 13:30; 8. Emily Werner, Sol, 13:43; 9. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 13:44; 10. Molly Mitchell, Hom, 13:44; 11. Ziza Shemet Pitcher, Hom, 13:45; 13. Alice Pfeiffenberger, Sew, 13:59; 15. Iris Anderson, Sew, 14:07; 21. Olivia Hutchings, Sol, 14:48; 22. Dani McCormick, Sol, 14:48; 26. Megan Hickman, Nikolaevsk, 15:17; 29. Laura Kromrey, Sew, 15:33; 31. Brianna Bennett, Sol, 15:45; 32. Emily Brockman, Sew, 15:59; 33. Mieka Chythlook, Sol, 16:03; 48. Robin McKnight, Sew, 17:22; 52. Malia Acovak, Sew, 18:04.
Boys Freshman-Sophomore: 1. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 10:19; 2. Zach Hamberger, Cor, 10:38; 3. Trent Fritzel, Gra, 10:39; 4. Jacb Moos, Galena, 10:44; 5. Wilson Hoogendorn, Nome, 10:47.
Other Peninsula finishers: 9. Sean Verg-in, Sol, 11:29; 14. Case Estes, Sew, 11:45; 21. Zen Petrosius, Sew, 11:59; 31. Josh Shuler, Sol, 12:34; 35. Koby Vinson, Sol, 12:39; 39. Jaime Rios, Hom, 12:48; 40. Jacob Davis, Hom, 12:49; 41. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 12:49; 42. Elan Carroll, Hom, 12:50; 43. Jordan Beachy, Hom, 12:50; 44. John Sarmiento, Hom, 12:51; 45. Jared Brant, Hom, 12:51; 48. Shane Larrow, Sol, 12:59; 49. Addison Downing, Sol, 12:59; 52. Nick Gilliam, Hom, 13:06; 54. Jay Mason Davis, Hom, 13:07; 57. Jode Sparks, Sol, 13:10; 58. Egor Sturdy, Sew, 13:13; 60. Talon Musgrave, Sol, 13:20; 61. Maguire Merriman, Sol, 13:23; 62. Simon Estes, Sew, 13:25; 65. Brooks Berry, Sew, 13:30; 66. Hoxie Park, Hom, 13:31; 68. Tyler Zacher, Sew, 13:39; 69. Brian Dusek, Sol, 13:40; 70. Cole Norcross, Sew, 13:41; 72. Aaron Taliesin, Hom, 13:48; 73. Sully Hauze, Sew, 13:52; 75. Eli Davis, Sew, 13:55; 79. Austin Hinton, Sew, 14:12; 84. Jake Marquardt, Hom, 14:45; 85. Jackson Blackwell, Sol, 15:01; 92. Peter Hilbish, Sol, 15:20; 93. Jared Sears, Sew, 15:29; 97. Ben Wilson, Sol, 16:02; 98. Cameron Bunch, Sew, 16:05;
Boys Junior-Senior: 1. Kaleb Kortz, Galena, 10:09; 2. Michael Todd, ACS, 10:17; 3. Zach Young, Gra, 10:19; 4. Michael Marshall, Sew, 10:21; 5. Andrew Spencer, Hou, 10:21.
Other Peninsula finishers: 11. Brenner Musgrave, Sol, 11:11; 13. Thomas Zweifel, Sew, 11:22; 21. Greg Trail, Niko, 11:46; 22. Dylan Gillespie, Sew, 11:48; 23. Brandon Moore, Sew, 11:48; 24. Paxson Berry, Sew, 11:50; 25. Sterling Stasak, Sol, 11:51; 27. Seth Brewi, Sew, 11:58; 37. Aaron Swedberg, Sol, 12:23; 42. Seth Hutchison, Sol, 12:27; 43. Alex Estes, Sew, 12:27; 47. Jonah Fefelov, Niko, 12:36; 48. Brandon Beachy, Hom, 12:37; 62. Jesse Boze, Sol, 13:41; 67. Tommy Flores, Sol, 14:14; 68. Drew Kant, Sol, 14:38; 84. Griffin Plush, 18:08; 85. Michael Lewis, Sol, 18:26; 86. Justin Schutter, Sew, 18:33.