Bad weather decreases field for Valdez ski meet

VALDEZ — Poor road conditions turned a few teams away from the Valdez Invitational ski meet this weekend.

According to reporting by the Valdez Star last Thursday, local police warned travelers not to drive to Valdez, as the icy roads posed “significant threat to life or property.” A message sent from the police department to people in the community via nixle.com also urged drivers to use “extreme caution” due to freezing rain and “hazardous driving conditions.”

Valdez High School ski coach Pete Toye said the Kenai, Soldotna and Seward High School teams were en route to Valdez when it was decided they would not attend the race.

Seward got as far as Glennallen before they turned around, Toye said, but the Kenai team stopped in Palmer to get some training in at Government Peak Recreation Area during the Mat-Su Borough-hosted Winter Trails Day.

Toye also said that the Kenai team was probably “a little gun shy” about going to Valdez in the poor conditions after three team members were injured in a bus accident on the way to the race last year.

This year, the lack snow on the racecourse, too, was another issue that may have contributed to some teams’ decision not to come.

“We were touch-and-go with the conditions,” Toye said. “A couple days before (the race) it didn’t look like it was gonna happen.”

It did, however, with full teams from Colony, Palmer, West Valley and Lathrop High Schools.

Wasilla, Su-Valley and Valdez High Schools each brought teams for the Friday relays and the Saturday classic races, but none had enough members to score.

The team results were the same for both boys and girls: West Valley took first, Colony second, Lathrop third and Palmer fourth.

Colony’s Greta Jenkins came in first overall in the 5.4-kilometer classic race Saturday with a time of 17:03. Her teammate, Jordyn Block, finished second for the Knights and fourth overall at 17:52.

Rya Berrigan came in first for the Palmer girls at 19:05, finishing ninth.

In the boys’ 8.4-kilometer classic race, West Valley took the top five slots, followed by a Lathrop skier and Colony’s Nick Harrison, who finished eighth at 25:24. His teammate, Dakota Peterson-Thompson, came in a minute later at 26:03, finishing 11th overall, followed by Palmer’s Colbe Hand in 26:18.

The next race on the docket for Mat-Su Valley teams is the Colony Invitational, Jan. 23 and 24 at Government Peak Recreation Area.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

Valdez Invitational Ski Meet

1/9-10/15

Girls’ team results

1. West Valley, 1:12:14; 2. Colony, 1:13:12; 3. Lathrop, 1:22:13; 4. Palmer, 1:22:30.

Girls’ Varsity

5.4-kilometer classic

1. Col., G. Jenkins, 17:03; 2. WVHS, J. Difolco, 17:39; 3. WVHS, J. Hediger, 17:40; 4. Col., J. Block, 17:52; 5. WVHS, D. Nickish, 18:22; 6. WVHS, B. Gottmeier, 18:33; 7. Col., M. Meyerhofer, 18:57; 8. WVHS, K. Reitano, 19:04; 9. Pal., R. Berrigan, 19:05; 10. WVHS, Z. Ratzlaff, 19:14; 11. WVHS, P. Presler, 19:18; 12. Col., L. Olsen, 19:20; 13. VHS, S. Allen, 19:21; 14. VHS, R. Norris, 19:31; 15. Col., C. Geraghty, 19:31; 16. LHS, L. Oba, 20:01; 17. Pal., R. Woodings, 20:05; 18. LHS, M. Parrot, 20:20; 19. LHS, E. Shawcroft, 20:21; 20. Col., J. Kopsack, 20:29; 21. Pal., E. Bingham, 21:07; 22. Col., A. Kopsack, 21:09; 23. Col. J. Bethel, 21:26; 24. LHS, L. Porter, 21:31; 25. Pal. S. Feige, 22:13; 26. VHS, K. Keeney, 24:15; 27. SuVal., C. Harrell, 28:37.

Boys’ team results

1. West Valley, 1:32:43; 2. Colony, 1:45:01; 3. Lathrop, 1:54:57; 4. Palmer, 1:55:22.

Boys’ Varsity

8.4-kilometer classic

1. WVHS, T. Sayre, 22:47; 2. WVHS, J. Koenig, 22:54; 3. WVHS, B. Koenig, 23:18; 4.

WVHS, J. Mayo, 23:44; 5. WVHS, T. Donaldson, 23:44; 6. LHS, L. Mowry, 24:14; 7. WVHS, C. Lease, 24:40; 8. Col., N. Harrison, 25:24; 9. WVHS, B. Keener, 25:26; 10. VHS, S. Wegner, 25:54; 11. Col., D. Peterson-Thompson, 26:03; 12. Pal., C. Hand, 26:18; 13. Col., Gar. Birch, 26:20; 14. Pal., J. Alverts, 26:53; 15. WVHS, A. Earnest, 26:55; 16. Col., T. Farring, 27:14; 17. LHS, E. Porter, 27:36; 18. Monroe, L. Button, 28:02; 19. Hutchison, G. Rueter, 28:23; 20. Col., Gav. Birch, 28:31; 21. Pal., B. Mordue-Swalling, 29:00; 22. LHS, A. Hanneman, 29:38; 23. Pal., S. Haney, 33:11; 24. LHS, C. Wappett, 33:29; 25. SuVal., M. Jurasek, 34:23; 26. SuVal., C. Stec, 38:44.