But the Wasilla High School head coach was a bit stunned by the final results.
“I’m surprised they 15’d us,” Howell said, referring Colony’s perfect score in the team standings of the 2-mile race.
  
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“Colony’s good — really good,” Howell said. “My hats off to that program. They’ve been looking at the back of the red shirts for the last couple years, maybe it’s their time.”
Freshman Alyssa Hutchins was the first runner to cross the finish line, posting a time of 13 minutes and 6 seconds.
Susitna Valley freshman Bailey Stevenson actually finished second in the event at 13:11, but since the Rams didn’t have enough runners to field a complete team, Stevenson’s finish did not factor into the team scores.
And with Stevenson’s finish not counting in the race for the Borough team title, Maria Wick, Sydney Stewart, Heidi Doner and Abby Jahn finished within a 17-second span to give the Knights the sweep of the top five spots in the team standings.
Stevenson actually led after the first mile of the race, but Hutchins said she caught the Su Valley runner about half-way through the second mile.
“We’ve raced before and she’s always leading,” Hutchins said. “But at the end I always end up getting her.”
Hutchins was the top Colony runner for the second straight meet — she finished a Valley-high 20th in a very tough Dimond Lynx Invitational last week in Anchorage — but the deep Colony squad has had a variety of runners record team-best finishes this year. Hutchins said that competition is important, especially for the upperclassmen.
“For me, it’s not as much of a big deal. I’m a freshman; I don’t have any expectations,” Hutchins said. “But for a lot of the girls, it’s a big deal. In practice they push each other a lot.”
A string of Wasilla runners followed the glut of Colony talent. Katie Bialka was the first runner wearing red to cross the finish line, recording a time of 13:39.
Allison Kelley, Rachel Kennedy, Brooke Nelson, Rachel Hoffman, Jessica Pahkala and Holly Peterson all followed within the next 16 seconds.
Gretchen Winter placed 27th with a time of 14:47 to lead the Moose.
Palmer junior Wylie Manglesdorf broke away from the crowd during the second mile to claim an easy victory in the boys race. Manglesdorf, who opened the season with a win in the all-Valley Colony Twilight Meet, finished with a time of 10:55, 21 seconds head of second-place Drew Ford of Wasilla.
Manglesdorf led Colony’s Steven Sinnett by only about 10 yards as the runners made the turn to head into the second mile. Manglesdorf said he heard spectators say that Sinnett was close behind, and that motivated him to pick up the pace.
“I just pushed a little harder and I guess he dropped off,” Manglesdorf said.
Ford also made a move during the second mile to vault himself into the second position and finished with a time of 11:16.
“This is a breakthrough run for him,” Howell said. “This is the best race I’ve seen him run.”
Howell said Ford is routinely a top runner in practice, but for whatever reason, the success had not translated to race day.
“Drew has had this race in him for about two years now,” Howell said. “It’s nice to see him rise to the occasion and come through.”
Howell said the second-place finish could do wonders for Ford’s confidence and help him as runners prepare for the region championships.
Sinnett led a group of three Colony runners in the top-five and the trio helped Colony grab the boys’ team title with an overall score of 27 points.
Dylan Crawford (11:26) finished fourth, while freshman Schyler Knopp (11:27) was fifth.
Bill Kelly led Susitna Valley with a 21st-place finish.
Crevasse Moraine is not the typical venue for a prep cross country running race, but Howell said Wasilla’s cross country running trails are still under construction and the Warriors wanted to host the Borough meet.
Howell said the Crevasse Moraine Trail System is familiar to most runners, is centrally located in the Valley and seemed like a great place to host the annual event.
“We all run Crevasse all the time,” Howell said. “It’s kind of like the Valley’s version of Kincaid Park.”
Susitna Valley
to host invite
The Su Valley Rams will host the annual Susitna Valley Invitational in Talkeetna on Saturday.
The meet will feature runners ranging from the preschool to high school level. Preschool races start at 10 a.m., and races for the kindergarten, third and fourth and fifth- and sixth-grade levels will follow.
The middle school race is set to start at 11:15 a.m., and the high school race is slated for 12:30 p.m.
The high school girls run at 12:30 and the boys follow at 1:15 p.m.
More than a dozen teams are scheduled to compete in the high school races. Teams from Houston, Anchorage Christian, Anderson, Tri Valley, Valdez, Cook Inlet Academy, Tok, Heritage Christian, Tanana, Galena, Nenana and Cantwell will join the host Rams.
Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
Mat-Su Borough Championships
Wednesday, Crevasse Moraine
Boys team scores:
1. Colony 27, 2. Wasilla 45, 3. Palmer 80, 4. Susitna Valley 117, 5. Houston 123.
Boys individual results:
1. W. Manglesdorf, Pal 10 minutes, 55 seconds; 2. D. Ford, Was 11:16; 3. S. Sinnett, Col 11:22; 4. D. Crawford, Col 11:26; 5. S. Knopp, Col 11:27; 6. T. Enloe, Col 11:28; 7. S. Fischer, Was 11:29; 8. M. Johnston, Was 11:33; 9. J. Ford, Col 11:36; 10. B. Wangberg, Col 11:37; 11. A. Reimer, Col 11:38; 12. P. Wise, Pal 11:49; 13. G. Williams, Col 11:53; 14. A. Lee, Was 11:56; 15. N. Ripley, Was 11:56; 16. B. Wolsterman, Pal 12:01; 17. J. Pahkala, Was 12:01; 18. J. Christiansen-Vavalis, Was 12:02; 19. N. Gumminger, Col 12.10; 20. A. Meyerhofer, Col 12:15; 21. B. Kelly, SV 12:20; 22. C. Sholar, Was 12:02; 23. J. Meaney, Col 12:28; 24. B. Ballard, Pal 12:9; 25. R. Tracy, Was 12:30; 26. B. Chamberlin, Was 12:32; 27. D. VanHomisson, Pal 12:32; 28. K. Thompson, Pal 12:32; 29. K. Montgomery, Pal 12:37; 30. T. Figley, SV 12:41; 31. D. Dodds, Hou 12:42; 32. B. Putnam, Hou 12:43; 33. C. Ess, Pal 12:47; 34. J. Warner, Hou 12:54; 35. L. LaRue, Pal 12:56; 36. B. Muniz, Pal 12:58; 37. J. Richey, Hou 12:59; 38. J. Buck, Col 13:01; 39. K. Wilson, Col 13:02; 40. S. Pine, Was 13:07; 41. S. Hamler, SV 13:13; 42. A. Oliver, Col 13:17; 43. T. Hoople, Pal 13:23; 44. L. Johnson, Was 13:25; 45. C. Coisman, Col 13:26; 46. S. Forrest, Pal 13:31; 47. M. Kelly, Col 13:33; 48. L. Basner, Col 13:35; 49. T. Rodamer, Was 13:36; 50. M. Stevenson, SV 13:40; 51. A. Mahan, Pal 13:43; 52. A. Liebing, Pal 13:45; 53. C. Cowan, Was 13:45; 54. A. May, Col 13:45; 55. B. Parry, SV 13:49; 56. G. Hulbert, Col 13:52; 57. K. Conaway, Col 13:54; 58. R. Rodamer, Was 13:59; 59. I. Shortridge, Was 14:02; 60. L. Faulkner, Col 14:03; 61. M. Lindsey, Hou 14:04; 62. C. McCavit, Was 14:05; 63. J. Simon, Pal 14:09; 64. K. Mangus, Was 14:09; 65. C. Wamberg, Col 14:18; 66. B. Richtarcsik, Col 14:24; 67. Khephran Heru-ra-ha, Pal 14:39; 68. C. Mattson, Was 14:59; 69. T. Harris, Col 16:24; 70. S. Chapman, Was 16:36; 71. L. Bloczynski, SV 17:16.
Girls team scores:
1. Colony 15, 2. Wasilla 45, 3. Palmer 80.
Girls individual results:
1. A. Hutchins, Col 13:06; 2. B. Stevenson, SV 13:11; 3. M. Wick, Col 13:19; 4. S. Stewart, Col 13:23; 5. H. Doner, Col 13:36; 6. A. Jahn, Col 13:36; 7. C. Skvorc, Col 13:37; 8. K. Bialka, Was 13:39; 9. A. Kelley, Was 13:41; 10. R. Kennedy, Was 13:41; 11. B. Nelson, Was 13:47; 12. R. Hoffman, Was 13:48; 13. J. Pahkala, Was 13:51; 14. H. Peterson, Was 13:57; 15. L. Laughlin, Col 13:59; 16. K. Clump, Was 14:04; 17. E. Ripley, Was 14:04; 18. T. Stewart, Col 14:05; 19. T. Laughlin, Col 14:12; 20. K. Gronlund, Col 14:20; 21. M. Scott, SV 14:22; 22. M. Bowker, Col 14:25; 23. C. Schleich, Was 14:27; 24. S. Van Bavel, Col 14:28; 25. J. Krediet, Col 14:38; 26. A. Oksoktaruk, Was 14:45; 27. G. Winter, Pal 14:47; 28. V. Schleich, Was 15:01; 29. K. Wilbur, Was 15:02; 30. G. Bohman, Pal 15:04; 31. M. Lundt, Pal 15:22; 32. H. Smith, Pal 15:28; 33. M. Whitfield, Pal 15:35; 34. H. Young, Was 15:54; 35. J. Ziter, Was 15:58; 36. K. Alstrom, Was 16:07; 37. K. Troxel, Col 16:23; 38. K. Morris, Hou 16:23; 39. D. Kleenwein, Hou 16:35; 40. H. Denoncour, Pal 16:36; 41. K. Forstner, Col 16:41; 42. A. Dushkin, Was 16:49; 43. A. Lund, Col 16:53; 44. J. Troisi, Was 16:57; 45. J. Coisman, Col 17:05; 46. K. Parker, Was 17:07; 47. A. Kaier, Hou 17:18; 48. K. Dalms, Pal 17:22; 49. K. Ford, Was 17:49; 50. M. Nagel, Col 18:12; 51. H. Woolbert, Was 18:36; 52. C. Powder, Was 19:55; 53. D. Akkerman, Was 21:04; 54. M. Dau, Was 22:57; 55. K. Dervaes, Was 23:05.
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