Knights in running for titles

MAT-SU — The Colony Knights don’t have a dominant front-runner.

The Knights don’t have that one runner who is absolutely guaranteed to be at the front of the pack at the end of every race.

But that’s exactly the reason why the Knights may be at the top of the team standings after the most important race on the Region III schedule.

“Our philosophy is team racing,” Colony co-head coach Mark Strabel said on Thursday as the Knights prepared for the upcoming Region III Championships slated for Saturday afternoon in Soldotna.

“We’re not just focusing on the individual racer.”

Both the Colony girls and Colony boys cross country running teams are vying for top spots in the team standings of the championships, thanks in part to tremendous competition generated by a consistent group of talent.

“The front-runners constantly change,” Strabel said. “It’s nice not having to depend on one person. We’ve got an entire team.”

The Colony boys will use that team concept to try to dethrone Region III power Kodiak. Strabel said he can’t even begin to guess which of his runners will be the first to cross the finish line, but there are plenty of worthy candidates.

The Knights have sophomore Tanner Enloe who should improve on his 16th-place in regions last year. There’s also Jeff Ford (30th in regions in 2007), Alex Reimer (34th) and other strong runners such as Steven Sinnett and Dylan Crawford.

Kodiak, a team led by defending state champion Trevor Dunbar, is the favorite,  but Strabel the Knights have the potential to sneak in as the dark horse.

“Every race is different,” Strabel said. “You never know how it’ll end up until you reach the finish line.”

In the girls’ race, Colony and Soldotna are the favorites for the team title.

“They’re the only region team that’s beat the (Colony) girls this year,” Colony head co-head coach Mark Doner said of the Stars.

But Doner said he expects the Wasilla Warriors — the two-time defending region champs — to be right there as well.

Doner’s squad has had different runners lead the team this season.

Freshman Alyssa Hutchins won the Mat-Su Borough title last week, and was also the top Colony runner in the Dimond Lynx Invitational in September.

Sydney Stewart was the top CHS runner in the Interior Invite in Fairbanks early in the year and at the Palmer Invitational in early September.

Colony also has Maria Wick, Abby Jahn, Caitlin Skvorc and Heidi Doner, the runner-up in the 2007 region championships.

Mark Doner said he’d love to have his top seven runners break the 21-minute mark on Saturday, but, “when it boils down to it, you don’t get points for the time you run, you get points for the place you run.”

Wasilla head coach Gary Howell knows his girls are the underdogs this year, rather than the favorites as they’ve been for the past two seasons. And he’s fine with that.

“There’s a lot less stress in my life,” Howell joked.

But the Warrior running coach also knows he has a handful of athletes who can certainly make things interesting.

“It’s the SoHi and Colony show right now, but I wouldn’t count us out,” Howell said.

Howell said he’d also like for the bulk of his team to crack the 21-minute mark, which is certainly a possibility.

Alison Kelley, Rachel Kennedy, Brooke Nelson, Kendra Miner and Katie Bialka are among those who have the chance to do it, he said, and like the Knights, his Warriors have been running in a pack.

“They’re all within about 10 seconds of each other,” Howell said.

Bialka led the squad with a seventh-place showing at regions last year.

On the boys side, Howell said he’d love to see the Warriors sneak in and grab the third spot in the team standings.

Health may be a big factor in that goal. Freshman Simon Fischer, among team leaders throughout the season, has been sick, Howell said, and he will not know until today whether the young standout will make the trip to the Peninsula.

But with Fischer, Howell feels he’ll have a formidable force in the race. Wasilla also has Drew Ford, the runner-up in the Mat-Su Borough Championships, Mike Johnston and Jaron Christensen-Vavalis.

Leading the Palmer Moose is junior Wylie Mangelsdorf, a runner with the potential of posting a top-three finish.

“We have Dunbar definitely and after that it could be anybody,” Palmer head coach Tim Lundt said.

Mangelsdorf finished 13th in regions last year, but this year he’s enjoyed a breakthrough campaign.

“He’s a lot taller and a lot stronger,” Lundt said.

The varsity races are scheduled to start at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday at the Tsalteshi Running Trails in Soldotna. The top four teams from the boys and girls classes will advance to the state championships, as will the top-15 individual runners.

Palmer High School is hosting the state championships on Oct. 4 at the Michael Janecek Running Trails.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.