Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé rolled to the boys and girls team titles at the Capital City Cross Country Invitational Meet on Saturday afternoon.
In the girls race, the Crimson Bears scored 30 points, easily overcoming second-place Haines (82 points) and third-place Thunder Mountain (87 points). In the boys race, JDHS scored 38 points. Sitka came in second place with 68 points and Ketchikan claimed third place with 79 points.
Senior Sadie Tuckwood shattered her own course record by over 30 seconds, finishing with a time of 17 minutes, 51 seconds, a result no doubt aided by running in the quicker boys race.
“When you have people pushing you and around you, you don’t think so much about yourself,” Tuckwood said.
By running in the boys event, Tuckwood didn’t score for either the boys or girls teams.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Sadie Tuckwood runs in the Capital City Invitational at Sandy Beach on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
“It’s just an opportunity for her, as we look to next weekend, where she’s going to be racing with the top girls in the state, to build her confidence by getting her a fast time today,” JDHS co-coach Tristan Knutson-Lombardo said. The Crimson Bears will travel to the Palmer Invitational next weekend.
Tuckwood set a former course-best mark, 18:22, during her freshman campaign in 2016.
Without her sister as competition, Skylar Tuckwood finished first in the girls race. Anna Prussian of Sitka finished second. Kiah Dihle of Thunder Mountain finished third. Anna Iverson of JDHS finished fourth, and Hannah Deer of Thunder Mountain finished fifth.
Sadie Tuckwood proved to coaches she was capable of running under 18 minutes last fall. The Crimson Bears ran in the Warner Pacific Cross Country Classic in Oregon two weeks after winning the state title. Facing some of the stiffest competition of her career, Tuckwood placed fifth with a personal-best 5K time of 17:50.
On the boys side, Dominic Baciocco took first. Siyel George of Haines took second, and Tucker Kelly took third.
Thunder Mountain High School’s Tucker Kelly runs in the Capital City Invitational at Sandy Beach on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Led by fifth-place Finn Morley, five JDHS runners cracked the Top 12.
“JD’s really, really deep and on any given day. I don’t think they have a definitive top-seven runners right now,” TMHS coach John Nagel said. “The (important) thing is getting our guys in there to break them up. It just depends on how much our guys improve. We’re closing the gap from last year, that’s for sure.”
While JDHS varsity travels to the Palmer Invitational, most of the rest of Southeast prepares for the Petersburg Invitational.
There were just under 220 total runners across the two races at Sandy Beach. JDHS had the biggest team of the outing with about 60 runners.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Finn Morley crosses the finish line of the Capital City Invitational at Sandy Beach on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Team Scores
Boys — 1) JDHS 38; 2) Sitka 68; 3) Ketchikan 79; 4) Haines 101; 5) Thunder Mountain 104; 6) Petersbug 122; 7) Mt. Edgecumbe 239; 8) Wrangell 252; 9) Metlakatla 272; 10) Hoonah 289.
Girls — 1) JDHS 30; 2) Haines 82; 3) Thunder Mountain 87; 4) Ketchikan 100; 5) Petersburg 145; 6) Sitka 155; 7) Wrangell 158; 8) Mt. Edgecumbe 212; 9) Hoonah 238.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com.
