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Crimson Bears harriers return to the trails
- Klas Stolpe
- 23 hours ago
- 13 min read
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé boasts another high-volume roster
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cross country running team may not have enough space along the trails as the roughly 85-member-strong Crimson Bears harriers officially run their first meet of the season. They will host alumni in the Juneau Sayéik Invitational on Saturday along Treadwell Mine Trail at Savikko Park.
“For me, the goal is for the athletes to know what it's like to be a part of a competitive team and to make some friends along the way,” JDHS co-head coach Zack Bursell said. “We are doing this through distance running and so the goal there is for these athletes to learn how to build endurance to lead up to a 5K race. Experience has shown that when we have been able to hit those basics, and athletes really want to be a part of what we are doing, that's when the results come. This year we have a group that is committed and is shaping up to look to finish high as a team at the state meet.”
Saturday’s race is a practice session for the Crimson Bears, but spectators are welcome to attend. There is no community pre-race, but Juneau area high school alumni are encouraged to lace up their shoes and challenge the returning Region V boys’ and girls’ champions. Alumni do not have to be from cross-country teams; any sport, any class, any school are welcome. The girls’ versus women’s race is at 10 a.m. and the boys’ vs. men’s race is at 10:45 a.m.
“Right now, one of our main goals is to build a cohesive and supportive team so that these kids feel welcome in this space and have fun running,” JDHS co-head coach Abby Jahn said. “I would like to see these athletes build confidence with racing this season. There is a lot of talent and grit on this team. When they decide to be courageous they can do amazing things in a 5K.”
For the boys team, returning senior Erik Thompson placed sixth at last season’s Division I (4A) state championships in Palmer, finishing in 17:08.4. He placed second in the state as a sophomore with 16:34.
“I am hoping this year I am kind of bringing that same mentality of we want to do well at state, we want to make sure we elevate everyone,” Thompson said. “I think this year I am going to spend a lot more time growing more of the other top runners around so we can get more of a tighter pack at state. I don’t think it is totally out of our abilities to contend for state this year, but I think a lot of things have to go right for that to happen. I think it is important to start that in the early season like now, with workouts like these.”
Senior Logan Fellman placed 39th at state last season with 18:25.3, senior Angus Andrews 49th in 18:37, senior Zach Bos 72nd in 19:18.1, junior Carson Kautz 77th in 19:26.3 and senior Austin Huang 81st in 20:06.3. State qualifier Elias Shane (43rd, 18:29.3) graduated. JDHS placed eighth out of the 10 full teams. East Anchorage two-time defending state champion senior Katahdin Staples (16:33.2 last season, 16:30 in 2024) returns. Fifteen of last season’s top 50 state runners graduated - five of those in the top 10.
“On a practical notice, I donated blood the Monday before state so I was running on 80% of life, because blood is life,” Bos chuckled. “So I screwed up bad. I ran my slowest race all season at state, which is sad. But also, it probably helps because my ego was getting high. It was a good lesson in humility as well, which is something you should always be, whatever you do, do it with humility. I will not donate blood before state this year. But the training worked really well last year. I dropped over a minute off of my time. So I am hoping for at least 17 seconds so I can drop under 17 minutes. That is my goal, to go under 17 this year and stay humble. Cross-country is a lot smaller than track so I like that we get to know people better. It is far more personalized. You grow better as a team rather than being in your separate practices - you have throwers, sprinters, distance runners. Here we are all doing the same thing, so you can grow closer together.”
Said Fellman, “Last season I feel like I handled my nerves very well and I think that will carry into the season and I will be more prepared for my races than I was last year. Our boys’ team is actually looking pretty solid. We have a bunch of runners that stepped up over the summer and are looking strong going into cross country. It is good to see.”
On the girls’ side, returning senior Kaia Mangaccat placed 19th at the DI (4A) state race in 20:50.1, junior Sigrid Eller 24th in 21:11.6, junior Nevah Lupro 32nd in 21:43.4 and sophomore Maya Mothershead 34th in 21:52.4. State qualifiers Della Mearig (55th, 22:29.6), Sienna Farr (58th, 22:36) and Lua Mangaccat (61st, 22:41.4) graduated. JDHS placed seventh out of 10 full teams. Wasilla’s state champion, senior Hailee Giacobbe, returns after winning in 19:18.8. Only 11 of the top 50 runners in the state graduated, five in the top 20.
“It was really exciting last year to be on varsity and run at state,” Mothershead said. “What I have carried over to this year is to just come to every practice and make sure I am doing my best and trying my hardest. It is really impressive to see how many people have come back again this year. It is so much fun.”
Building team spirit and support for any team, let alone one with a sizable roster, is crucial.
