By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Cheered on by a sizable crowd, Sitka High runners competed on a modified course in Totem Park Saturday in the first and final home meet of this year’s cross country season.
Scores of runners from 13 large and small high schools throughout Southeast crowded the trails of Sitka’s traditional cross country venue for the competition.
SHS senior Addie Poulson’s career in cross country came full circle in the Saturday event. Her first ever high school race was at Totem Park, and Saturday marked her final chance to run her home course for the Wolves.
“It’s a little sad, but the Sitka course was also the first course that I ever ran my freshman year and my first race was like a 28-minute. So running, I think I did 23:57 or something, so that’s a pretty big difference,” she said. Her time earned her 29th place out of 60 in the girls race.
She noted that this was the last home meet for two other girls on the team, Tawny Smith, and Maitlin Young.
Poulson said the presence of a big hometown crowd helped her run faster.
“It was a PR (personal record) for me on the Sitka course,” she said. She ran “almost a whole minute slower” in a time trial two weeks ago.
“So I think having the crowds there definitely helped,” she said. “It gets you excited, gets you a little faster.”
With only a handful of opportunities left to drop time in the season, Poulson hopes to break the 23-minute barrier.
Much like Poulson, Mt. Edgecumbe High sophomore Jake Friske was happy for the chance to run with a variety of other athletes.
“It was nice, I really liked it...At first I was more nervous but there were more people so I could pace myself with more people instead of just pacing by myself if it was two teams,” Friske said.
He finished the five kilometer run in 19:20 to take 24th place of 89 runners in the boys competition.
It was his personal best by a wide, 40-second margin, but he hopes to keep improving his time.
“Shave off 40 more seconds by the end of this (season),” he said.
The large audience was novel for Izzy Jackson, who ran on the Edgecumbe girls team.
“It was actually really nice, because actually we did have fans because the Sitka kids have parents obviously, but there’s never been that many. I haven’t been used to that many people,” said Jackson, who finished 32nd. She’s a senior, but this is only her second year running cross country.
“It went pretty well,” she said “I’ve been having some issues with my knee this season, but I did better than the last couple races I’ve been in ... It was really nice to have other teams on the trail with us, because last year it was just us and Sitka High.”
Her injury has slowed her down from a PR of 27:17 last year, but she aims to have a better time by season’s end than she had at this race.
“I do want to get a couple minutes off my time by then. I don’t think I can beat my PR from last season but I want to at least aim for that,” she said.
SHS junior Dylan Crenna shaved an entire minute off of his previous best time.
“It felt pretty good, I didn’t know I could do that but I just kept pushing myself to keep running faster, catching the guy in front of me,” said Crenna, who finished in 19:30.
With the regional meet just a week away, he’d like to break 19 minutes.
“Trying to get a 19 flat or break a 19, travel to state – that’s another big goal of mine – and then just run my heart out. I’m just excited for our team, they’re doing pretty well this year and I’m just thankful that we got a real season,” he said.
Braves’ coach Josh Arnold said his team has improved over the season.
“They’re getting faster, they’re getting stronger. That’s what we do, we come in late and we’re always at the tail end in the beginning and if the kids do the work – which they are – and if they continue to get faster and stronger, then the idea is we’re beginning to catch teams by the end,” he said.
The usual cross country course through the Sitka National Historical Park includes both the front and back loops of the park trail network. But this year the shorter back loop across the Indian River foot bridge was cut from the course because of bear activity in the area. Instead, runners completed three laps of the main loop.
As a coach, Arnold noted that this meant that he could see his runners in action more often than he normally would.
“From a coach’s perspective the three loops on the large side was kind of nice, I got to see my runners quite a few times ... From a spectator point of view I think that’s great. The families, the schoolmates and teammates got to see the runners a whole bunch of times in that race,” he said.
Both Sitka and Mt. Edgecumbe cross country teams are in Juneau for the last regular season race of the year on Saturday. The regional meet is scheduled for Oct. 3 in Ketchikan.
