With the Region V Cross Country Championships days away, coaches are relying on a season of hard work, teamwork, school work and, well, just plain work ethic to be successful and earn a berth to the state meet on Oct. 5 at the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage.
The Ketchikan Kings host the Division 1/2/3 Region V meet Saturday, and the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears are primed to make it their day on the road, rain or shine, against their only Southeast foe at the DI level.
“A successful regional team has depth, and these two teams have really incredible depth,” JDHS co-coach Abby Jahn said. “We are fortunate to have strong teams throughout our entire roster. We’ve been easing into taper weeks with less volume and intensity. We are focusing on fun team-building moments and cherishing these last couple of weeks as a team. With the depths of our squads, both teams have a good chance of qualifying for state. We are encouraging them to run strong together and close the gap between each other. We want them to lean on each other out there — they’ve been working hard all season and are strongest when they race as a unit.”
The JDHS region meet girls team are senior Ida Meyer, juniors Siena Farr, Della Mearig and Lua Mangaccat, sophomore Kaia Mangaccat, and freshmen Nevah Lupro and Sunna Schane. Senior Talia Apuruzak-Schlosser is an alternate.
Meyer has posted the fourth-fastest time in the state this season at 19:04, only behind Sitka senior Clare Mullin (18:35), Colony senior Ella Hopkins (18:40) and Wasilla sophomore Hailee Giacobbe (18:50). K. Mangaccat has the fourth-fastest Southeast time at 21:10, Lupro the fifth, 21:21; Mearig the sixth, 21:24; Farr the ninth, 21:41; Schane 13th, 22:38; and L. Mangaccat 22nd, 23:21.
The JDHS boys are on a 33-year win streak at the Region V championships, and the girls have won nine in a row and 30 of the past 32.
“What helps our team a lot going into championship season is the decades-long effort of development,” JDHS co-coach Zack Bursell said. “We’re so fortunate to stand on the shoulders of so many dedicated coaches and athletes from the history of our town and our program. This year with the school consolidation it speaks to the investment of the whole running community of Juneau into the sport. It all builds upon itself, and I’m optimistic about the way things are coming along. We don’t take anything for granted. The state meet is our ultimate goal, but to get there we have to execute against Ketchikan on their home turf. They’re hungry for an upset and we have to stay focused on getting the job done.”
The JDHS boys are seniors Nick Iverson, Owen Woodruff, Sage Janes and Ferguson Wheeler, junior Elias Schane, and sophomores Erik Thompson and Logan Fellman. Senior Finley Hightower is an alternate.
Thompson has posted the third-fastest time for a Southeast male this season with a 16:49 (14th fastest in the state) against heavy competition at the state preview race in Anchorage. Iverson and Woodruff have the seventh- and eighth-fastest Southeast times in 17:39 and 17:58, respectively; Fellman the 11th at 18:03; Wheeler the 14th at 18:06; Janes the 16th at 18:11; and Schane 25th with 18:34.
“For the size of our region the competition is absolutely top-notch,” JDHS co-coach Jon Stearns said. “Every school that we race against has amazing runners and equally amazing coaches. Our focus for regions is going into the race focused, strong, healthy and confident with the ultimate goal of winning both the girls and boys race, and sending 14 amazing athletes up to Anchorage for state.”
Thompson, Woodruff, Janes and Mearig ran for Thunder Mountain High School last season.
“We have a large and awesome team,” Jahn said. “We are working on merging our traditions and creating new ones. The bigger team also improves our depth on our roster — they are all pushing each other to be better out there and have even more people they can train with and work together with in races.”
JDHS co-coach Kristen Wells said Ketchikan has been building an impressive team.
“We are looking forward to the competition,” she said. “Our varsity teams have not yet met up this season. The seven boys and girls representing our Crimson Bears team have 78 teammates cheering them on and sending the very best for a great race. We have a strong community that has gelled quickly with the consolidation.”
With the combining of JDHS and the now-defunct TMHS, this season Ketchikan, which has always had the smaller number of total runners turning out, is even more determined to spoil a Juneau title.
“To be successful as a team in a region championship you have to find runners who enjoy hard work and sustain an all-around commitment to the team and process,” Ketchikan coach Sean Vail said. “We have been telling our runners that this is their race, on their home course. We set them up with practices with intentional focus on our course. We know the ups and downs and the path of least resistance. They have been stacking weeks upon weeks, building strength and speed — waiting to go all out in front of our home crowd.”
The Kings’ girls are senior Kinsey Garlick, juniors Aliyah Glover and Lauren Tucker, and sophomores Ryah Elerding, Sarah Kleeman, Madelyn Gass and Lillian Fernandez.
