The Tuckwood sisters — senior Sadie and freshman Skylar — raced to the top two spots in Saturday’s Douglas Island Mini-Meet, the season-opening race for the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kalé, Thunder Mountain High School, Ketchikan High School and Metlakatla High School cross country teams.
Sadie Tuckwood, one of the anchors of the Crimson Bears’ 2018 state championship team, dusted her younger sister as well as everyone else on the hilly course adjacent to Sandy Beach with her time of 18 minutes, 40 seconds. Skylar Tuckwood finished second overall (20:34), outkicking her teammates Anna Iverson (20:39) and Katie McKenna (20:43) to the finish line. Kiah Dihle (21:04), a TMHS sophomore multi-sport talent, rounded out the top-five.
JDHS junior Finn Morley took an early lead and never gave it up en route to his winning time of 17:47. Morley was followed to the finish line by teammates Ambrose Bucy (18:14), Tim Degener (18:37) and Thunder Mountain’s Matthew Johns (18:39).
The JDHS and TMHS cross country teams will be back in action on the same course in two Saturdays (Aug. 31) for the Capital City Invitational.
Girls Results — 1) JDHS 18; 2) TMHS 55; 3) Kayhi 59
Boys Results — 1) JDHS 17; 2) TMHS 60; 3) Kayhi 61
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Sadie Tuckwood speeds up a hill while separating herself from the pack during the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Anna Iverson, left, Skylar Tuckwood, middle, and Katie McKenna run in the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on the Treadwell Mine Historical Trail on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. The trio finished within 10 seconds of each other to claim the second (Tuckwood), third (Iverson) and fourth (McKenna) spots in the girls 5-kilometer run. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Thunder Mountain High School’s Kiah Dihle finishes the Douglas Island Mini-Meet in fifth place at Savikko Park on Douglas on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Dihle was the first TMHS girls runner to the finish line with a time of 21 minutes, 4 seconds. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Finn Morley powers through the middle of his 5-kilometer win at the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on the Treadwell Mine Historic Trail on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Morley won first place in the boys race with a time of 17 minutes, 47 seconds. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
The Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan and Metlakatla boys cross country teams begin the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaat.at Kale’s Aubrey Hekkers, left, Will Robinson, middle, and Sam Holst round a corner of the Treadwell Mine Historic Trail while running in the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
