East Anchorage harriers sweep cross country titles in Hoonah
- Klas Stolpe
- 3 hours ago
- 8 min read
Thunderbirds win in first-ever “road” trip to Southeast competition; JDHS finishes second in individual and team results
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School senior Rosie Conway and junior Katahdin Staples won the girls' and boys’, respectively, Hoonah Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, helping the Thunderbirds win team titles in their first-ever competition on Southeast trails.
“The trip was super fun,” Conway said. “It was my first time to Juneau, so it was great to see the capital and run around the city and in the mountains. The race was super unique in Hoonah, and it was amazing to race along the beach and then turn back, and be able to cheer for all the other racers on the out-and-back course. Everybody was super friendly from the Juneau team showing us around. The Hoonah team set it up so we could zipline and eat lunch at one of the restaurants which was incredible. Overall, the weekend was great and I am so grateful for everyone that helped the East team make the trip happen."
Conway posted a winning time of 20 minutes three seconds with Thunderbirds senior teammates Siera Chadwick third in 21:49.91, Beatrix Brogan fourth in 21:55.76 and freshman Nina Varnell eighth in 22:32.36. Also traveling was Bartlett High School senior Katie Mackin who placed ninth in 22:35.78.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Kaia Mangaccat placed second in 20:45.93, Petersburg High School sophomore Arielle Tucker fifth (21:59.63), JDHS senior Lua Mangaccat sixth (22:13.76), JDHS senior Siena Farr seventh (22:17.59) and rounding out the top 10 was PSG junior Maria Toth (22:42.96).
Conway placed ninth (19:52.7) at last year’s 4A state championships on Anchorage’s Bartlett High School Trails and JDHS’ K. Mangaccat 22nd (21:03.6).
Staples won the state 4A boys title last season in 16:30 — the first East High winner since Don Clary 50 years ago — and showed no signs of losing any of his fitness with the win in Hoonah, crossing the finish of the rougher Southeast course in 17:05.49.
“Going ziplining was the best way to cap off winning a race,” Staples said.
East Anchorage senior teammate Caleb Sharrock placed fifth (18:37.69), sophomore Holden Aquino sixth (18:46.99) and senior Micah Remiock eighth (18:56.85). JDHS junior Logan Fellman placed second (17:25.60), PSG senior Gaje Ventress third (17:53.35), JDHS junior Zach Bos fourth (18:15), Skagway sophomore Logan Rupprecht seventh (18:51.54), JDHS senior Elias Shane ninth (18:59.90) and PSG junior Nathan Kerr rounded out the top ten (19:09.71).
The East girls topped a field of 73 runners to total 32 points, JDHS had 36, PSG 59, Kake 108 and Hoonah 132. The East boys won in a field of 75 athletes to total 38 points, JDHS 40, PSG 60, Skagway 94 and Hoonah 146. Haines and Metlakatla also ran with limited team members. There was also a middle school race with local and visiting community members invited to join.
“Our athletes had an amazing time in Southeast Alaska,” East Anchorage coach Christina Shurtleff said. “Many athletes stated it was the most fun they ever had on a trip. We packed in everything you could in three days...We frequently run with the same eight schools here in Anchorage, so it was great to run against teams we don't get to compete against very often and also was great to run on a course we don't run on every year.”
The team flew from Anchorage to Juneau, toured the Capital and traveled by Allen Marine Tours to Hoonah and, much like the race, retraced their steps back home.
“The idea for traveling to Juneau came from the State XC meet last year, our team hosted the Juneau team for a spaghetti feed before the state meet,” Shurtleff said. “Which originated from the fact one of our coaches (2008 Colony graduate Corbyn Jahn) is JD coach Abby Jahn’s brother. Our teams bonded during state and both the girls teams won the GPA award with their perfect 4.0 GPAs. We decided this would be a great opportunity for a travel trip. Labor Day weekend was the best weekend in our schedule for travel, and we reached out to Hoonah to see if we could tag along on the trip. Unfortunately, Corbyn was unable to join us this weekend since he was competing in the Ötillö Swimrun in Sweden.”
Coach Shurtleff grew up in a military family and ran high school in SHAPE, Belgium, and Ridgeview High School in Columbia, South Carolina. She ran for the University of South Carolina and first came to Alaska as a traveling physical therapist in Ketchikan. She then moved to Anchorage and has coached at East for 10 years.
