Colony boys win Region III ski title

PALMER — Mark Strabel had a hunch that his boys cross-country skiing squad might have the potential to do well. On paper, he knew his team had to be in the conversation of those with a chance to score a region title. But working through a season that’s been anything but predictable, the Colony head coach had to wait until his athletes finally had the chance to hit the trail in a competitive meet.

After watching five regular-season meets taken off the schedule due to poor conditions, Strabel finally had a chance to watch his athletes ski over the weekend. Saturday, the Colony boys lived up to that potential, winning the Region III team title at the Tselteshi Trails in Soldotna.

“You never know until regions. That’s why we race, find out who is fastest on that day. We sort of hit a home run on the second day,” Strabel said.

Led by Tracen Knopp’s second-place finish in the 7.5-kilometer classic race on Saturday, Colony jumped Grace Christian in the standings and posted a two-day total time of 2 hours, 23 minutes and 32 seconds.

“It’s kind of nice to finally get one again,” Strabel said of Colony’s region title, the program’s first in nearly a decade.

The title is even more satisfying considering the amount of time local teams have waited for meets this season.

“You never know with skiing. The weather is always against us. That’s usually our main competition,” Strabel said. “For a lot of the kids it was rough. They’d like to be competing. It made the season longer than it actually was. We could train great, but racing is a lot of why we put in a lot of hard work.”

Tracen Knopp and Dawson Knopp, a pair of Colony High freshmen, each posted top 5 finishes on Saturday to help the Knights take the lead in the team standings. Strabel said the ninth-graders have been a big addition to his program.

“Huge. I’ve watched those guys for years,” Strabel said. “(I thought) this is going to be nice when we have them up here, especially with the upperclassmen that we have.”

Veterans Lyon Kopsack and Brandon Schafer also posted top 10 finishes, placing ninth and 10th respectively on Saturday to help the Knights win the title.

“Saturday definitely helped, especially on the boys’ side,” Strabel said. “Friday’s races were OK. They weren’t great. They weren’t bad, but we felt like we could do a little better.”

Tracen Knopp also finished second overall in the two-day combined standings. Dawson Knopp was fourth, Kopsack was ninth and Schafer finished 11th.

John Snelders led the Palmer Moose with a sixth-place finish in the two-day standings. He was fourth in the 7.5-K classic on Saturday and seventh in the freestyle on Friday. Tobin Sworts finished 13th for Palmer, which was third in the team standings.

Colton Pulver led Wasilla with a 29th-place finish.

The Colony girls missed finishing second in the team standings by a half-second. Soldotna and Grace were the top two girls teams in the standings.

Greta Jenkins led the Knights with a fifth-place finish in the two-day combined standings. She was second in the classic on Saturday and ninth in Friday’s freestyle race. Tatjana Spaic was ninth for Colony. Jordan Block (13th), Tracie Haan (17th) and M.E. Meyerhofer (18th) all finished in the top 20.

Kiersten Johnson posted a seventh-place finish to lead the Palmer girls. Johnson was third in Friday’s freestyle and ninth in the classic.

Danika Ingersoll led Wasilla with a total time of 45:13.

The ASAA/First National Bank Nordic Skiing State Championships are slated to begin Thursday at Kincaid Park in Anchorage. Just as there’s been throughout Southcentral Alaska during the entire prep ski season, Strabel said there are concerns about trail conditions for the state meet.

“We’ve heard everything,” Strabel said.

Strabel said he plans to see the trail for himself on Tuesday.

The race is slated to begin Thursday at noon with the girls’ 5-K freestyle. The boys’ 7.5-K freestyle will follow at 1 p.m. The boys’ 10-K classic is Friday at 11 a.m., with the girls’ 7.5-K classic to follow at noon. The mixed technique relays start Saturday at 11 a.m.

Region III Championships

Friday-Saturday, Soldotna

Boys team standings:

1. Colony 2:23:32; 2. Grace Christian 2:24:13; 3. Palmer 2:31:27; 4. Kenai 2:32:16; 5. Soldotna 2:33:23; 6. Skyview 2:24:00; 7. Homer 2:49:16; 8. Wasilla 2:55:04.

Boys individual standings (2-day total, top 10):

1. D. Serventi, Gra 34:10; 2. T. Knopp, Col 34:56; 3. L. McLaughlin, Gra 35:01; 4. D. Knopp, Col 35:18; 5. L. Michael, Sol 35:20; 6. J. Snelders, Pal 35:21; 7. T. Cooper, Ken 35:25; 8. B. Rowe, Hom 36:19; 9. L. Kopsack, Col 36:32; 10. T. Fritzel, Gra 36:45.

Other Valley finishers:

11. B. Schafer, Col 36:46; 13. T. Sworts, Pal 37:42; 17. A. Nelson, Col 38:19; 18. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col 38:34; 19. C. Hand, Pal 38:38; 20. N. Harrison, Col 38:57; 28. J. Alverts, Pal 39:47; 29. C. Pulver, Was 39:51; 31. J. Lynn, Pal 40:55; 33. D. Dahms, Pal 41:11; 42. L. Seims, Was 42:39; 47. N. Alcantra, Pal 44:18; 49. Q. Fuller, Was 45:28; 50. M. Willzchawitz, Was 47:06; 54. G. Hawelett, Was 59:40.

Girls team standings:

1. Soldotna 2:25:54; 2. Grace 2:27:00.8; 3. Colony 2:27:01.3; 4. Palmer 2:31:10; 5. Kenai 2:33:14; 6. Homer 2:38:54; 7. Skyview 2:53:48.

Girls individual standings (2-day total, top 10):

1. S. Fox, Sol 33:24; 2. H. Pothast, Sol 35:12; 3. E. Arnold, Gra 35:13; 4. M. Morton, Sky 35:16; 5. G. Jenkins, Col 35:18; 6. K. Rowe, Gra 35:20; 7. K. Johnson, Pal 36:10; 8. A. Bergholtz, Ken 36:25; 9. T. Spaic, Col 36:27; 10. A. Daigle, Hom 36:29.

Other Valley finishers: 13. J. Block, Col 37:30; 14. R. Berrigan, Pal 37:57; 16. A. Woodings, Pal 38:17; 17. T. Haan, Col 38:19; 18. M. Meyerhofer, Col 38:25; 22. R. Woodings, Pal 38:51; 23. M. Lundin, Pal 38:55; 30. L. Olsen, Col 40:09; 31. J. Laitinen, Pal 40:15; 32. E. Bingham, Pal 40:46; 33. C. Geraghty, Col 40:55; 42. D. Ingersoll, Was 45:13.