Crimson Bears harriers race in Moose habitat
- Klas Stolpe
- 10 hours ago
- 4 min read
JDHS gets taste of northern competition at Palmer
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears cross-country team competed well at the George Plumley XC Invite hosted by the Palmer Moose on the Michael Janacek Running Trail on Saturday, dividing 22 runners among four races. In total, the event featured 411 varsity and 299 junior varsity runners from around Alaska.
“Our athletes had the opportunity to race with more than 40 schools,” JDHS girls’ coach Abby Jahn said. “Their races were competitive and challenging. We wanted them to go out there and soak it all up. It is rare that we get the opportunity to race with that many programs and athletes. It’s a space to learn and grow and use that knowledge for future races.”
The JDHS varsity boys placed seventh out of 32 teams and the varsity girls 12th out of 22 on what will be the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA) state championship course this season.
"It was a really technical and fun course," said Anderson Murray, a JDHS sophomore. "Our race plan going into it was to stay together in the beginning and gauge our individual race after that. I felt strong my second lap so decided to pick it up and ended up running a time I’m really thrilled about. We have strong competition ahead of us, but I think as a team we’ve got this."
JDHS junior Erik Thompson led the Crimson Bears with a 24th-place finish out of 232 harriers. Thompson crossed the line in 17 minutes 30 seconds with classmate Logan Fellman placing 26th (17:31), senior Elias Schane 57th (18:14), sophomore Carson Kautz 89th (19:04) and junior Zach Bos 92nd (19:05).
East Anchorage junior Katahdin Staples won his second race in a row with a time of 16:18, leading a pack of eight runners under 17 minutes, including Wrangell senior Boomchain Loucks, a top Southeast harrier who placed seventh in 16:54.
The top 10 boys were Staples, Mountain City Christian Academy sophomore Breyden Nottingham (16:29), Palmer senior Bodie Miller (16:34), Homer senior Johannes Bynagle (16:38), South Anchorage senior Vebjorn Flagstad (16:47.2), Homer senior Caleb Bunker (16:47.4), Loucks, Kodiak senior Weston Roberts (16:54), West Valley senior Nathan Vanderlugt (17:00) and Colony senior Trygve Vang-Thompson (17:04).
Sitka junior Derek Wilson was the second-fastest Region V runner, placing 23rd in 17:29. Other Southeast finishers included Sitka freshman Owen Mork (46th 18:01), WRG senior Jackson Powers (78th 18:50), WRG junior Jackson Carney (84th 18:58), SIT sophomore Andrew Mullin (93rd (19:06), WRG senior Ian Nelson (106th 19:14), SIT sophomore Silas Todd (110th 19:19), WRG freshman Ryder Ritchie (128th 19:47), WRG sophomore Carter Howell (139th 20:04), SIT senior Justin Hames (144th 20:11), SIT freshman Silas Marley (151st 20:22), SIT senior Calder Prussian (158th 20:29), Mt. Edgecumbe senior Donald Olson (165th 20:41), MEHS freshman Taan Moll (166th 20:45), MEHS senior Kolby Clark-Pruitt (178th 21:19), MEHS senior Gordon Lie (180th 21:28), WRG sophomore Lucas Stearns (183rd 21:46) and MEHS junior Benjamin Balluta (196th 22:04).
Wasilla junior Hailee Giacobbe won the 179-strong varsity girls field in 19:24, edging East Anchorage senior Rosie Conway (19:36). Rounding out the top 10 were South Anchorage freshman Calista Zuber (19:47), West Valley sophomore Miriam Armstrong (19:55.6), Chugiak freshman Maddison Kukuk (19:55.7), Soldotna senior Sophia Jedlicki (19:56), Soldotna senior Tania Boonstra (20:01), Chugiak freshman Rylee Ruggles (20:17) and Service sophomore Talia Smith (20:18).
JDHS junior Kaia Mangaccat led the Crimson Bears varsity girls, placing 29th out of 179 harriers with a time of 21:21. JDHS senior Lua Mangaccat placed 39th (21:47), senior Della Mearig 59th (22:21.6), senior Siena Farr 73rd (22:38) and freshman Maya Mothershead 115th (24:12).
"It was a really fun race,” said Nevah Lupro, a JDHS sophomore. “I got to be somewhat in the front, which was great and it just felt like a really strong race for me.”
Wrangell freshman Jenna Meissner was the top varsity girls’ Southeast runner, placing 22nd in 20:57. Other Southeast runners included WRG junior Alana Harrison (57th 22:21.2), WRG junior Bella Ritchie (58th 22:21.4), SIT freshman Lola Hitchcock (60th 22:22), SIT senior Natalie Hall (76th 22:44.1), SIT freshman Opal Carter (78th 22:44.3), SIT freshman Grace Hall (88th 22:57), SIT senior Marina Marley (109th 24:03), SIT senior Jadelynn Kubik (111th 24:07) and WRG senior Kalee Herman (175th 30:40).
Varsity boys’ team scores were SA 83, HMR 105, COL 153, Grace Christian 178, CHG 193, Kodiak 201, JDHS 286, Eagle River 297, WAS 300, West Anchorage 301, WV 305, MCCA 356, SOL 396, WRG 399, SIT 412, Bethel 419, PAL 470, SER 489, EA 489, Lathrop 505, Valdez 507, North Pole 594, Delta Junction 622, Kenai Central 630, Seward 644, Monroe 683, Unalaska 697, Dillingham 709, Glennallen 761, MEHS 843, Cordova 958, Tikigaq 1010.
Varsity girls’ team scores were CHG 59, SA 94, WV 170, WA 172, COL 176, SEW 182, SOL 185, SER 198, WAS 228, GC 276, JDHS 282, PAL 332, SIT 368, LATH 386, DJ 399, KOD 426, ER 472, BETH 537, DIL 594, NP 611, UNAK 660.
JV boys’ team scores were SA 25, COL 37, CHG 114, GC 127, HMR 176, JDHS 180, WV 184, WA 213, SER 235, ER 249, KOD 301, SOL 315, NP 412, LATH 413, PAL 426, KC 472.
Top JV boys’ finisher was SA junior Zane Gerlach (17:49). JDHS finishers in the 169-strong field were junior Angus Andrews (18th 18:53), sophomore Anderson Murray (37th 19:27), junior Atagan Hood (44th 19:43.1), sophomore Emmett Hightower (46th 19:43.7), junior Sam Buttner (51st 19:49) and junior Austin Huang (53rd 19:55).
JV girls’ team scores were CHG 21, COL 58, SA 85, JDHS 126, WV 168, SOL 208, ER 246, SER 250, WA 253, GC 263, PAL 273, WAS 293, HMR 298, EA 321, SEW 364, NP 454.
The top JV girls’ finisher was ER junior Ashlyn Paynter (20:46). JDHS finishers in the field of 130 were sophomore Nevah Lupro (ninth 22:20), sophomore Sunna Schane (23rd 23:23), sophomore Shandiin Frommherz (31st 24:04), junior Adele Fanning (36th 24:26) and sophomore Larkyn Woltring (37th 24:28).
JDHS competes at Ketchikan next weekend.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
