Colony girls ski to Reg. III title

Frontiersman staff

SOLDOTNA — The Colony girls' cross-country ski team came from 14 seconds behind going into Saturday's skate relay to overcome Homer and win its first-ever Region III ski meet with a combined time of three hours, 11.23 minutes.

The winning Colony girls' relay team consisted of Diana Heimerl, Clare Baldwin, Aleshia Pickett, and Sarah Hansen. The members of the all-senior relay team finished one minute, 41 seconds ahead of their nearest competitors to help boost Colony's overall finish as Region III's top girls' team with a combined time of 3:11:23, followed by Skyview with a time of 3:12:21, Homer, 3:13:08 and Su Valley, 3:21:08.

Colony's Diana Heimerl was the Valley's top individual winner with a two-day time of 44 minutes and 15 seconds and a fifth-place finish behind Homer's individual champion, Ida Martin, 42:37, Skyview's Amy Lambe, 42:57, Valdez' Sarah Fisher, 43:47, and Grace's Nicole DeYong, 43:57. The times included Friday's 7.5K classical race.

Sarah Hanson, also from Colony, finished right behind Heimerl with an overall time of 45:24 and a sixth-place finish.

"She took off like a rocket in the final leg and won comfortably," Colony coach Ed Strabel said of Hanson.

Su Valley's Tazlina Mannix and Renae Moore finished in 7th and 8th places, respectively.

The Su Valley girls' team finished in fourth place with a time of 3:21:08, and the Palmer girls clocked a combined time of 3:52:29 for a 9th-place finish.

The Colony boys placed third with a two-day total of 3:17:46. The Palmer boys' team finished in sixth place with a combined time of 3:43:18. The boys' race was a 10K classical-style contest.

Soldotna won the boys' relay and the Region III overall team title with a combined time of 3:12:39, followed by Skyview, 3:14:16, and Colony, 3:17:46. Palmer finished in sixth place with a combined time of 3:43:18.

Colony Ian Comer, Jeff Warner, Nick Foley, and Richard Hallock skied to a third-place skate relay finish. All of them are seniors except Warner, who is a sophomore.

Soldotna's Andy Liebner took Region III individual honors with a two-day total of 46 minutes, with his teammate, Brent Knight, following in second place with a time of 46:36.

The top Valley boys' finisher was Richard Hallock, who followed the two Stars skiers with a time of 46:55 for a third-place finish.

Palmer's Lee Bolling finished fourth with a time of 47:02 to round out the Valley's only top-10 finishers.