By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
In the final home cross country meet of the season Saturday, the Sitka High men’s team continued their high performing streak and swept the top four spots in the Region V competition despite being running alongside athletes from larger schools.
The Lady Wolves took first in their division, with Sitka runners finishing one and two. The race was the final Southeast cross country meet of the season. A number of runners from the Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe High teams qualified for the state meet this weekend in Anchorage.
While athletes from Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe high schools ran simultaneously with competitors from Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain on Saturday, for purposes of qualifying for the state meet, the two local schools are classified in a separate division.
Sitka High boys cross country team Saturday in their final home meet. (Sentinel photo)
For Sitka senior Silas Demmert, Saturday marked a milestone – it was his last chance to race on his home course on the winding trails of Sitka National Historical Park.
“It felt good, that race. It just felt right. Today was a really good day,” Demmert said after the race.
He took first place in 16:27, just 7 seconds ahead of his teammate and second-place finisher, Annan Weiland. Through the course of the season, the two runners have pushed each other to perform, Demmert noted.
“If I felt Annan coming up on me I’d push it,” Demmert recalled. “And he’s great to race with. I love racing with him. He pushes me. I feel like we really have pushed each other this season for sure.”
Silas’ younger brother Trey Demmert finished third in 16:41, while Sitka’s Connor Hitchcock took fourth in 16:49.
Annan Weiland surprised himself on Saturday by running an unexpected personal record on his home course.
“I aimed to go first but expected second. That’s what I got. I’m really happy with it,” Weiland said after the race. His time was also a personal record. “PR––I can’t believe it –- I’ve never PRed on this course… So I’m surprised, I’m incredibly happy to slingshot back from last weekend,” he said.
He’s looking forward to a final chance at running this season at Bartlett High in Anchorage this weekend.
“I’m going to be racing with all these other seniors that I ran with throughout my season. So it’s a little sad watching them go, but it’s just turning over a new leaf. I’m going to be hopefully one of the leaders next year, so maybe I can make the same effect on younger freshmen, sophomores,” the junior said.
The Division I and Division II races were combined into a single event Saturday, with runners from the larger, 4A schools running side by side with runners from the smaller 3A schools (Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe). There was a separate race for Division III, with teams representing Haines, Kake, Petersburg, Wrangell, Craig, Klawock and Skagway. Ketchikan’s team was unable to make it to Saturday’s event and instead raced Sunday.
In the Division II women’s race, Sitka’s Clare Mullin finished first in 19:19. She was nine seconds behind Juneau-Douglas’ Etta Eller. Overall in the Division I races, Juneau-Douglas beat Thunder Mountain by a wide margin. In the Division III races, Wrangell’s men took first place, followed by Haines and Petersburg. In the D3 women’s race, Haines won, with Petersburg in second and Kake in third.
While Mullin said she prefers the Petersburg course overall, she benefits from her in-depth knowledge of her home course.
“I also love our home course because I know it so well. It’s like I know where it’s going to hurt the most, where I need to make a boost,” the sophomore said.
While the Lady Wolves fielded a younger squad at the Region V race, Mullin thinks her team can do well at state.
“I’m definitely excited that our team can score. I think anything can happen,” she said. “We’re a new team, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a chance at the top three. It will definitely be interesting to see how it all shakes out.”
Right behind Mullin, Sitka’s Anna Prussian finished second in the D2 race in 19:30. As a senior, it was her final opportunity to race through the historical park as a member of the cross country team.
“That was my last race ever on this course, which was pretty emotional, especially crossing (the finish line) right behind Clare. She and I have been training side by side for two years. Going into it I was definitely wanting to be in the mindset that however I ran, I wanted to be satisfied with it,” Prussian said. “And I wanted to end it knowing that I did my best.”
Like her teammates, Prussian is eager for a chance to compete up north, especially with Mullin beside her.
“I’m excited to really put our best effort out there together, because we really know how to work well together on the course. And (Bartlett is) a really hard course, so I’m kind of excited to do that,” she said.
