Colony girls take Region III ski title, rookie sweeps weekend

GOVERNMENT PEAK — The Lady Knights came together to win the Region III title for cross-country skiing this past weekend, led by relative newcomer Annika Hanestad.

Hanestad was named this year’s female skimeister for the event, taking first in the 5-kilometer classic and freestyle races with a combined time of 29 minutes, 53 seconds. Her time of 15:07 in the classic race put her 41 seconds ahead of runner up Riana Boonstra from Kenai, who trailed Hanestad by 28 seconds in the freestyle race on Saturday.

“(The snow) was very powdery, so I almost took a few crashes but I ... stayed tight and just was careful what I did with my feet,” Hanestad said, moments after Saturday’s race.

A sophomore homeschool student, Hanestad said she only made her debut in the competitive high school skiing scene this year, despite having enjoyed the sport since she was 8 years old. She said she was encouraged to join the Knights’ ski team by alumna Jordyn Block and senior standouts Tracen and Dawson Knopp, but owes much of her success to her new coaches.

“Coach (David) Knopp and Coach (Mark) Strabel (are) why I’m here,” Hanestad said. “They’re great coaches ... and I couldn’t do it without them.”

Strabel said he had seen Hanestad’s potential on local trails — she previously participated in Mat-Su Junior Nordics at Government Peak — but that her achievements this year are the result of more than just raw talent.

“She’s just a hard worker,” he said.

Hanestad said her increased mental toughness also contributed to her performance at the regional meet.

“Without being strong mentally, you can’t do this; people would be defeated by courses like this,” she said, of the trails at Government Peak Recreation Area.

But it wasn’t just Hanestad that took on the tough course and the skilled skiers from six other schools. Alyson Kopsack was Colony’s No. 2 on the girls’ side, finishing seventh in Saturday’s race and eighth the day before. Cathelyne Powers, Bella Block, Sofija Spaic, Jana Jenkins and Emily Wright also contributed to the Knights’ overall win with their shared goals and dedication.

“It’s something that both Coach Knopp and I have tried to work on these last couple years, that togetherness,” Strabel said.

That goes for the boys’ team, too, he said, though lacking one of the Knopp twins this season has made for a less formidable year than the Knights had hoped to have. While Tracen Knopp won the 5-kilometer classic for Colony on Friday, Dawson has had to sit this season out for medical reasons. And with Tracen strategically skipping Saturday’s skate race in preparation for the statewide meet next weekend and the junior national competition the week after that, the boys knew they wouldn’t be pulling a win from the likes of Kenai, Grace and Soldotna this year.

Still, the Knights managed a fourth-place finish, about 5 minutes behind Kenai and 1 minute ahead of fifth-place Homer.

“It’s super competitive this year,” Tracen Knopp said.

Palmer senior Josiah Alverts, who won the 7.5k freestyle, agreed.

“The competition’s pretty tough here,” he said, despite gliding effortlessly, it seemed, across the finish line on Saturday at 20 minutes flat.

Alverts also skipped one race in the regional meet as he prepares for state and JNs, which he said put him at an advantage for the race he did compete in.

Not that he wasn’t prepared in other ways as well.

“This year I bumped up my training quite a few hours (per week),” he said.

Palmer’s top female skier this weekend, senior Rya Berrigan — another athlete headed to the junior national competition in March — said the rest day didn’t seem to do as much for her as it did Alverts.

“It was kind of rough starting from the back,” she said, referring to her start position on Saturday, which was based on Friday’s results. “After the first (kilometer) I was kind of blown up ‘cause I just went super, super hard in the beginning.”

Berrigan still managed a respectable fourth-place finish in the freestyle, followed by classmate Ruby Woodings in sixth.

“We had some good individual results for our veteran skiers and some of our junior skiers, which is always good to see,” said Coach Mike Evans, of the boys’ and girls’ teams. “As a team, though … did we have the potential to do more this weekend? Certainly.”

Now, Evans said he’s simply looking forward to getting his individual athletes ready to achieve the best results they can at state.

The state championship will be held at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 23-25.

Girls team scores

1. Colony, 2 hours, 13 minutes, 10 seconds; 2. Kenai, 2:15:07; 3. Homer, 2:19:05; 4. Soldotna, 2:21:22; 5. Grace Christian, 2:25:34; 6. Palmer, 2:25:41; 7. Valdez, 2:32:31.