Boys Race
1 Lapinski, Mickey Ketchikan 16:57
2 Demmert, Silas Sitka 17:00
3 Lucas, Uriah Petersburg 17:30
4 Davis, Luke Haines 17:33
5 Robinson, Will J-D 17:34
6 Weiland, Annan Sitka 17:42
7 Crupi, Eli J-D 17:44
8 Johns, Matthew Thunder Mountain 17:48
9 Hanson, Rogan Craig 17:56
10 Hekkers, Aubrey J-D 17:59
11 Durkin, Michael Petersburg 18:09
12 Nord, Kael Thunder Mountain 18:16
13 Maxwell, Hank Sitka 18:20
14 Demmert, Trey Sitka 18:21
15 Jones, Kaleb Haines 18:28
16 Congdon, Kyle Ketchikan 18:31
17 Kness, Marley Klawock 18:38
18 Harrison, Daniel Wrangell 18:42
19 Campbell, Devlyn Wrangell 18:47
20 Dow, Asa Sitka 18:48
21 Janes, Sage Thunder Mountain 19:16
22 Paden, Justus Thunder Mountain 19:19
23 Hitchcock, Connor Sitka 19:19
24 Friske, Jacob Mt Edgecumbe 19:20
25 Blatchley, Ethan Wrangell 19:23
26 Tingey, Darin Thunder Mountain 19:23
27 Johns, Colton J-D 19:28
28 Weathers, Valon Petersburg 19:29
29 Styles, Casey Ketchikan 19:30
30 Fergueson, Jeremia Sitka 19:44
31 Quiroga, Quinn Thunder Mountain 19:48
32 Allen, Gaelen Haines 19:49
33 Ewers, Colton Sitka 19:54
34 Lister, Chase Petersburg 20:03
35 Sager, Jake Skagway 20:08
36 Churchill, Randy Wrangell 20:09
37 Cabral, Kieran Petersburg 20:09
38 Bass, Sam Craig 20:10
39 Hanson, Keegan Craig 20:13
40 Capps, Brent Ketchikan 20:19
41 Bowman, Tommy Thunder Mountain 20:22
42 Woodruff, Owen Thunder Mountain 20:22
43 Gillham, Eric Haines 20:24
44 Helem, James Sitka 20:28
45 Willis, Breiland Petersburg 20:31
46 Culbeck, Griffin Haines 20:33
47 Rice, Colin Craig 20:33
48 Jacobson, Phoenix Haines 20:37
49 Zigmund, Oliver J-D 20:40
50 Litster, Wyatt Petersburg 20:42
51 Borcik, Logan Haines 20:47
52 Scussel, Justin Thunder Mountain 20:47
53 Ratzat, Tosh Ketchikan 20:50
54 Maier, Reed J-D 20:51
55 Lamb, Finn J-D 20:52
56 Erickson, Ben Thunder Mountain 20:58
57 Carlos, Sergio Sitka 20:58
58 Thiede, Charles Ketchikan 21:04
59 Lutomsky, Caleb Petersburg 21:06
60 Nelson, Jakob Thorne Bay 21:08
61 Andrew, Jaden Edgecumbe 21:08
62 Journey, Connor Edgecumbe 21:12
63 Gabel, Robbie J-D 21:15
64 Brown, Jarrett Edgecumbe 21:27
65 St. Denis, Frank Edgecumbe 21:29
66 Ray, Connor Ketchikan 21:30
67 Shilts, James Wrangell 21:35
68 Paul, Colton Edgecumbe 21:56
69 Baggen, Jimmy Wrangell 22:12
70 McKeehan, Ashton Metlakatla 22:13
71 Ward, Elias Petersburg 22:25
72 Schwarting, Jack J-D 22:32
73 Dock, Elston Edgecumbe 22:32
74 Burnham, Benjamin Skagway 22:59
75 Jackson, Dylan Edgecumbe 22:59
76 Thibodeau, Ryan J-D 23:25
