JDHS Nordic skiers poised to earn state titles
- Klas Stolpe
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Crimson Bears will first warm up at Palmer regionals this weekend
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears Nordic Ski team will be competing in the Region III Nordic Ski Championships this weekend in Palmer.
“I have to say I am excited to go to a race with a lot of schools, racing with my team and seeing our growth in both technique and mindset,” JDHS senior captain Zoë Lessard said. “This season has been awesome. Our team is strong and very close, weather is not always our best friend, but we are only stronger skiers because of that. This season is my last so I am just trying to soak it all in and enjoy the skiing.”
As the only team in the Southeast Region V area, JDHS can compete at any regional tournament they are invited to. They were accepted to the Region III tournament in Kenai and Region VI in Fairbanks last season. JDHS had competed at the Region III meet hosted by Kenai/Soldotna two years ago and had an open invitation to return, but snow conditions last season made Fairbanks more appealing. This year, the travel costs were too high to return to the Fairbanks regionals at Birch Hill.
“We were invited to come back to Fairbanks, wholeheartedly by Region VI,” JDHS coach Abby McAllister said. “They really liked having us there. We upped the bar for competition in their eyes because we kind of diversify the field. In Region VI, West Valley kind of dominates up there so they like having us come and compete…The more, the merrier. This weekend we will leave Thursday morning, we race Friday and Saturday, and we fly home Sunday. Then we have a weekend off — well, I call it a week off, but we race at home in the Snickerdoodle Skiathlon in which we switch ski techniques in the middle of the race. It’s kind of exciting, and then the weekend after that is state.”
Hosted by Colony High School, this weekend’s Region III course will be at the Government Peak Recreation Area in Palmer, which is also the site of this season’s Alaska School Activities Association Nordic Ski State Championships on Feb. 19-21.
“I am excited about racing the trails in Palmer,” JDHS senior captain Siena Farr said. “State is also in Palmer so we are lucky enough to get a race preview, which is especially helpful to our younger racers who haven’t skied those trails. This season has been my favorite so far. Even though our snow recently hasn’t been the best, the attitude and fun we’ve had is unmatched. I’m hoping that my younger teammates have learned and had fun this season like I have, and will take their knowledge into next season and coach the new skiers who will be joining us next year.”
Friday will feature the one-lap individual start 5-kilometer freestyle races and Saturday the two-lap mass start 7.5-kilometer classic style races.
“At this race, I am hoping my team can relax and enjoy the racing without the stress,” Lessard said. “Many in our team are underclassman and are new to races like this so I am excited for them. I hope we have an amazing time and my teammates meet their goals.”
The Region III schools expected to attend are from Colony, Grace Christian, Homer, Kenai, Nikiski, Palmer, Seward, Soldotna, Su-Valley and Wasilla.
“Cross-country skiing requires a couple more steps than cross-country running,” Lessard said. “Our skies need to be prepped and waxed the day before we leave and then the classic skies need to have kick wax applied, probably the most tedious step of this process because it is snow and weather dependent, meaning our coaches have to test it out over and over on race day to make sure we are set. ... Wind chill is also a problem we run into but we deal with this using our glitter actually. The vaseline used to stick it on protects our face from the wind.”
The Crimson Bears may seem like the orphans of the Alaska School Activities Association ski world, seeking acceptance into a region’s race, looking for the course that will provide stability to help them grow and prosper among the sports' more established programs.
In reality, they hold their own against more seasoned teams despite having the most inconsistent snow conditions.
This season JDHS competed at the Lynx Loppet ’26 meet Jan. 23-24 at Anchorage’s Kincaid Park. The event was sponsored by the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage and Anchorage High School XC Ski Racing and had more than 500 skiers from across Alaska competing.
On day one of the meet, JDHS freshman Brooks Pinney won the boys’ open classic style race in 17 minutes 27.9 seconds, just ahead of Chugiak’s Micah Wesley in 17:43.6, and JDHS freshman Eliza Albrecht placed second in the girls’ open classic race in 18:06.5, just behind Kenai’s Kynnlie Chadwick in 17:10.7. Each of those races featured more than 30 athletes.