Boys team scores

1. Soldotna, 2:19:43; 2. Grace, 2:22:23; 3. Kenai, 2:28:20; 4. Colony, 2:33:18; 5. Homer, 2:34:22; 6. Palmer, 2:35:39; 7. Wasilla, 3:01:02; 8. Valdez, 3:09:21.

Girls

Friday, 5K Classic — 1. A. Hannestad, Col 15:07; 2. R. Boonstra, Ken 15:48; 2. R. Norris, Val 16:23; 4. K. Cooper, Ken 16:48; 5. K. Arthur, Sol 16:51; 6. K. Holms, Hom 16:53; 7. R. Lindquist, Sew 16:54; 8. A. Kopsack, Col 16:56; 9. C. Demintieff, Gra 17:04; 10. K. Davis, Hom 17:04; 11. C. Powers, Col 17:07; 12. A. Daigle, Hom 17:35; 13. I. Bergholtz, Ken 17:41; 14. C. Bales, Was 17:54; 15. A. Taylor, Pal 17:56; 16. L. Ellis, Gra 17:58; 17. R. Woodings, Pal 18:17; 18. C. Blackwell, Sol 18:22; 19. B. Block, Col 18:24; 20. H. Delker, Sol 18:26; 21. A. Beveridge, Gra 18:34; 22. A. Baxter, Pal 18:39; 23. G. Gannon, Gra 18:41; 24. S. Spaic, Col 18:44; 25. M. Salzetti, Ken 18:44; 26. S. Lindquist, Sew 18:51; 27. M. Erickson, Sol 18:57; 28. H. Hoback, Gra 1858; 29. E. Wright, Col 19:03; 30. A. Danielson, Ken 19:10; 31. T. Huston, Val 19:13; 32. M. Alexson, Hom 19:18; 33. A. McLaughlin, Gra 19:33; 34. S. Hill, Sol 19:41; 35. E. Kniegge, Gra 19:42; 36. Z. Copp, Pal 19:45; 37. D. Kettle, Hom 20:11; 38. E. Downing, Sol 20:54; 39. D. Doyle, Ken 21:01; 40. C. Connell, Val 21:13; 41. E. Moore, Sew 21:19; 42. A. Alfaro, Val 21:37.

Saturday 5K freestyle — 1. A. Hanestad, Col 14:45 2. R. Boonstra, Ken 15:14; 3. R. Lindquist, Sew 15:17; 4. R. Berrigan, Pal 15:37; 5. R. Norris, Val 15:48; 6. R. Woodings, Pal 15:58; 7. A. Kopsack, Col 16:00; 8. K. Arthur, Sol 16:07; 9. K. Cooper, Ken 16:13; 10. C. Demintieff, Gra 16:26; 11. K. Holms, Hom 16:31; 12. K. Davis, Hom 16:46; 13. A. Daigle, Hom 16:51 14. S. Lindquist, Sew 17:02; 15. C. Blackwell, Sol 17:06; 16. C. Powers, Col 17:07; 17. A. Taylor, Pal 17:12; 18. I. Bergholtz, Ken 17:17; 19. M. Salzetti, Ken 17:18; 20. M. Erickson, Sol 17:26; 21. A. Danieson, Ken 17:27; 22. B. Block Col 17:39; 23. C. Bales, Was 17:47; 24. A. Beveridge, Gra 17:48; 25. D. Kettle, Hom 18:00; 26. M. Alexson, Hom 18:02; 27. H. Delker, Sol 18:03; 28. S. Hill, Sol 18:05; 29. S. Spaic, Col 18:08; 30. J. Jenkins, Col 18:13; 31. A. Baxter, Pal 18:14; 32. A. McLaughlin, Gra 18:17; 33. E. Downing, Sol 18:30; 34. E. Wright, Col 1834; 35. E. Kniegge, Gra 18:36; 36. T. Huston, Val 18:37; 37. C. Connell, Val 19:04; 38. D. Doyle, Ken 19:17 39. Z. Copp, Pal 1935; 40. L Ellis, Gra 19:50; 41. G. Gannon, Gra 20:01; 42. E. Moore, Sew 20:09; 43. A. Alfaro, Val 20;31; 44. H. Hoback, Gra 21:14.