“We have eight captains leading our team and create inter-team squads led by those captains for games, team building and general camaraderie,” Jahn said. “We also have an amazing group of assistant and volunteer coaches who give their time to run with our team and share their wisdom. We just wrapped up our annual team camp. We spent the weekend building the team and laughing together. Spending time getting to know each other outside of running alone is one way to build a strong community and support system.”
Said Bursell, “I agree with Abby. It is all the experience from the athletes and coaches coming together. We are lucky to have a long legacy of positive team spirit built by generations of athletes and coaches - and we are just looking to build on that each year.”
The JDHS team captains are seniors Thompson, Mangaccat, Atagan Hood and Kaycee Parady, and juniors Zach Bos, Finnan Kelly, Ellie Jo Wall and Larkyn Woltring.
“I moved her last year from Santa Fe, New Mexico, but I have been doing cross-country for over six years,” Woltring said. “It is a really important sport to me and I love the team. I think this year is really important because getting to be a leader I am just bringing in that team culture and welcoming environment that I got to see last year, and trying to carry that on as the captains are circling out. Here the running community is just so tight-knit and such a special community that you don’t really see anywhere else. It is a huge, tight-knit community and everyone has bonded.”
Wall spoke to the cross-country culture.
“This is a special season for me because I have been going to JDHS all four years, even before the consolidation of the schools, so I kind of have seen it all,” Wall said. “I have seen this team without TM, with TM, I have seen us kind of get closer to each other through consolidation and seen the rift between the teams disappear almost completely. It has been really interesting to watch it happen and kind of accept it and become a new team together, no longer just JD or TM, kind of just this new invention of a team with both cultures of the teams combined. And that has been really special to see.”
Added Thompson, “What I like about this team this season is we are a lot more close-knit than, I would say, previous years. It is a lot of people who have been running together, hanging out a lot with each other for a long time and we all kind of know each other. So I have a feeling on the trips, no matter how we do, races are going to be fun no matter what.”
The official first race of the Region V season will be hosted by Sitka on Aug. 22. Thompson and K. Mangaccat won the 2025 Region V championships in Sitka (16:55 and 19:58, respectively) and helped JDHS secure their 36th consecutive boys’ 4A region title and 12th consecutive 4A girls’ title.
“Seeing all of this as a learning experience is the most important thing,” coach Bursell said. “Racing a 5K can be a major challenge. My philosophy is to expose these athletes to the rigor of the racing experience and give them the tools to chip away at coming at it a little more prepared each time.”
Added coach Jahn, “We run a lot on this team, but we also play games, share meals together and have fun. I believe that spending time on team building and reminding our athletes that they have non-running identities can create a strong team and well-rounded individuals. If these athletes are still having fun running and adventuring on trails five or even 50 years from now, then we are doing something right.”
JDHS will travel to a state preview meet at Anchorage’s Bartlett High School on Aug. 29, send a team north to Skagway and another south to Klawock on Sept. 5; and travel to Ketchikan on Sept. 12, and to Petersburg on Sept. 26 to finish the regular season.
The Crimson Bears run a team of seven for varsity races and the entire team for open races. JDHS will host the Region V Championships on Sept. 26.
“The varsity team for regions is set based on race performance, attendance at practice and commitment to the team,” Jahn said. “Athletes who do not race on the varsity team at regions still have an opportunity to make a state team if they run solid races during the open race and are also committed to practice and the team.”
The 2026 ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Cross Country Running State Championships are Oct. 3 at the Bartlett High School Trails in Anchorage.
Assistant and volunteer coaches are Ricky Worl, Merry Ellefson, Tristan Knutson-Lombardo, Elizabeth Ramseth, Hilary Young, Geoff Roes, Annika Ord, Jesse Miller, John Nagel, John Bursell, Jenny Strumfield, Therese Pokorney, Tim Mikulski and Ian Novak. They have experience with team building, training, diet, fueling, recovery and competition, and helping foster support from the community.
“I think it is important to teach athletes about training, recovery and how to fuel yourself for endurance training,” coach Jahn said. “With social media and AI, there's a lot of noise about training and wellness. We like to cut through the noise and do our best to ground our athletes to listen to their bodies - understanding the signals that your body is giving you while training and recovering is the foundation of a successful athlete.”
2026 JDHS XC ROSTER
Seniors
Reagan Adams, Angus Andrews, Sabine Auger, Samuel Buttner, Daniel Degener, Adyn Escue, Logan Fellman, Lumi Ferman, Aurelia Fields, Shandiin Frommerz, Atagan Hood, Austin Huang, Jillian Levy, Kaia Mangaccat, Eva Meyer, Caden Morris, Osh Morris, Kaycee Parady, Anna Reiter, Erik Thompson, Craig Thorsteinson, Max Webster.
