Colony girls answer challenge during first big test of year

PALMER — When Colony hit the trail for Tsalteshi Invitational, the Knights coaching staff had no preconceived notion of how things might shake out. The coaches simply knew the race would present the first big test of the season.

The Colony girls answered the challenge.

Colony placed a pair of runners in the top 4, and earned the girls’ team title during the meet Saturday at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna.

“We didn’t really go in with any expectations,” Colony coach Rhonda Knopp said.

Colony placed two runners in the top 4, three in the top 15 and finished with 92 total points in the team standings. West Anchorage finished second at 102 and Homer was third at 110. Soldotna (115) and Kenai (124), a pair of Region III rivals, rounded out the top 5.

Freshman Jill Bowker continued her stellar start to her high school career, finishing third with a time of 18:56. Bowker was six seconds off the pace of runner-up Briahna Gerlach of Glennallen. Two-time defending state Allie Ostrander of Kenai Central was more than two minutes in front of the field, finishing first with a time of 16:44.

Bowker was the first of two Knights in the top 4. Sophomore Alex Mathis finished fourth at 19:08. Cathelyne Powers (19:43) was 15th for the Knights.

“They were all pretty relaxed, feeling good,” Knopp said of her athletes.

Riley Burroughs led Wasilla with a top-10 finish in the girls’ race. Burroughs was eighth with a time of 19:29. Ruby Woodings led Palmer with a 25th-place finish.

In the boys’ race, Colony sophomore Tracen Knopp was the top individual finisher and Wasilla led Valley squads in the boys’ team standings.

Tracen Knopp used a mark of 16:33 to finish ninth. Dakota Peterson-Thompson (22nd, 17:04) and Dawson Knopp (28th, 17:18) also placed in the top 30.

The Wasilla boys finished fourth overall with 129 points. Colton Pulver led the Warriors with a time of 16:57 and a 20th-place finish. Pulver was the first of four Warriors in the top 29. Quincy Fuller (24th, 17:09), Karl Greathouse (22nd, 17:16) and Justin Gentz (29th, 17:18) also finished in the top 30.

Andrew Spencer led Houston with a 25th-place finish. Hayden Foster led Palmer with a 36th-place finish.

Tsalteshi Invitational

5 kilometers

Girls

Team scores

1) Colony 95, 2) West 102, 3) Homer 110, 4) Soldotna 115, 5) Kenai 124, 6) South 170, 7) East 186, 8) Eagle River 189, 9) Chugiak 208, 10) Service 218, 11) Kodiak 259, 12) Grace Christian 316, 13) Dimond 340, 14) Palmer 349, 15) Bethel 427, 16) Nome 451.

