The 2019 Region III Cross Country Running Championships will crown individual and team champions, as well as, determine state qualifiers on Saturday when teams from the Kenai Peninsula, the Valley, and Anchorage compete on the Michael Janacek Trails at Palmer High School.
Race day will feature four, varsity races with Division I and Division II, girls and boys, heats scheduled. Racing begins at 11:30 a.m. at Palmer High School.
Photo courtesy of Debbie Mersch Delker facebook page
Division II Preview
Girls
The Kenai Kardinal girls, 2108 Region III Division II champions look to battle for the 2019 team title. The Kardinals will be lead by Jayna Boonstra and Logan Satathite. Homer’s Autumn Daigle, 2018 runner-up and 2019 Borough champion, will be the girls race favorite.
Division II Preview
Boys
Maison Dunham, 2019 Kenai Peninsula Borough champion and 3rd-place finisher at 2018 regional, and Joe Hamilton, 14th-place at 2018 regional, will pace the Kenai Kardinal boys; Kenai looking to qualify to the state meet for a second-consecutive year. Tristian Merchant of Anchorage Christian School, the reigning 2018 champion, is the Region III Division II boys favorite.
Division I Preview
Girls
The Soldotna girls look to ride their Kenai Peninsula Borough team championship into the Region III Division I race. SoHi finished as runner-up in 2018 for the team title and the Stars return Jordan Strausbaugh (third-place finish in the Division I girls final) and Erica Arthur (ninth in the Division I finals).
Division I Preview
Boys
Bradley Walters and Lance Chilton lead the SoHi boys in the Stars push for a Region III Division I team championship. The SoHi boys finished third overall in 2018 and qualified to the ASAA state cross country championships; Kodiak is still the team to beat in the Division I racing.
The 2019 Region III Cross Country Running Championships
Saturday, September 28th
Palmer High School
Racing begins at 11:30 a.m.
Previously published story from 9/22/2018
Kardinal Girls Race To Region III-Division II Title: Calvert Tops D-II Girls
The new team on the block is the new divisional champion!
The 2018 Region III Cross Country Running Championships, held on the Tsalteshi Trails on Saturday, crowned champions in girls and boys competition in both Division I and Division II. The Region III races also serve as state qualifiers to the ASAA State Cross Country Running Championships scheduled for nest Saturday.
Region III- Division II Girls
The Kenai Kardinal girls cross country running team raced to the team championship in Division II in Kenai’s first season in the new classification. The Kenai girls held-off Grace Christian School for the Division II team title; Kenai scoring 32 points to Grace Christian’s 39 points. The Homer Mariner girls had won four-straight Region III, DII (or 3A) team titles. The Kardinal girls previously won the Region III Division I team championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Kenai’s Jaycie Calvert topped the field in the D-II girls varsity event completing the course in 19 minutes and 22 seconds to defeat the defending Division II state champion Autumn Daigle from Homer.
Calvert was named Region III Girls Athlete of the Year and Maria Calvert, Kenai head coach, was named Division II coach of the year along with Grace Christian’s Tara Edwards.
The Kardinal girls placed all five scoring runners in the top 12 including: Calvert, first; Brooke Satathite, third; Logan Satathite, seventh; Summer Foster, ninth and Leah Fallon, 12th.
Region III- Division II Boys
The Kenai boys also competed in the Division II classification and finished fourth in the team scoring, good for a team qualification to the upcoming Division II state championships (top four teams advance to state).
Maison Dunham lead Kenai with a third place individual finish, completing the course in 16:41. Tristan Merchant of Anchorage Christian School won the individual boys event in 15:46. Kenai placed four runners in the top 25 including: Dunham, fourth; Hamilton, 14th; Mueller, 18th; Stockton, 21st and Roberts, 24th.
Grace Christian out-raced ACS for the Division II team championship. Grace, ACS, Homer and Kenai earn state berths.
Additional state qualifiers will be announced on Monday.
Region III- Division I Girls
The Soldotna girls raced to a runner-up finish in Division I lead by Jordan Strausbaugh’s third-place finish in the Division I girls final. SoHi placed six girls in the top-21 including: Strausbaugh, third; Erica Arthur, ninth; Tanis Lorring, tenth; Ruffner, 13th; Ellie Burns, 20th and Blackwell, 21st.
Palmer freshman Katey Houser won the Division I girls individual title in 18:47, defeating Allison Van Pelt of Wasilla. Three teams qualify to the Division I state championships and include Palmer, SoHi and Colony.
Region III- Division I Boys
The Soldotna boys cross country team qualifies to the state championships in Division I with a third place in the team standing. Kodiak earns the Region III DI team title followed by Colony.
Colony’s Lane Meier topped the field with a time of 16 minutes and 30 seconds over the 5-kilometer course; Paul Winegeart of Kodiak finished third.
SoHi’s Mekbeb Dembrock finished fourth overall in 16:57. Bradley Walters finished seventh and Lance Chilton, 11th in the boys race.
Region II Race Results
The Region II Cross Country Championships were also held on the Tsalteshi Trails on Saturday with four peninsula runners qualifying to the upcoming ASAA State Cross Country Championships.
Nikolaevsk runners Justin and Michael Trail, with a second and third place finish, and Eli Moonin from Port Graham (7th) qualify as individual runners for the boys state race by finishing in the top-10. Warrior’s Isabelle Hickman placed seventh in the girls event. Andrew Stringfellow of Nenana won the boys Region II race and Cordova’s Anika Witsoe won the girls race. Both were named Region II Athlete of the Year.
The ASAA 2018 State Cross Country Running Championships are scheduled for Saturday, September 22nd on the Bartlett High School Trails.
