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JDHS sweeps Division I cross-country region championships
Mangaccat leads girls and Thompson leads boys to podium dominance
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Kaia Mangaccat did something she likes to do every day — running with like-minded harriers.
“I love to run with my friends,” Mangaccat said after finishing the Region V Championships course along the Treadwell Historic Mine Trail on Saturday. “I had fun and I think the team did great, and I am really excited for state.”
Mangaccat hit the fastest female time of the day across the three division races in 18 minutes 29 seconds — the second-fastest time across the state this season — on a course that is traditionally harder, especially with traditional Southeast weather.
“The corners are definitely tricky,” Mangaccat said. “So I try to take the outside when it is rainy like this. I am really grateful for all the support from the team and it is really motivating. I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t for the team and the coaches. I love running with my friends and pushing myself and getting faster. I love running.”
Following Mangaccat were JDHS junior Sigrid Eller in 21:09, freshman Coralynn Nelson in 21:11 and junior Nevah Lupro in 21:25.
“I love running in the rain and all the mud,” Eller said. “It just makes me feel like I am completely in it, in the race. I love it. It was definitely cold, though. Going into it I was kind of just thinking that you run as a team in regions, but you are also individually placing. My mindset was to support my team, but also focus on my own race. It was great because I had a teammate in front of me, a teammate right behind me, so it was totally easy to step out of my own race and focus on teammates. And my own race was great. To prepare for state now I mostly focus on something I could have done better, like if I slowed down on the bottom of a hill I can work on that. Bartlett (state course) is really hilly, so it is good to focus on the hills and that is probably what I will look forward to next week.”
Ketchikan senior Ryan Elerding broke up the JDHS dominance with a 21:32.
“Ryan did amazing,” Ketchikan coach Sean Vail said. “I have a rule you need to beat a Juneau runner to go to state. So only one girl will go this year. Both Sarah (Kleeman) and Maddie (Gass) did give it their all to try to get there.”
JDHS freshman Grace Rumsey placed sixth in 22:20, junior Sunna Schane seventh in 22:33, sophomore Maya Mothershead eighth in 22:37, and Ketchikan seniors Sarah Kleeman and Madelyn Gass grabbed the final two individual state qualifying placings in ninth and 10th with 23:03 and 23:19, respectively. Ketchikan sophomore Chloe Beach placed 11th in 25:07, sophomore Becky Fields 12th in 26:21, senior Piper Caskey 13th in 27:10 and freshman Vada Headley 14th in 28:04.
“On both sides they are showing that they are dialing in,” JDHS co-coach Zack Bursell said. “I saw our runners looking poised and moving efficiently through this meet. We are looking ready to put together a strong performance next week.”
In the boys’ race, JDHS senior Erik Thompson led the field from start to finish, blasting across the line in 17:06.
“It means a lot. It is really great,” Thompson said of his repeat region crown. “I am really happy that we took the top three podium spots. That is really good to see from the team. Today I definitely decided to kick it back a little, take it off a bit of the grind, save a little bit of that for state. I was hoping I could pull Logan (Fellman) through to maybe get a sub-17 race, but it just wasn’t in the cards. We are hoping to go back at it again at state and I think that will be a great spot with the competition up there. It was a little tricky warming up today in this weather, because if you go too early you can’t feel your hands, your toes go numb. And if you go too late, which I did today, then your legs aren’t quite ready and you just get shocked into it. Sometimes it works out but it is really difficult on days like today…It means a lot to have this team, though, because if I get tired in the race I can’t stop, I have to keep going because I know those other six guys out there are working as hard as they possibly can. I have to respect that as well and keep working and putting in the effort.”
Thompson was tailed by classmates Logan Fellman in second with 17:13 and Zachariah Bos third in 17:16.
“This means that we are going to be ready for state,” Fellman said. “We are going to be fired up and we have a good group of boys. We are going to make a push at state.”
Added Bos, “Quite honestly, right off the bat, it just means God is good. This is a fun race, crappy conditions, but we were still able to pull through. I personally got really excited when I caught up to Logan, but he has that kick. I am excited for state. It has been in our head all year. We have been taking steps to get better at that course. The regions meet was our halfway point and now we are there.”
JDHS senior Austin Huang grabbed fourth in 18:06, Ketchikan freshman Benjamin Thompson fifth in 18:06 and Ketchikan junior Isaac Evison sixth in 18:11 and JDHS junior Emmett Hightower seventh in 18:13.
“Getting five guys to qualify for state is pretty amazing since our top guy Ben (Thompson) finished with one shoe, he lost it on the second loop,” Ketchikan coach Vail said. “We possibly could have gotten a sixth in there, but Maxton (Glover) fell pretty hard at the start. It was a sloppy course for sure. Everyone should be very proud of themselves.”
Ketchikan grabbed the last three state individual qualifying placings with freshman Paul King eighth in 18:18, senior Henry Vail ninth in 18:19 and senior Blaine Garlick in 10th with 18:29.
JDHS senior Max Webster placed 11th in 19:09, junior Anderson Murray 12th in 19:24, Ketchikan sophomore James Armstrong 13th in 20:54.4 and Ketchikan junior Maxton Glover 14th in 20:54.6.
The top 10 individuals and all seven members of the top team earn entry into the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska Cross Country Running State Championships next Saturday at Anchorage’s Bartlett High School Trails.
“They ran really awesome today,” JDHS co-coach Abby Jahn said. “So proud of all of our runners in the varsity and open races. This week we will focus on continued team building and getting our state team ready to race.”
REGION V DIVISION I AWARDS
Good Sport: JDHS - Zach Bos and Grace Rumsey; Ketchikan - Blaine Garlick & Rebecca Fields.
All Academic: JDHS - Joseph “Max” Webster, Logan Fellman, Austin Huang, Kaia Mangaccat and Erik Thompson; Ketchikan - Gavin Alderson Bell, Piper Caskey, Ryan Elerding, Blaine Garlick and Henry Vail.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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