Individual varsity results

1) Allie Ostrander (Kenai) 16:44.3; 2) Briahna Gerlach (Glennallen) 18:50.4; 3) Bowker Jill (Colony) 18:56.5; 4) Alex Mathis (Colony) 19:08.4; 5) Olivia Hutchings (Soldotna) 19:12.5; 6) Megan Pitzman (Homer) 19:25.4; 7) Acadia Graham (East) 19:28.6; 8) Riley Burroughs (Wasilla) 19:29.3; 9) Aislinn Waite (Service) 19:32.2; 10) Maggie York (West) 19:34.5; 11) Kayle Blackmore (West) 19:34.9; 12) Megan Fink (East) 19:35.7; 13) Peyton Young (ER) 19:37.1; 14) Zoe Bigley (Kodiak) 19:39.3; 15) Cathelyne Powers (Colony) 19:43.1; 16) Molly Mitchell (Homer) 19:45.8; 17) Morgan Lash (South) 19:46.5; 18) Erica Heil (Dimond) 20:01.8; 19) Hannah Brown (South) 20:02.1; 20) Victoria Mayer (West) 20:03.3; 21) Sadie Fox (Soldotna) 20:07.2; 22) Dani McCormick (Soldotna) 20:10.9; 23) Sara Hartke (Chugiak) 20:12.2; 24) Aurora Waclawski (Homer) 20:13.1; 25) Ruby Woodings (Palmer) 20:13.8; 26) Ithaca Ann Bergholtz (Kenai) 20:15.0; 27) Daisy Nelson (Soldotna) 20:15.4; 28) Riana Boonstra (Kenai) 20:16.7; 29) Addison Gibson (Kenai) 20:17.1; 30) Elisabeth Bowker (Colony) 20:18.4; 31) Cheyenne Applegate (Grace) 20:21.1; 32) Brynn Kruchoski (Chugiak) 20:26.3; 33) Alex Mosley (Homer) 20:31.7; 34) JoJo Fleischman (West) 20:33.7; 35) Summer Frazier (ER) 20:35.0; 36) Hannah Booher (Chugiak) 20:39.8; 37) Fionia Fick (West) 20:46.6; 38) Emily Evans (South) 20:47.0; 39) Melissa De Guzman (Kodiak) 20:47.8; 40) Ziza Shemet Pitcher (Homer) 20:49.1; 41) Jalee Martushev (Homer) 20:50.1; 42) Emma Tvelia (ER) 20:55.8; 43) Harmony Wayner (Grace) 21:04.3; 44) Margeaux Bailey (East) 21:04.6; 45) Nikole Boggs (ER) 21:05.1; 46) Christine Buffas (Nome) 21:05.2; 47) Meagan Bauer (Service) 21:05.6; 48) Alex Bergholtz (Kenai) 21:06.3; 49) Molly Erickson (Soldotna) 21:08.5; 50) Abbigail Osgood (South) 21:12.6; 51) Coleen Geraghty (Colony) 21:14.5; 52) Jocelyn Kopsack (Colony) 21:18.3; 53) Claire Walker (West) 21:19.6; 54) Mary Burr (East) 21:26.1; 55) Bryn Waite (Service) 21:26.7; 56) Theresa Fernette (South) 21:27.6; 57) Naomi Kiekintveld (South) 21:30.5; 58) Quyanna Whittaker (Service) 21:33.9; 59) Sarah Souders (Service) 21:36.0; 60) Audrey Rosencrans (Homer) 21:36.4; 61) Alisa Aist (Service) 21:36.7; 62) Clare Cook (Chugiak) 21:40.2; 63) Peggy Mathis (Colony) 21:44.7; 64) Tessa Heagy (ER) 21:44.9; 65) Kaylee Manwaring (Chugiak) 21:48.3; 66) Gloria Jacobsen (Glennallen) 21:52.6; 67) Allison Qualls (Palmer) 21:53.8; 68) Mallory Arnold (Kodiak) 21:53.8; 69) Halaia Barnett (Kodiak) 22:03.8; 70) Liesel Von Imhof (Dimond) 22:05.1; 71) Sage Romey (Service) 22:12.6; 72) Katie McWilliams (Bethel) 22:26.1; 73) Emily Werner (Soldotna) 22:27.5; 74) Dani Owens (ER) 22:29.5; 75) Sarah Brown (Galena) 22:31.6; 76) Sarah Laker (Grace) 22:32.9; 77) Haley O’Brien (Bethel) 22:36.7; 78) Katie Cooper (Kenai) 22:37.7; 79) Rya Berrigan (Palmer) 22:38.3; 80) Rachel Fischer (East) 22:40.1; 81) Jania Tumey (West) 22:44.7; 82) Anna Campbell (South) 22:45.4; 83) Honey Rose Macatuno (Kodiak) 22:48.7; 84) Tamara Brabson (ER) 22:52.5; 85) Sarah Cosgrave (Grace) 22:56.5; 86) Lauren Devine (Chugiak) 22:59.6; 87) Briannah Pugh (Dimond) 23:02.8; 88) Allie Epke (Dimond) 23:07.6; 89) Raen Barcelon (Kodiak) 23:09.0; 90) Olivia Mueller (Chugiak) 23:18.4; 91) Mackenzie Lindeman (Kenai) 23:25.6; 92) Eva Bingham (Palmer) 23:28.8; 93) Allison Gonzales (East) 23:33.1; 94) Ally Carney (Dimond) 23:35.9; 95) Kellie Arthur (Soldotna) 23:39.2; 96) Sophie Swope (Bethel) 24:04.0; 97) Lauren Tsao-Wu (Grace) 24:06.6; 98) Arielle Himelbloom (Kodiak) 24:17.9; 99) Heather Jensen (Dimond) 24:29.1; 100) Sophie Poe (Bethel) 24:37.7; 101) Britney Boney (Bethel) 25:02.5; 102) Bianca Trowbridge (Nome) 25:17.2; 103) Emily Wright (Palmer) 25:28.0; 104) Cameryn Norris (Dimond) 25:39.2; 105) Dorothy Bukowski (Bethel) 25:48.6; 106) Alexis Hutson (Nome) 26:24.3; 107) Katie Kelso (Nome) 28:38.7; 108) Janelle Trowbridge (Nome) 31:16.3.