While Sitka’s teams led the pack in the D2 races, athletes from Mt. Edgecumbe High were also on the trails and some earned spots at the upcoming state meet.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s Jacob Friske took seventh place in 18:26 and qualified for the state meet.
“I thought I did pretty well, one second below my PR,” the junior from Sitka said.
His main effort in the Region V race got underway in the second lap, he remembered.
“I just kept pushing, started passing guys.”
He hopes to continue improving in the final meet of the season.
“I look forward to the experience again… but I’m also excited to see how I do, see if I do better than last year,” Friske said.
MEHS senior Connor Journey said he “could have prepared a little better. Right in the end, I got a bad side stitch.”
Regardless, he earned a spot in the state meet with a ninth place finish in 20:12. Journey is from St. Mary’s – he hopes his mother will be able to see him run up north.
While Edgecumbe senior Colton Paul didn’t run a personal record time on Saturday, he crossed the finish line in 20:58 in tenth place. The top ten runners from each Division III race will compete at state.
“I could have pushed myself a little harder, but I didn’t want to stop. Because in previous races, I’ve been stopping for some rest, but I thought maybe I should just not stop. OK, I’ll just keep going but keep my pace steady. By the end of the race, or when I got close to the end, I started picking up my pace more,” Paul said.
On the women’s side, MEHS sophomore Aries Bioff, of Nome, cut a full minute from her previous best time and qualified to run this weekend.
“I felt really accomplished. I made my goal and I made my PR. My whole goal during the race was to get past Jelsey (Gologergen), who is my teammate,” Bioff said.
She finished sixth in 23:43, with Gologergen right behind at 24:04.
Following the race, Bioff said she “was crying tears of joy. And I felt good the whole, entire race. I wasn’t hurting or anything. And I felt very accomplished, knowing that I was able to get past that finish line and not slow down.”
Meanwhile, Gologergen was also glad she qualified to run at the state meet. While she’s excited for the race, she’s most eager for the chance to see a family member at the state race.
“I’m honestly excited about seeing my cousin. Hopefully, she qualified because I think she’s running regionals today too. So that’s our only time to see each other before December,” she said.
Gologergen is from Nome, and her cousin runs for the Nome-Beltz Nanooks.
Edgecumbe junior Bessie Williams, from Akiak, took eighth place in 24:12 and also secured a spot to run the hilly Bartlett course. Her time on Saturday was a personal best.
Williams was happy “to have a supportive team that keeps me going and they’re just so helpful.”
The top athletes from both teams will fly north this week to compete in the state cross country meet on Saturday. Region V results for the two local teams are below.
Men’s Results
Silas Demmert 16:27 Sitka
Annan Weiland 16:34 Sitka
Trey Demmert 16:41 Sitka
Connor Hitchcock 16:49 Sitka
James Helem 17:54 Sitka
Hank Maxwell 18:11 Sitka
Jacob Friske 18:26 Mt. Edgecumbe
Dylan Crenna 19:30 Sitka
Connor Journey 20:12 Mt Edgecumbe
Colton Paul 20:58 Mt. Edgecumbe
Donald Olson 22:10 Mt. Edgecumbe
Dejahn Hoover 22:38 Mt. Edgecumbe
Elston Dock 23:21 Mt. Edgecumbe
Women’s Results
Clare Mullin 19:19 Sitka
Anna Prussian 19:30 Sitka
Tessa Anderson 21:24 Mt. Edgecumbe
Natalie Hall 21:45 Sitka
Aliyah Merculief 23:09 Sitka
Aries Bioff 23:43 Mt. Edgecumbe
Jelsey Gologergen 24:04 Mt. Edgecumbe
Bessie Williams 24:12 Mt. Edgecumbe
Jadelynn Kubik 25:24 Sitka
Sarah Bahnke 25:50 Mt. Edgecumbe
Sarah Nanouk-Jones 26:01 Mt Edgecumbe
Leilynn Swain 26:59 Sitka
Helena Slats 27:00 Mt Edgecumbe
Marina Marley 28:44 Sitka
