By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka High School cross country runners competed in Petersburg over the weekend and performed well despite most of the athletes being sick.
The boys team finished second out of 11 teams present, and the girls finished seventh out of eight. Ketchikan took first place in both races.
Coach Shasta Smith said that “there were a lot of highlights over the weekend.” On the boys side, senior Dominic Baciocco ran the 5,000 meter race in 16:29, securing first place by an impressive 32 seconds.
Asa Demmert also ran well, taking fourth place with a time of 17:38. Kobi Weiland finished ninth with his time of 18:23. Coach Smith told the Sentinel that Weiland “had a great race. Kobi found his groove… he was engaged and focused on racing.” Weiland edged out tenth place finisher Dwight King of Ketchikan by a tight 0.63 seconds. Smith credited this to Weiland’s “fantastic sprint finish.”
Hahlen Behnken Barkhau finished 24th with a time of 19:11 after a late start to the season. Smith said she expects him to “continue to shave time.” Colton Ewers ran the race in 19:42 to take 36th place out of 112 runners; and Asa Dow finished at 20:04, for 41st place.
In the girls race, Anna Prussian finished second with a time of 20:24. Coach Smith was impressed by this performance, noting that Prussian ran well “despite being sick and taking a wrong turn.” Tawny Smith ran the race in 22:53 to claim 19th place out of 86 runners. Addie Poulson finished with a time of 25:06 in 39th place. With a time of 26:21, Alyssa Henshaw took 49th place.
Wolves’ runner Anna Prussian pushes ahead of Thunder Mountain’s Ellie Knapp in Petersburg, Saturday. Prussian finshed second in her race. (Photo by Brian Varela, Petersburg Pilot)
Junior Katie Sweeney ran the course in 27:19 to claim 58th place. This was a 29 second improvement over her race in Juneau last weekend. Smith called this “a breakthrough race – she raced really offensively.” Danish exchange student Nicoline Christensen took 63rd place with her time of 27:50.
Smith said her focus in the meet was “coming together as a team. Nothing says team bonding like a good, old-fashioned late night game of ‘fish out of water’ at the playground.”
Nearly all of the runners were sick over the weekend, though performance overall was normal. Unlike many cross country courses, the Petersburg course includes some pavement, and a couple of serious hills. The competition took place on a rare sunny day in Petersburg.
The Wolves’ cross country runners will be in Haines this upcoming weekend for their next meet.
