Colony girls win big at regions

PALMER — The Colony Knights girls cross-country runners stormed away with the team title during the Region III Championships cross country meet on the Michael Janacek Trails at Palmer High School on Saturday.

The Knights placed five runners in the top 10 and Knight co-head coach Rhonda Knopp won coach of the year honors for the region.

The Colony boys team also qualified for state with a second-place finish behind Kodiak. Anchorage Christian School junior Tristian Merchant broke Kodiak runner Trevor Dunbar’s decade-old course record during the 3A boys race with a time of 15:04.6.

“I just wanted to run it as fast as I could,” said Merchant.

Soldotna junior Erika Arthur won the girls 4A race, but Colony won the team title over second-place Soldotna by 14 points. The Knights were led by freshman Shea Alaniva in a time of 20:10 in fifth place. Following less than a second behind her was senior Sofija Spaic. Knopp was awarded the coach of the year honors for her girls’ performance, but Knopp said that she and her brother, Norm Rousey, coach both teams together. Knopp said that she wished her brother could have accepted the award with her and praised the work of her team that vastly improved over the course of the season.

“We just did a lot of team activities and they just kind of got close and everybody all just came together,” said Knopp.

Knopp said that the team bonded well with the incoming freshmen and improved their times throughout the year. Knight runners rounded out the last three spots in the top 10 with Lydia Bushey, Lucy Shea and Abby Novak.

“We know that she deserves it so much and to us she’s the best, and Rousey of course too,” said Spaic.

Palmer junior Sophie Wright joined her Valley competitors in the top 10 with a fourth-place time of 20:23. Wright led the pack at the entrance to the trail and dominated the first mile of the race. Wright had built a sizable lead before losing speed and giving way to Arthur. Despite the top-ranked runner in the region, Katey Houser, not competing due to injury, Wright was proud of her team.

“Today showed how much we have grown but also like, more work that we can do for next year,” said Wright.

The Redington Huskies were led by junior Anna Stephan in 14th place in the 3A girls race.

The last time the majority of these runners met was during the Palmer Invite on Sept. 9, the largest cross-country meet in the state. With a cold, wet rain falling on the course in early September, Dunbar’s record stood safe from being broken. But on Saturday, a calm, cool air hung over Palmer, making for safer, faster trail conditions for runners. Before breaking the course record on Saturday, Merchant was not a fan of the course at Palmer High, but he enjoyed his run this time around. Merchant said he changed his mindset from the last time he competed here.

“I was just thinking I’ve got to run this race, I’ve got to try to honor God, use my talent and just do my best. That’s what I was trying to do, just go out hard,” he said.

Merchant thanked his coaches and team, as well as the top competitors in 4A that he trains with regularly. During the 3A boys race, Houston was led by freshman Samuel Stapley, who finished in a time of 19:40.

Leading Valley boys in the 4A race was Wasilla sophomore Landon Hayes. Hayes stayed with the chase pack as the runner spread out midway through the race. During the last lap, Hayes kept making moves higher into the top 10. Similar to Merchant in the 3A race, Hayes switched up his strategy for the region meet.

“I warmed up a little bit with [my team] and then just went by myself in the zone and then I just went on the course and did my thing,” said Hayes.

Hayes knocked nearly a minute off his times from the beginning of the season and 30 seconds off of his initial time at Palmer earlier this fall. He hopes to bring the same tenacious approach of speeding up as the race moves on at the state championships at Bartlett High next weekend.

While Hayes led the Valley runners, both Palmer and Colony placed a pair of runners in the top 10. Colony was the only Valley team to secure a berth at state, finishing behind Kodiak in second place with 69 points. Palmer and Wasilla finished with identical scores, but Wasilla took fourth place by average time with less than a full second between the two Valley schools. Hayes was followed in the top 10 by a pair of Palmer runners. Moose sophomore Ryan Owens finished sixth and junior Mike Reem finished seventh. Lane Meier led the Knights with a ninth place finish, followed by senior Jake Waterhouse in 10th.