Boys

Team scores

1) West 85, 2) Kodiak 86, 3) South 98, 4) Wasilla 129, 5) Service 140, 6) Kenai 162, 7) Colony 181, 8) Palmer 228, 9) Grace Christian 239, 10) Homer 293, 11) East 296, 12) Chugiak 297, 13) Dimond 320, 14) Eagle River 344, 15) Soldotna 403, 16) Houston 426, 17) Nome 468, 18) Bethel 544.

Individual varsity results

1) Levi Thomet (Kodiak) 15:41.4; 2) Ty Jordan (Chugiak) 15:53.2; 3) Jonah Theisen (Kenai) 15:56.1; 4) Finn Walker (West) 16:11.8; 5) Jordan Theisen (Kenai) 16:14.4; 6) Levi Fried (Kodiak) 16:19.0; 7) Spencer Mitton (South) 16:30.6; 8) Hamish Wolfe (South) 16:32.7; 9) Tracen Knopp (Colony) 16:33.2; 10) Keith Osowski (Kodiak) 16:34.0; 11) Kaleb Korta (Galena) 16:34.9; 12) Riley Howard (Service) 16:36.4; 13) Travis Cooper (Kenai) 16:42.0; 14) Gillean Szweda-Mittelstadt (Service) 16:42.2; 15) Zach Young (Grace) 16:47.0; 16) Will Balcao (South) 16:51.9; 17) Luke Jager (West) 16:54.0; 18) Foster Birnbaum (West) 16:54.6; 19) Paul Butera (West) 16:57.3; 20) Colton Pulver (Wasilla) 16:57.4; 21) Luke Meiwes (South) 17:01.3; 22) Dakota Peterson-Thompson (Colony) 17:04.1; 23) Hunter Thompson (Service) 17:08.6; 24) Quincy Fuller (Wasilla) 17:09.5; 25) Andrew Spencer (Houston) 17:14.0; 26) Karl Greathouse (Wasilla) 17:16.0; 27) Alec Smith (ER) 17:16.5; 28) Dawson Knopp (Colony) 17:18.5; 29) Justin Gentz (Wasilla) 17:18.9; 30) Jack Hannah (Kodiak) 17:23.0; 31) Brycen Lynch (West) 17:27.2; 32) Daniel VanderWeide (Grace) 17:29.0; 33) William Mans (West) 17:29.5; 34) Nate Graves (East) 17:31.2; 35) Lane Reed (Wasilla) 17:31.4; 36) Hayden Foster (Palmer) 17:33.2; 37) Joaquin Monterrosa (West) 17:33.2; 38) Josiah Alverts (Palmer) 17:33.9; 39) Ryan Kavalok (Palmer) 17:35.4; 40) Justin Carpenter (Service) 17:37.8; 41) Richie McKinney (Kodiak) 17:37.9; 42) Anthony Rubina (Kodiak) 17:38.1; 43) Jared Brant (Homer) 17:41.4; 44) Jordan Beachy (Homer) 17:44.1; 45) Trent Fritzel (Grace) 17:48.4; 46) Cameron Jensen (Palmer) 17:50.2; 47) Michael Parnell (Kodiak) 17:50.3; 48) Wilson Hoogendorn (Nome) 17:54.0; 49) Luke Twenhafel (South) 17:55.2; 50) Isaak Bell (Wasilla) 17:55.6; 51) Jacob Davis (Homer) 17:55.7; 52) Callum Toohey (Dimond) 17:57.4; 53) Michael Altenbury (ER) 17:58.3; 54) Tyler Daniel (Colony) 