77 Wyzykowski, Dalton Klawock 23:37
78 Jackson, Bradley Edgecumbe 24:01
79 Ivanoff, Colton Edgecumbe 24:12
80 Coutu, Harry J-D 25:41
81 Miller, Calvin Skagway 26:09
82 Benson, Jackson Metlakatla 26:31
83 Fairbanks, Emett Klawock 26:46
84 Booth, Jasper Metlakatla 26:55
85 Litster, Isaac Petersburg 27:40
86 Isaacs, Jacob Klawock 28:03
87 Arroyo, Giovanni Metlakatla 28:36
88 Nelson, Miles Metlakatla 30:53
89 Broncheau, Kohyn Metlakatla 30:53
Girls Race
1 Dihle, Kiah Thunder Mountain 19:16.
2 Mullen, Clare Sitka 19:40.
3 Prussian, Anna Sitka 19:53.
4 Schwartz, Annika J-D 20:12
5 Godinez-Long, Ariel Haines 20:24
6 Eller, Etta J-D 20:40
7 Tuckwood, Rayna J-D 20:52
8 Sikes, Grace Thunder Mountain 20:55
9 Carney, Liana Wrangell 21:35
10 Frey, Carol Ketchikan 21:41
11 Boehlert, Paige Ketchikan 22:11
12 Lister, Kinley Petersburg 22:17
13 Holien, Kenai Klawock 22:25
14 Long, Grace Haines 22:25
15 Newell, Ava J-D 22:26
16 Ortega, Katie Thunder Mountain 22:28
17 Anderson, Mia Edgecumbe 22:38
18 Williamson, Avery Haines 22:41
19 Capps, Trisa Ketchikan 22:42
20 Booton, Abigail Thunder Mountain 22:44
21 Olver, Mackenzie Thunder Mountain 22:45
22 Overturf, Aliyah Thunder Mountain 22:46
23 Stringer, Ashlie J-D 23:12
24 Getchell, Avari Haines 23:18
25 Owen, Sophia Thunder Mountain 23:35
26 Thompson, Kate Petersburg 23:35
27 Odden, Clara Ketchikan 23:40
28 Yerkes, Ellie J-D 23:56
29 Poulson, Addie Sitka 23:57
30 Sakamoto Quezon, Alexus Petersburg 23:57
31 King, Malia Ketchikan 24:06
32 Boehlert, Maggie Ketchikan 24:07
33 Crupi, Serena J-D 24:08
34 Bauer, Aspen Ketchikan 24:40
35 Johnson, Lexi Klawock 24:41
36 Gologergen, Jelsey Edgecumbe 24:55
37 Chapell, Sally Haines 25:18
38 Hudson, Cerys J-D 25:22
39 Haight, Ruchi Thunder Mountain 25:27
40 Ganey, Ashlyn Haines 25:42
41 Bioff, Aries Edgecumbe 25:50
42 Young, Maitlin Sitka 26:06
43 Wiederspohn, Mia Wrangell 26:55
44 Toyomura, Deirdre Petersburg 27:34
45 Bahnke, Sarah Edgecumbe 27:40
46 Aparezuk-Schlosser, Tali J-D 28:28
47 Nanouk-Jones, Sarah Edgecumbe 28:51
48 Beans, Makenna Edgecumbe 29:56
49 Tronrund, Kaitlyn Skagway 30:02
50 Rexford, Ashley Edgecumbe 30:13
51 Day, Rachael Petersburg 30:13
52 Moses, Hailey Edgecumbe 30:19
53 Hoppe, Isabella Klawock 30:36
54 Martinsen, Emma Wrangell 31:09
55 Jordan, Athena Metlakatla 32:06
56 Jackson, Izzy Edgecumbe 32:22
57 Mendonsa, Nichole Thorne Bay 32:40
58 Hedges, Hailey Klawock 32:50
59 Chelette, Rylee Wrangell 36:16
60 Pablos, Clara Thorne Bay 37:43