Juniors
Mariah Andrew, Zac Bos, Sigrid Eller, Adele Fanning, Emmett Hightower, Carson Kautz, Finnan Kelly, Nevah Lupro, John (Frisco) McGuire, Anderson Murray, Lucas Nelson-Vallejo, Elyssa Sapinoso, Caleb Schane, Sunna Schane, Frejya Shelton-Walker, Gracie Snyder, Ellie Jo Wall.
Sophomores
Eliza Albrecht, Ben Blackgoat, Dez Bos, Ethan Buchheit, Kira English, Knox Francis, Porter Goudie, Serena Huang, Oscar Lamb, Emmalynn LaPlante, Henry Maier, Maya Mothershead, Eleanor Peterson, Brooks Pinney, Tymur Tkachenko, Lucy Wall, Larkyn Woltring, Leighton Zararzua.
Freshman
Alexander Andrews, Blackgoat-Diehl, Yakobi Cole, Jackson Coutu, Fisher Goetz, Robert Hickman, Rowan Hightower, Isaac Hill, Nayeli Hood, Riley Humphrey, Cianna Kahl, Marin Lowell, Ian McWilliams, Charlotte Millen, Luke Miller, Phoebe Moss, William Olmsted, Kira Purdy, Soren Richards, Katie Rosson, Grace Rumsey, Kara Shrader, Allie Simonson, Levi Spaulding, Callie Stickel, Wesley Swanson.
JDHS XC HISTORY
Since 1974 the boys have won 47 region team titles - with records for 1986-88 unavailable and Sitka winning the ’89 title. The JDHS girls have won 42 region team titles since 1976 - records for 1973-75, and 1986-90 were unavailable and now defunct Thunder Mountain won in 2012-13.
The JDHS boys won the state championship in 2003 and ’04. They have team state placings of second (’81, ’93, ’09, ’24); third (’82, ’94, ’05, ’06); fourth (’84, ’95, ’10, ’11, ’19); fifth (’90, ’96, ’99, ’07, ’23); sixth (’92, ’08, ’18); seventh (’88, ’91, ’02, ’13); eighth (’98, ’00, ’01, ’12, ’14, ’25); ninth (’21); 10th (’15, ’16, ’17) and no team total (’86, ’87)
JDHS won two girls state team titles (1995, 2018). Other team state finishes include second (’93, ’96, ’04, ’07, ’22, ’23); third (’01, ’03, ’06, ’19, ’21); fourth (’82, ’94, ’02, ’08, ’24); fifth (’81, ’87, ’88, ’98, ’99, ’05, ’22); sixth (’84, ’00); seventh (’85, ’86, ’17, ’25); eighth (’09, ’16); 10th (’10, ’11, ’14, ’15) and no team total (’90 ’91, ’92). The TMHS girls placed 10th at state in 2012 and ’13.
The value of pack running is just as vital as a top individual performance.
In 2005, JDHS senior Tyler Dinnan won the boys’ state championship by under a second over Palmer’s Jake Parisien, 16:45.2 to 16:46, with senior Wesley Dinnan fourth in 17:01. Yet South Anchorage won the team title that season by placing runners fifth, ninth and 10th and kept control of the race. South won with 43 points, Kodiak placed second with 61 (3rd and 7th runners in top 10) and the Crimson Bears third with 87.
In 2006, JDHS freshman Leah Francis began a three-year state title dominance, winning in 18:39 over West Anchorage’s Shoshana Keepan with 18:53, yet West Valley won the team title by placing five of the next seven runners across, including third through fifth, to outscore JDHS and West Anchorage 26-54-54. JDHS would finish third as West’s sixth runner finished before the Crimson Bears.
In 2007, Francis won in 18:52 with senior teammate Kirsten Jorgensen third and sophomore Katie Khrelik 17th. But West Anchorage outscored JDHS 45-64 for the title by placing runners fourth, fifth, 12th, 13th and 14th.
In 2008, Francis won in 18:41. JDHS placed fourth as the next Crimson Bears runner crossed in 27th position. In ’09 Francis led through most of the race but suffered a health incident and finished 21st under duress, and the Crimson Bears placed eighth out of 10 teams.
JDHS’ Sadie Tuckwood won the state title in 2016 in 18:16 with TMHS’ Erin Wallace fifth in 19:17 and JDHS’ Anna Iverson 11th in 19:30. But the Crimson Bears placed eighth out of 10 teams as JDHS’ next runner crossed in 67th position. West Valley won with runners finishing second, third, seventh, 15th and 28th. Kenai was runner-up, placing runners fourth, sixth, 14th, 25th and 35th.
When JDHS won the 2004 boys’ title, Chugiak senior Jesse Cherry won the race in 16:35. But JDHS senior Tristan Knutsen-Lombardo placed second (16:44), junior Tyler Dinnan third (16:45), junior Wesly Dinnan seventh (17:13), sophomore Ray Huebschen 15th and sophomore Nils Domke 31st to score 54 points. Second-place West Valley placed runners fourth, eighth, 16th, 25th during those times for 91 points and third-place West Anchorage 13th, 17th, 21st, 28th for 104 points. Chugiak placed sixth with 144 (1st, 6th, 48th, 56th, 60th).