“So I have been able to share my love of running and sports with High school athletes, but also get to use my physical therapy skills a lot to prevent injuries,” she said. “We have high hopes for our team this year. Our girls' team qualified for the state meet last year for the first time in over 15 years and also won the GPA award, but this year our goal is not just to qualify for state but to get top four. We have a goal for the boys' team to qualify for state. It would also be amazing if both our top runners won State individually. I know they both have the ability to pull it off.”
The Hoonah Invitational was also a first for the host school.
“Our activities and athletics have been expanding in the last few years, and with the recent success of our cross country program, we had set a goal to host one of the Region meets,” Hoonah activities director Jessie Dybdahl said. “Last spring at the Athletic Director’s meeting, we were offered to host the North meet and agreed to do so. It was the first XC meet in Hoonah, to our knowledge, so it was super exciting…It meant a lot to us to be able to host, but to have the large turnout we did — 148 athletes from nine teams — really was the cherry on top. We were thrilled that so many people were interested in coming to Hoonah and ecstatic to share our community with them, even briefly. The support we had from Icy Strait Point, where the course/race was held at, definitely made it a reality. We worked together with them to send all participants down the ZipRider and to feed them at ISP too.”
Hoonah Invitational Girls Results:
1. EHS sr. Conway 20:03; 2. JD jr. K. Mangaccat 20:45; 3. EHS sr. Chadwick 21:49; 4. EHS sr. Brogan 21:55; 5. PSG so. Tucker 21:59; 6. JD sr. L. Mangaccat 22:13; 7. JD sr. Farr 22:17; 8. EHS fr. Varnell 22:32; 9. BHS sr. Mackin 22:35; 10. PSG jr. Toth 222:42; 11. JD sr. Della Mearig 22:53; 12. JD fr. Maya Mothershead 22:57; 13. PSG sr. Gabrielle Whitacre 23:38; 14. JD so. Sunna Schane 23:41; 15. PSG so. Cadence Flint 23:47; 16. JD so. Nevah Lupro 23:49; 17. EHS jr. Clara Robinson 23:50; 18. HNH jr. Easton Ross 24:00; 19. KAK so. Aurora Davis 24:35; 20. JD so. Shandiin Frommherz 24:44; 21. JD so. Larkyn Woltring 24:53; 22. JD fr. Emmalynn LaPlante 24:58; 23. JD jr. Adele Fanning 25:02; 24. JD fr. Des Bos 25:26; 25. JD jr. Ellie Jo Wall 25:27; 26. PSG so. Zia Hulebak 25:49; 27. JD jr. Marigold Lindoff 25:51; 28. JD so. Gracie Snyder 25:54; 29. KAK jr. Maria Chang 27:05; 30. JD so. Aurelia Field 27:14; 31. KAK so. Izabel Nelson 27:18; 32. EHS so. Brooke Chadwick 27:19; 33. EHS fr. Amarise Layton 27:20; 34. KAK jr. Madison Padgett 27:28; 35. Haines fr. Sophia Hedden 27:29; 36. JD sr. Sasha Morrison 27:31; 37. JD sr. Zoe Lessard 27:33; 38. JD jr. Kaycee Parady 27:35; 39. Metlakatla fr. Elizabeth Olsen 27:36; 40. JD sr. Piper Blackgoat Diehl 27:37; 41. KAK jr. Eden Hallingstad 27:38; 42. JD sr. Melanie Schrader 27:58; 43. JD fr. Kira English 28:07; 44. JD sr. Koby Yturbe 28:13; 45. SKG so. Mackenzie Mixon 28:16; 46. JD fr. Eleanor Peterson 28:22; 47. JD sr. Miranda Stichert 28:22; 48. JD sr. Grace Gazdig 28:25; 49. JD so. Leighton Zararzua 28:43; 50. KAK sr. Lydia Chang 28:46; 51. JD jr. Eva Meyer 28:47; 52. EHS fr. Adele Hayes 28:53; 53. HNS so. Anna Bell 29:02; 54. JD jr. Jillian Levy 29:06; 55. HNH so. Harlee Brown 29:19; 56. HNH sr. Paige Woitte 29:21.28; 57. EHS so. Felicia Allen 29:21.63; 58. JD jr. Lumi Fermin 29:51; 59. HNH sr. Chloe Lane 30:12; 60. HNS jr. Mary Bell 30:19; 61. SKG so. Lila Lawson 30:20; 62. SKG jr. Mina Yee 30:32; 63. JD so. Elyzsa Sapinoso 30:36; 64. JD jr. Raegan Adams 30:58; 65. KAK fr. Brittany Nelson 30:59; 66. JD fr. Lucy Wall 31:20; 67. HNS fr. Alivia Martin 32:23; 68. JD jr. Anna Reiter 33:25; 69. MET jr. Mackenzie Williams 33:29; 70. JD so. Mariah Andrew 34:27; 71. JD jr. Makia Silva 34:39; 72. SKG fr. Millie Bass 35:44; 73. HNH so. Nevaeh Campbell 35:55.