Elerding has the eighth fastest Southeast time with 21:38; Garlick 15th, 22:52; and Glover 17th in 22:55.
The Kings’ boys are juniors Carter Phillips and Jack Styles, sophomores Henry Vail, Noah Robbins and Gavin Alderson-Bell and freshmen Ezra Roskam and Maxton Glover.
Phillips has the fifth-fastest boys time in Southeast with 17:18, Vail the ninth at 17:50 and Robbins 13th in 18:06.
“We are actually struggling to find large numbers that even come close to our only division rival,” Vail said. “Juneau has an 80-plus roster, with 20 seniors on the all-academic team. Kayhi has been consistent the last two years with a roster of 20-plus. This year we have one senior. Despite our lower numbers, our successes stem from a group of student-athletes who have enough grit to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
In DI, the top five of seven team runners score and just one team will earn a state berth. The top 10 individual runners also qualify to state.
In DII, Sitka, the five-time region champ, again is the favorite over its only conference rival Mt. Edgecumbe. Again, the top team and top 10 individuals qualify for state.
The Wolves feature defending female state champion senior Clare Mullin, who has dominated every season meet against all divisions and nearly dominated races in which she ran in the male division, yet is considered a team-first runner.
“Perseverance, unity, prioritizing team over individual,” Sitka coach Shasta Smith said of what the Wolves’ leaders practice and preach. “I tell them leave the training to me, but focus on the other things within each person’s own control. For example, stress levels, nutrition, sleep, mobility…I try to emphasize that the team’s success is everyone’s success and there were a lot of kids trying for those last three spots on the boys side. Spots five to seven could have been six different people, and that elevates everyone. I also remind the younger kids that they are the future. There was a time when some of the seniors were JV, and they kept showing up and working hard. Now they are the team leaders.”
The Sitka girls are Mullin, Marina Dill, Aliyah Merculief, Natalie Hall, Jadelyn Kubik, Marina Marley and Leilyn Swain.
Mullin has run the fastest girls time in the state this season with 18:35. Dill has the third-fastest in Southeast with 20:16; Merculief seventh, 21:26; Hall 10th, 21:42; Kubik 12th, 22:20; Marley 14th, 22:52; and Swain 36th, 25:16. Mt. Edgecumbe senior Aries Bioff has the 24th in 23:36.
The Sitka boys are seniors Connor Hitchcock, Trey Demmert and Rowan Olney-Miller, and juniors Francis Myers, Calder Prussian, Justin Hames and Brett Ross.
Hitchcock has posted the fastest boys time in Southeast this season with a 16:19. That time is the fifth-fastest across the state with Grace Christian’s Robbie Annett leading all runners in 15:30. Demmert has the sixth-fastest Southeast time with 17:31 and Myers the 10th with 17:58. Mt. Edgecumbe senior Nathaniel Vincler has the 12th-fastest in 18:05.
In DIII, the Petersburg Vikings and first-year coach Casey Gates are holding a slight advantage for the conference title, but are challenged by Wrangell, Craig, Skagway, Haines, Hydaburg, Hoonah, Kake, Klawock and Metlakatla.
“To be successful as a team, the kids have to work hard, and they have to run for each other, not for themselves,” Gates said. “I’ve been focusing on mindset and the narrative they tell themselves. I’ve been telling them to tell themselves that they are going to run their best race, and they are going to walk away as champions.”
The PHS boys are juniors Alex Holmgrain, Gaje Ventress, Elias Ward, sophomores Ben Kandoll, Waylon Jones, Finnley Willis and senior Adrian Ducat.
Wrangell junior Boomchain Loucks has run the second-fastest boys time in Southeast this season with 16:42 (11th across the state) and Craig sophomore Aulis Nelson the fourth with 17:11. Ventress has the 15th fastest in 18:06 and Holmgrain the 19th in 18:17.
The PHS girls are sophomore Maria Toth, junior Gabrielle Whitacre, and freshmen Arielle Tucker, Cadence Flint and Zia Hulebak.
Toth has the 11th-fastest girls time in Southeast with 21:58, Whitacre 18th, 23:08; and Tucker 19th, 23:10. Haines senior Camelia Bell has the 16th-fastest at 22:53; Hoonah sophomores Jora Savland and Easston Ross the 20th (23:15) and 28th (23:50), and Wrangell junior Kalee Herman 31st (24:22) among the challengers.
“The large team has been very helpful, especially with the girls,” Gates said. “Last year the girls would have placed very well and would have likely been champions if we just had a fifth runner. Now we have a big team of athletic girls, and we will be able to compete as a team at regions and state.”
The top two DIII teams and top 15 individuals qualify for state. At state, just the top three runners score in DIII to make it more competitive among schools that cannot field large numbers.
