A little snow goes a long way for the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Nordic Ski Team.
The Crimson Bears showed Fairbanks ski teams what southeast Region V can bring to the trails as they placed second in the girls team standings and third in the boys in the Region VI Championships at the Birch Hill Recreation Area over the weekend.
Prior to the races the Region VI coaches, per scrutiny in the Alaska School Activities Association guidelines, voted to allow Region V JDHS to compete as a scoring member of the Fairbanks region, which was a step up from the early invitation to just be allowed to race in the championships.
“Region VI is a competitive region we are very happy to be a part of,” JDHS coach Abby McAllister said. “It certainly will help give the team a taste of what’s to come at state.”
The fast cross-country skiing started Friday with the 7.5-kilometer Mass Start races.
In the girls race, JDHS senior Ida Meyer placed seventh overall in 27 minutes 54.8 seconds, roughly four minutes behind West Valley winner Ellie Abrahamson, who hit 23:57.8.
“I felt pretty strong,” Meyer said. “I was nervous to race in the cold weather, but it wasn’t that bad. It was really great to have my team cheering for me, that is what kept me going.”
The Wolf Pack swept the top four placings and five of the top six. Monroe’s Anya Simard placed fifth in 26:15.5. There were 53 entrants in the girls race.
JDHS sophomore Kaia Mangaccat placed ninth in 28:27.8, freshman Sigrid Eller 11th in 29:04.8, junior Siena Farr 14th in 29:49.4, freshman Sunna Schane 16th in 30:00.1, junior co-captain Lua Mangaccat 17th in 31:12.1, junior Randy Stichert 31st in 38:43.6, senior co-captain Bailey Roguska 34th in 42:12.5, junior Grace Gazdig 36th in 42:24.4, and sophomore Raegan Adams 39th in 44:00.2.
After Friday’s girls race, West Valley held the top spot with a time total of one hour 38 minutes 33.1 seconds, JDHS 1:55:16.8, Lathrop 1:58:49.5, North Pole 2:24:02.2, Glennallen 2:35:09.7 and Valdez 2:49:46.2.
“The conditions were colder than we are used to but that’s a good thing when it comes to preparing for state,” McAllister said. “It was good to see the trails they have to offer. They are challenging and a good preview for what we’ll face in two weeks.”
In Friday’s boys 7.5-K Mass Start, JDHS senior co-captain Finn Lamb placed sixth with a time of 20:59.8, roughly 1:47 behind West Valley winner Kieran Kaufman in 19:12.6. The Wolf Pack went first and second and placed four in the top five. Lathrop’s Wells Wappet was third in 20:41.4. There were 64 entrants in the boys race.
“I feel like we were collective as a whole and worked through some challenges together,” JDHS’ Lamb said. “There was a lot of advice given and we worked well together…Fairbanks was really welcoming and that was nice to see. It was really nice to race in a region where the competition was comparative to us. It was nice to race against those who are our speed.”
JDHS senior co-captain Ferguson Wheeler placed 10th in 23:29.1, senior co-captain Corder Janes 14th in 25:18.8, freshman Landon Adkins 22nd in 27:06.0, freshman Caleb Schane 27th in 29:07.8, senior Finley Hightower 34th in 31:06.8, freshman Finnan Gahl Kelly 35th in 31:13.0, sophomore Anderson Murray 38th in 32:00.1 and freshman Emmett Hightower 42nd in 34:17.3.
“It was really exciting and there was a lot of good competition,” JDHS’ Adkins said.
The Crimson Bears boys established their third-place position totaling 1:55:16.8. West Valley was in first with 1:21:27.0 and Lathrop second with 1:32:01. Glennallen was fourth in 1:46:55.4, Valdez fifth 1:50:48.1 and North Pole sixth 2:16:14.2.
“It was a positive race environment for the team,” JDHS’ Wheeler said. “We have been focusing on the moment and focusing on locking it when it’s time to get ready to race.”
On Saturday, teams competed in 4 x 3K relay races. Four-member teams raced in Classic technique, each member sprinting a 3-kilometer leg. The boys race featured 15 teams.
West Valley A Boys won with a time of 35:43.6, Lathrop A Boys were second in 39:47.8 and the WV B Boys third in 40:07.1.
The Juneau-Douglas A Boys (Corder Janes, Landon Adkins, Ferguson Wheeler, Finn Lamb) placed fourth in 41:20.6 and the Juneau-Douglas B Boys (Finley Hightower, Finnan Gahl Kelly, Anderson Murry, Caleb Schane) were 10th in 52:29.4.
“I think we did pretty good and can definitely do better,” JDHS’ Janes said. “I think the team rose to the occasion and dealt with some cold weather and got after it.”
The girls race featured 12 teams.
West Valley A Girls won in 43:12.4 and West Valley B Girls placed second in 48:58.2.
The Juneau-Douglas A Girls (Ida Meyer, Siena Farr, Kaia Mangaccat, Sigrid Eller) placed third in 50:31.9 and the Juneau-Douglas C Girls (Randy Stichert, Lua Mangaccat, Bailey Roguska, Sunna Schane) placed sixth in 57:27.6.
“It was fun and exciting,” Eller said. “And a little bit scary.”
In the award presentations Meyer and K. Mangaccat received honors for placing seventh and ninth, respectively, in the top 10 of Friday’s 7.5km girls race. Lamb and Wheeler received honors for placing sixth and 10th, respectively, in the boys 7.5km race.
The top five girls and boys relay teams were honored. JDHS girls Meyer, Farr, K. Mangaccat and Eller received a third place designation; JDHS boys Janes, Adkins, Wheeler and Lamb a fourth.
The combined team scoring times over the two days established the team awards. The top four scoring athletes’s times from each team were used in that tally.
The two-day combined girls team times kept West Valley (Region 6/4A) girls on top with two hours 21 minutes 45.5 seconds, JDHS (R5/4A) second with 2:45:48.7, Lathrop (R6/4A) third with 2:50:10.3, North Pole (R6/4A) fourth with 3:22:20.0, Glennallen (R2/2A) fifth with 3:36:51.7, and Valdez (R6/3A) sixth with 3:54:31.2
West Valley (R6/4A) also topped the boys standings with a two-day combined timing of 1:57:10.6, Lathrop (R6/4A) second with 2:11:49.7, JDHS (R5/4A) third with 2:18:14.3, Glennallen (R2/2A) fourth with 2:33:00.2, Valdez (R6/3A) fifth with 2:38:06.4, and North Pole (R6/4A) with 3:06:37.0.
The top three teams in both boys and girls division received their finishing designation and the top team, West Valley, received first-place plaques.
“I thought everyone was very energized, but I think we could be more cohesive,” JDHS’ Ferguson said of the weekend. “I think we could work on our race routine, but we did really well for this being our first big race of the season. We haven’t been training for racing so now it’s good to get back into the racing mindset.”
Fairbanks’ Birch Hill Recreation Area is also the site of the ASAA Nordic Ski Championships Feb. 20-22. The Crimson Bears will take six boys and six girls, per ASAA rules, to compete among every school with a Nordic Ski program.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