Boys

Friday, 5K Classic — 1. T. Knopp, Col 12:45; 2. K. Danielson, Ken 12:57; 3. T. Fritzel, Gra 13:20; 4. K. Vinson, Sol 13:23; 5. A. Downing, Sol 13:39; 6. L. Fritzel, Gra 13:49; 7. K. Kupferschmid, Sol 14:02; 8. J. Davis, Hom 14:22; 9. G. Block, Col 14:24; 10. J. Houston, Pal 14:32; 11. A. Johnson, Gra 14:33; 12. E. Kempf, Ken 14:44; 13. J. Shuler, Sol 14:47; 14. J. Walling, Pal 14:56; 15. P. Michels, Ken 15:01; 16. C. Rauch, Hom 15;08; 17. B. Grover, Col 15:11; 18. J. Sparks, Sol 15:18; 19. A. Gannon, Gra 15:21; 20. B. Swanson, Val 15:30; 21. N. Kristich, Col 15:31; 22. E. Cowan, Col 15:42; 23. T. Debnam, Ken 15:45; 24. R. Qualls, Pal 15:46; 25. T. Scholz, Hom 15:46; 26. D. Waclawski, Hom 16:02; 27. J. Dammeyer, Sol 16:14; 28. D. Halfacre, Col 16:18; 29. E. Jones, Gra 16:19; 30. A. Ravencroft, Was 16:37; 31. M. Minium, Nik 16:39; 32. K. Taylor, Pal 16:48; 33. M. Singh, Pal 16:48; 34. J. Foster, Kena 16:54; 35. T. Steiner, Was 16:56; 36. W. Metzger, Gra 16:58; 37. J. Harris, Sol 17:08; 38. B. Morrow, Ken 17:16; 39. K. Greathouse, Was 17:42; 40. B. Kettle, Hom 17:52; 41. W. Wallace, Gra 17:52; 42. J. Banner, Val 18:54; 43. A. Bashor, Was 19:27; 44. E. Super, Hom 19:31; 45. C. Prevost, Val 20:09; 46. C. Cummins, Val 20:23.

Saturday, 7.5K freestyle — 1. J. Alverts, Pal 1959; 2. K. Vinson, Sol 20:07; 3. K. Danielson, Ken 20:11; 4. T. Fritzel, Gra 20:30; 5. L. Fritzel, Gra 20:37; 6. J. Kupferschmid, Sol 20:52; 7. J. Walling, Pal 21:22; 8. A. Downing, Sol 21:22; 9. A. Johnson, Gra 21:25; 10. J. Shuler, Sol 21:27; 11. G. Block, Col 21:39; 12. J. Davis, Hom 22:11; 13. E. Kempe, Ken 22:16; 14. J. Houston, Pal 22:19; 15. C. Rauch, Hom 22:30; 16. E. Cowan, Col 22:37; 17. P. Michels, Ken 22:38; 18. A. Gannon, Gra 22:42; 19. B. Swanson, Val 23:08; 20. J. Harris, Sol 23:23; 21. T. Scholz, Hom 23:24; 22. B. Grover, Col 23:41; 23. J. Sparks, Sol 23:43; 24. T. Steiner, Was 23:56; 25. R. Qualls, Pal 24:05; 26. J. Dammeyer, Sol 24:09; 27. N. Kristich, Col 24:31; 28. T. Debnam, Ken 24:44; 29. W. Metzger, Gra 24:54; 30. D. Waclawski, Hom 24:55; 31. D. Halfacre, Col 25:17; 32. W. Wallace, Gra 25:23; 33. K. Taylor, Pal 25:48; 34. M. Singh, Pal 25:54; 35. B. Kettle, Hom 26:07; 36. J. Foster, Ken 26:22; 37. E. Super, Hom 26:30; 38. M. Minium, Nik 26:37; 39. A. Ravencraft, Was 26:38; 40. E. Jones, Gra 27:33; 41. B. Morrow, Ken 28:01; 42. K. Greathouse, Was 28:15; 43. J. Banner, Val 28:26; 44. C. Prevost, Val 29:40; 45. A. Bashor, Was 31:27; 46. C. Cummins, Val 33:08.