Service’s Jack Leveque won the boys’ pursuit classic style in 19:04.5. In that field of 262 racers, JDHS sophomore Caleb Schane placed 96th in 27:36.9, sophomore Finnan Gahl Kelly 119th in 29:05.8, sophomore Emmett Hightower 121st in 29:21.3, freshman Oscar Lamb 135th in 29:54.9, sophomore Anderson Murray 149th in 30:43.8, and freshman Tymur Tkachenko 172nd in 32:24.2
South Anchorage’s Solvej Lunoe won the girls’ pursuit classic in 16:20.6. In that field of 188 athletes, JDHS junior Kai Mangaccat placed 42nd in 20:18.1, sophomore Sigrid Eller 55th in 21:09, senior Lua Mangaccat 59th in 21:14.7, senior Siena Farr 66th in 21:34, sophomore Sunna Schane 69th in 21:47.3 and junior Raegan Adams 133rd in 26:26.
In day two of the meet, South’s Braxton Thornley won the boys’ open freestyle race in 8:30.3. In that field of 63 athletes, JDHS’ Pinney placed 12th in 11:59.1. In the girls’ open freestyle, JDHS’ Albrecht placed first in a time of 12:54.8 in a field of 52.
South’s Vebjorn Flagstad won the boys’ freestyle pursuit in 15:28.5. In that field of 254 athletes, JDHS’ C. Schane placed 104th in 22:40.2, Lamb 122nd in 23:47.5, Gahl Kelly 123rd in 23:48.8, Hightower 145th in 24:39.8, Murray 157th in 25:08.9 and Tkachenko 171st in 27:08.5.
South’s Lunoe won the girls’ freestyle pursuit in 18:58.5. In that field of 183 athletes, JDHS’ K. Mangaccat placed 37th in 23:26.6, Farr 55th in 25.04.4, L. Mangaccat 65th in 25:52.2, Eller 66th in 26:06.8, S. Schane 83rd in 27:33.2, and Adams 140th in 34:06.4.
There is currently discussion underway as to whether JDHS will be scored at the Region III meet. Region and ASAA bylaws can be interpreted differently. Some regions suggest a team must be part of their conference to be scored while the ASAA bylaws suggest they can be accepted in the scoring if all opposing teams' coaches agree. There is no specific ASAA bylaw, however, that addresses JDHS’ specific situation that, for instance, if a team has no other opponents in their region they can be scored at a different region championship meet. For the past two seasons the coaches at the region championships voted unanimously to include JDHS in the scoring.
If JDHS is not given official scoring they will also not be awarded any gender-specific medals if a skier finishes in the top 10 of an event or qualify for male or female Skier of the Year and Coach of the Year.
“To me as a coach, I see our athletes work hard in all areas of the sport,” coach McAllister said. “And we fundraise really hard to travel to these races so they can compete with their peers and maybe make a podium. But we will always compete hard because we want to get better, and we travel great distance to honor the schools we compete against.”
The ASAA state championships, however, are all inclusive, meaning any Alaska high school Nordic Ski team represented in the championship events are officially scored participants regardless of region or non-region affiliation. The Crimson Bears will take seven boys and seven girls to the state meet. Last season, the JDHS girls placed 10th in the team standings at state and 10th in the four-person girls’ relay. JDHS’ Finn Lamb placed sixth in the classic 5K and 10th in the freestyle 7.5K and was selected to the All-State Team. In 2024, the JDHS girls won both the academic and sportsmanship awards and placed ninth as a team and ninth in the four-person relay.
The JDHS Nordic Ski team are senior girls captains Zoë Lessard, Lua Mangaccat and Siena Farr, junior girls Raegan Adams, Riley Soboleff, Kaia Mangaccat and Eva Meyer, sophomore girls Gracie Snyder, Sunna Schane and Sigrid Eller, sophomore boys Finnan Gahl Kelly, Caleb Schane, Craig Thorsteinson, Anderson Murray and Emmett Hightower, freshmen girls Eliza Albrecht, Cora Soboleff, Clara Van Kirk and Emmalynn LaPlante, and freshmen boys Ethan Buchheit, Tymur Tkachenko, Oscar Lamb and Brooks Pinney.
Helping McAllister are 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.