The scoring was closer in JDHS’ 2003 team title. Chugiak junior Cherry won the race in 15:48, Lathrop senior Devin McDowell placed second, Dimond senior Jeff Quickel third and Colony junior Peter Doner fourth. JDHS junior Knutsen-Lombardo ran fifth and T. Dinnan 14th, but the Crimson Bears put four runners in succession from 19 through 21 (W. Dinnan, Huebschen, senior Issac Milligan, senior Tim Davin) to score 67 points. Chugiak was second with 78 and Dimond third 86.
In the JDHS girls’ 1995 state title, freshman Marta Race placed seventh, Rose Kock 13th, sophomore Rachel Kirchoff 16th, Jennifer Hodges 18th, freshman Jeanette Gardiner 19th and Christy Race 22nd. JDHS scored 60 points to runner-up Service’s 67, despite the Cougars placing the second- and third-place finishers.
The JDHS girls outscored Service 71-77 for the 2018 state title with junior Sadie Tuckwood placing second in 18:18, junior Anna Iverson 12th, junior Katherine McKenna 17th and freshmen Trinity Jackson and Annika Schwartz finishing 25th and 26th. Service runners had placed eighth, ninth, 20th and 22nd to stay in the mix, but their fifth scorer crossed in 33rd. West Valley junior Kendall Kramer won the race in 17:51 and the Wolfpack spaced out their finishers in 11th, 19th, 37th and 42nd, scoring 95 points for third place, to barely top fourth place South (4th, 14th, 23rd, 24th, 48th) with 96 points, and fifth place West (10th, 18th, 27th, 29th, 30th) with 98.
Following are some of the top 25 Juneau individual state finishes:
Tyler Dinnan (1st ’05, 3rd ’04), Leah Francis (1st ’06, 1st ’07, 1st ’08, 21st ’09), Sadie Tuckwood (1st ’16, 2nd ’18, 2nd ’19, 3rd ’17), Tristan Knutson-Lombardo (2nd ’04, 5th ’03, 9th ’02), Ida Meyer (2nd ’24, 5th ’23, 6th ’22), Erik Thompson (2nd ’24, 6th ’25), Kirsten Jorgensen (3rd ’07, 11th ’06), David Francis (3rd ’11, 15th ’09, 17th ’10), Maddie Hall (3rd ’13, 8th ’12), Kiah Dihle (3rd ’21, 8th ’20, 8th ’19), Nick Iverson (3rd ’24, 16th ’23), Sage Thibodeau (4th ’10, 6th ’09, 17th ’08, 22nd ’07), Naomi Welling (4th ’15, 7th ’14, 32nd ’13), Tim Degener (4th ’20, 12th ’19), Etta Eller (4th ’22, 10th ’23, 11th ’21), Tal Norvell (4th ’12, 10th ’11), Katie Krehlik (5th ’05, 13th ’04, 13th ’06, 17th ’07), Arne Ellefson-Carnes (5th ’19, 12th ’17, 15th ’16), Erin Wallace (5th ’16, 22nd ’15, 23rd ’14), Lexi Garvey (6th ’04), Andrew Flansaas (6th ’06, 13th ’05), Wesley Dinnan (7th ’04), Kona Atkins (7th ’22), Zachary Bursell (8th ’09, 10th ’08, 18th ’10), Hunter Brown (8th ’07, 20th ’06), Jesse Miller (8th ’11, 20th ’10), Greta Thibodeau (9th ’03), Finn Morley (9th ’19, 14th ’20), Rayna Tuckwood (9th ’23, 16th ’21, 21st ’22, 21st ’20), Anna Iverson (11th ’16, 12th ’17, 12th ’18), Owen Woodruff (13th ’24), Edgar Vera Alvarado (10th ’23, 15th ’22), Ray Huebschen (15th ’04), Megan Bush (15th ’04), Skylar Tuckwood (16th ’20), Annika Ord (17th ’06), Katherine McKenna (17th ’18), Anika Schwartz (17th ’20, 18th ’21, 24th ’19), Leigh Miller (18th ’06, 23rd ’07), Iris White (18th ’20), Khalil English (20th ’12), Ferguson Wheeler (21st ’24), Ambrose Bucy (21st ’19), Kaia Mangaccat (22nd ’24), Nevah Lupro (23rd ’24), Kael Nord (23rd ’22), Hannah Deer (23rd ’17), McKenna McNutt (24th ’20), Riley Moser (25th ’14), Alize Arthur (25th ’15, 25th ’13), Trinity Jackson (25th ’18).
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