17:58.3; 55) Jack Ginter (Chugiak) 17:59.4; 56) Will Garrod (Service) 18:02.4; 57) Bailey Milani (Service) 18:02.7; 58) Daniel Shuler (Soldotna) 18:03.1; 59) Nick Snow (Grace) 18:03.4; 60) Paul Matyas (East) 18:08.2; 61) Aden Haywood (East) 18:09.4; 62) Charlie Latimer (Chugiak) 18:11.8; 63) Dylan Jones (South) 18:13.2; 64) Fisher Rodgers (Service) 18:15.0; 65) Jae Ham (Dimond) 18:17.4; 66) Zephan Ozturgut (East) 18:18.1; 67) James Janezich (Dimond) 18:18.6; 68) Derek Stone (Dimond) 18:19.0; 69) James Butler (Kenai) 18:21.9; 70) Andrew Hull (South) 18:23.6; 71) Brandon Beachy (Homer) 18:24.8; 72) Kamber Lucas (Colony) 18:25.9; 73) Thane Barta (Dimond) 18:27.1; 74) Johnie Burton (Palmer) 18:31.5; 75) Karl Danielson (Kenai) 18:31.7; 76) Robert Haan (Colony) 18:38.0; 77) Alek Heil (Dimond) 18:40.6; 78) Josh Klina (Palmer) 18:41.8; 79) Logan Hemphill (Chugiak) 18:42.2; 80) Peter DeStefano (East) 18:42.7; 81) Michael Thomas (ER) 18:43.8; 82) Tristan Landry (Kenai) 18:47.1; 83) Zach Montoya (East) 18:47.7; 84) Aaron Swedberg (Soldotna) 18:48.5; 85) Jens Knutson (Houston) 18:49.6; 86) Alex Schuerch (East) 18:50.3; 87) Koby Vinson (Soldotna) 18:51.7; 88) Addison Downing (Soldotna) 18:55.9; 89) Denver Waclawski (Homer) 18:57.7; 90) Brian Sweeney (Dimond) 18:58.9; 91) Josh Shuler (Soldotna) 19:02.7; 92) Randol Denney (ER) 19:05.3; 93) Ethan Isaacson (Grace) 19:06.7; 94) Vince Sanderson (Colony) 19:11.5; 95) Levi Gionet (Grace) 19:14.1; 96) Christian Fabacher (ER) 19:14.1; 97) Alexander Smith (Bethel) 19:15.1; 98) Etienne Kinne (Houston) 19:20.1; 99) Bradan Tobin (ER) 19:28.8; 100) Lief Erikson (Nome) 19:29.0; 101) Harrison Moore (Nome) 19:30.6; 102) Tobin Karlberg (Grace) 19:34.0; 103) Liam Baez-Terry (Chugiak) 19:41.4; 104) Tommy McCormick (Chugiak) 19:44.5; 105) Ryan Dearborn (Chugiak) 19:46.1; 106) Sean Verg-in (Soldotna) 19:49.8; 107) John Sarmiento (Homer) 19:54.7; 108) Kade Taylor (Houston) 20:05.7; 109) Connor Kurth (ER) 20:38.5; 110) James Horner (Nome) 20:48.4; 111) Thomas Dyment (Bethel) 21:23.3; 112) Avery Hoffman (Bethel) 21:46.3; 113) Joshua Klejka (Bethel) 22:26.7; 114) John Wade (Nome) 22:44.3; 115) Benjamin Bitler (Houston) 22:54.7; 116) Jarius Allain (Bethel) 23:22.8; 117) Thomas Daniel (Bethel) 23:25.2.