Colony boys win cross-country skiing state title

The Colony boys cross-country skiing team accomplished a feat for the first time in more than 25 years.

The Knights earned a state title.

Colony won its first boys championship since 1999 during the ASAA/First National Bank State Nordic Skiing Championships over the weekend at the Birch Hill trails in Fairbanks.

Colony used a very strong second day of the three-day championships and held on during the final day to secure Alaska skiing gold. The Knights boasted a total time of 1 hour, 7 minutes, 46.5 seconds in the 7.5-kilometer skate race on Friday, which was 1:13.5 better than West Valley. The Wolfpack had led by 25.9 seconds after the 5-K class on Day 1. Colony capped its weekend by edging the Wolfpack by just 0.03 seconds in the relay event on Saturday.

Raven Spangler, Gabe Black, Coby Marvin and Weston Sensabaugh combined to post a time of 30:54.5 in the relay, just ahead of West Valley and its time of 30:54.8.

Again, the Knights enjoyed their biggest day Friday, with four placing in the top eight of the skate race. Marvin, a senior, led the group finishing as the runner-up with a time of 16:24.6. Black followed at fourth at 16:59.4. Spangler placed seventh with a time of 17:11.2, barely ahead of Sensabaugh, who was eighth at 17:11.3

Marvin also earned a spot on the podium on Friday. The senior finished third in the classic, with a time of 14:21. Black, was fourth at 14:27. Spangler also posted a top-15 finish, placing 12th at 14:58. Sensabaugh was 20th for the Knights.

Marvin was second overall in the two-day total, with a combined time of 30:46.0.

Service sophomore Jack Leveque was the boys skimiester, with a total time of 29:40.7.

Black was fourth in the overall standings, with a mark of 31:26..8. Spangler placed ninth at 32:10.1. Sensabaugh was 12th at 32:42.8.

Colony returns to the top of the Alaska boys prep Nordic skiing mountain for the first time since the late 1990s, when the Knights captured three state titles from 1997 through 1999. Marvin is now tied for the second highest finish in the boys state skimeiester standings in program history. Eric Strabel was the skimeister in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Ryan Quinn was second in 1999 and Tracen Knopp finished third in 2016.

The Knights also posted a top-five finish in the girls team standings, with a total time of 3:23:05.9. Colony was fifth in the classic, fourth in the skate and fifth in the relay.

Elliot Sensabaugh posted a strong third-place finish in the girls skate on Friday, with a time of 20:11.6. Isela Austin was 10th for the Knights, with a time of 20:28.

Palmer placed seventh in the girls team standings and 11th for the boys. The Moose also earned the sportsmanship award.

Amelia Parker posted a 17th-place finish and time of 39:04 to lead the Palmer girls in the skate race. Parker led the Moose girls with a 20th-place finish and time of 18:25 in the classic race.

Palmer junior Teigan Copp led the Moose boys at 30th, with a time of 16:15 in the classic race.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.