Hoonah Invitational Boys Results:
1. EHS jr. Staples 17:05; 2. JD jr. Fellman 17:25; 3. PSG sr. Ventress 17:53; 4. JD jr. Z. Bos 18:15; 5. EHS sr. Sharrock 18:37; 6. EHS so. Aquino 18:46; 7. SKG so. Rupprecht 18:51; 8. EHS sr. Remick 18:56; 9. JD sr. E. Schane 18:59; 10. PSG jr. Kerr 19:09; 11. PSG sr. Alex Holmgrain 19:15; 12. JD sr. Dane Hubert 19:25.04; 13. JD so. Carson Kautz 19:25.95; 14. Jd jr. Ataga Hood 19:32; 15. JD jr. Miezen Deraimer 19:33; 16. JD jr. Erik Thompson 19:45; 17. KAK jr. Xzavier Munoz-Torres 19:47; 18. JD jr. Daniel Degener 19:50; 19. SKG so. Dane Ames 19:51.12; 20. JD jr. Sam Buttner 19:51.39; 21. PSG jr. Ben Kandoll 19:53; 22. EHS so. Leif Mowery 19:55; 23. PSG fr. Joseph Hofstetter 19:55; 24. SKG so. Zane Coughran 19:58; 25. HNS fr. Yeshey Galindo-George 20:03; 26. PSG fr. Wesley Durst 20:06; 27. JD so. Anderson Murray 20:08; 28. PSG fr. Camden Johnson 20:09.04; 29. JD jr. Max Webster 20:09.64; 30. EHS so. Jonathan Greenway 20:19; 31. SKG so. Arthur Aribam 20:26; 32. JD so. Finnan Kelly 20:27; 33. HNH sr. Gerred Garrison 20:37; 34. PSG jr. Waylon Jones 20:40; 35. EHS sr. Liam Cleary 21:07; 36. SKG sr. Brenden Moncibaiz 21:15.39; 37. JD so. Caleb Schane 21:15.69; 38. HNH fr. Tank Tyler 21:19; 39. JD so. Porter Goudie 21:21; 40. HNH sr. Dietrich Lewis 21:22; 41. EHS jr. Mattias Hilliard 21:29; 42. SKG jr. Luca Tronrud 21:31; 43. JD jr. Bryden Roberts 21:33; 44. JD so. Lucas Nelson-Vallejo 21:35.59; 45. EHS so. Tengerjin Puresuren 21:35.91; 46. KAK so. Tyler Davis 21:36; 47. PSG fr. Nathaniel Olson 21:41; 48. HNH jr. Lawrence Howland 21:51; 49. KAK fr. Erik Davis 21:56; 50. JD jr. Gavin Sebastian 22:06; 51. JD fr. Brooks Pinney 22:15.80; 52. PSG sr. Ethan Bertagnoli 22:27.36; 53. SKG so. Logan Ward 22:31.29; 54. HNS fr. Luke Bell 22:32.36; 55. JD fr. Tymur Tkachenko 22:38.44; 56. SKG sr. Camden Lawson 22:47.92; 57. SKG fr. AJ Lopez 23:02.61; 58. PSG fr. Quincy Rice 23:04.83; 59. JD so. Lucas Wyatt 23:06.05; 60. HNS fr. Spencer Baumgartner 23:08.51; 61. KAK jr. Daniel Bean-Willis 23:43.02; 62. JD fr. Ben Blackout 24:00.38; 63. EHS jr. Mason Clarke 24:04.52; 64. HNH so. Riley Neal 24:04.83; 65. JD fr. Oscar Lamb 24:07.26; 66. HNH so. James Erickson 25:14.27; 67. MET so. Sam Charles 25:49.53; 68. PSG so. Jacob Newlun 26:11.77; 69. JD jr. Tullitsiaq Reimer 26:16.27; 70. JD so. Craig Thorsteinson 26:25.41; 71. MET jr. Kalin Hudson 27:57; 72. JD fr. Knox Francis 28:10; 73. MET jr. Sea Hawk Sanford 29:39.60; 74. MET jr. Xavier Olsen 29:41; PSG sr. Payton Dreisbach 31:23.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at kstolpe@juneauindependent.com
