JDHS Nordic ski team finishes state championship competition
- Klas Stolpe
- 5 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Crimson Bears fight through high winds and low temperatures at Palmer
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears Nordic ski team faced high winds and low temperatures as they competed in the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Nordic Ski State Championships at the Government Peak Recreation Area in Palmer on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“Despite some very cold and windy conditions, I am very proud of the work and skiing I saw at Government Peak in Palmer this past weekend,” JDHS coach Abby McAllister said. “Three days straight of racing is challenging regardless, but to compound that with dry, chilling winds, well, wow, that is another level to contend with.”
On Saturday the championships ended with the 4x3 kilometer mixed technique relay races. Teams have four skiers each doing one 3k lap. The laps were Classic, Classic, Free and Free. DI and DII teams race together and their scores are totaled with their prior DI and DII races on Thursday and Friday to determine overall team champions.
In the 18-team-strong girls mixed relay South Anchorage High School won in 38:35.5 with freshman Elin Lunoe (9:46.6), junior Alise Elliott (9:56.6), freshman Solvej Lunoe (9:38.7) and senior Mia Stiassny (9:13.5). JDHS placed 13th in 48:34.1 with sophomore Sigrid Eller (12:01.0), senior Lua Mangaccat (13:00.0), senior Siena Farr (12:34.9) and junior Kaia Mangaccat (10:58.0).
“The hardest part of my race was the mental challenge of persisting even when aspects of my race didn’t go as planned,” Farr said. “It was challenging to convince myself to keep pushing when I was passed or fell. It was fun to race with so many racers, they definitely pushed me to faster times.”
Farr, one of three JDHS Nordic seniors and captains, along with Lua Mangaccat and Zoë Lessard, said her advice to younger skiers is to “Practice more sharp corners.”
JDHS’ L. Mangaccat said, “At state I actually had an easier time focusing on my own race, I think because there are so many people, I could not focus on everyone else at once.”
Her advice to younger skiers is to “Make sure to have fun and enjoy yourself, stay on top of your homework on trips, and trust your coaches’ wax.”
In the 18 team boys mixed relay South Anchorage won in 32:00.2 with senior Grayson Stanek-Alward (8:22.8), senior Ethan Styvar (8:45.9), senior Vebjorn Flagstad (7:21.4) and freshman Ethan Elliott (7:30.0). JDHS placed 17th in 44:40.4 with sophomores Caleb Schane (10:24.6), Emmett Hightower (12:02.6), Anderson Murray (11:08.7) and Finnan Gahl Kelly (11:04.3).
South Anchorage won the boys three day team title with a combined time among all their finishers of 2:54:44.2. JDHS placed 16th with a 4:02:06.4. South also won the girls three day team title with 3:23:36.5 and JDHS placed 13th with 4:12:05.1.
In the boys' 5-kilometer interval start freestyle race on Thursday Service High School junior Jack Leveque led the division one boys field with a time of 12 minutes 29.1 seconds among 112 racers. For JDHS, C. Schane placed 70th in 17:55.1, Murray 85th in 19:28.0, Gahl Kelly 91st in 19:57.0, Hightower 93rd in 20:15.4, and freshman Oscar Lamb 94th in 20:20.6. Freshman Tymur Tkachenko did not start. Kenai Central High School senior Chase Laker won the DII title in 13:11.3 among 27 racers. Both the DI and DII racers ski in the same race. Laker finished second among both divisions.
In the girls' 5-kilometer interval start freestyle race Thursday, South Anchorage senior Mia Stiassny won in 15:22.2 among 114 racers. For JDHS, K. Mangaccat placed 32nd in 18:16.9, Eller 51st in 19:25.4, L. Mangaccat 63rd in 20:15.7, Farr 70th in 20:32.8, sophomore Sunna Schane 85th in 22:09.2, and freshman Eliza Albrecht 97th in 24:51.0. KCHS junior Isla Crouse won the DII title in 17:32.1 and crossed 27th in the combined outing among DI and DII racers.
Friday featured the 7.5-kilometer mass start classic races.
In the boys' 7.5k mass start classic race Service’s Leveque won in 20:41.2 among 112 races. Leveque posted the fastest first lap with 10:03.8 and fastest second lap with 10:37.3. For JDHS, C. Schane placed 69th in 28:14.1 (13:29.2 / 14:44.9), Gahl Kelly 80th in 29:49.1 (14:07.9 / 15:41.1), Hightower 83rd in 30:41.3 (14:35.3 / 16:06.0), Lamb 87th in 31:07.7 (14:44.6 / 16:23.1), Murray 95th in 32:41.6 (15:11.0 / 17:30.5) and Tkachenko did not start. KCHS’ Laker won the DII title in 21:10.4 (10:04.7 / 11:05.6) and crossed fourth among the combined DI/DII field.
In the girls' 7.5k mass start classic race Service junior Miya Kim-Magruder won the DI title in 24:49.8 (12:03.9 / 12:45.9) among 114 racers. For JDHS, K. Mangaccat placed 33rd in 29:03.9 (13:56.6 / 15:07.3), Eller 47th in 30:52.7 (14:41.1 / 16:11.5), L. Mangaccat 55th in 32:18.7 (15:14.3 / 17:04.4), S. Schane 61st in 32.50.6 (15:18.1 / 17:32.4), Farr 78th in 25:15.6 (16:59.1 / 18:16.4), Albrecht 87th in 37:40.1 (18:24.5 / 19:15.6). KCHS’ Crouse won the DII title in 27:46.6 (13:05.5 / 14:41.0), 25th in the combined DI/DII field.
“We were lucky to race these exact courses two weeks ago at the Region III races, so the team went to the start lines with eyes wide open,” coach McAllister said. “I think everyone felt ready and excited to tackle these trails again… Sure, it was hard. Racing is never easy. But doing hard things makes the hard things easier! We have three seniors graduating, and so many of the state racers will hopefully be back again next year.”
The state tournament allows just six boys and six girls for each competing team. JDHS attendees were girls L. Mangaccat, Farr, K. Mangaccat, S. Schane, Eller, and Albrecht, and boys Gahl Kelly, C. Schane, Murray, Hightower, Lamb and Tkachenko.
The 2026 JDHS Nordic Ski team also included senior girls captain Zoë Lessard, junior girls Raegan Adams, Riley Soboleff, and Eva Meyer, sophomore girl Gracie Snyder, sophomore boy Craig Thorsteinson, freshmen girls Cora Soboleff, Clara Van Kirk and Emmalynn LaPlante, and freshmen boys Ethan Buchheit and Brooks Pinney.
McAllister’s coaching staff included assistant coach Ricky Worl and many school district-sanctioned volunteer coaches, including Mike Hekkers, Merry Ellefson, Tristan Knutson-Lombardo, Jesse Miller, Tim Blust, Aaron Blust, Shawn Eisele and Marc Wheeler.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
