Colony skier wins region title; Knights boys, girls 2nd in team standings

VALDEZ — It was a top-2 sweep for the Knopp family Saturday afternoon.

Colony High’s Dawson Knopp crossed the finish line to win the boys’ 8-kilometer classic, with his twin brother Tracen right behind him during the final day of the Region III Championships cross-country ski meet in Valdez. Only 10 seconds separated the brothers, with Dawson posted a title winning time of 22 minutes and 24 seconds. Tracen followed at 22:34.

With the Knopps at the lead — Tracen also finished second in the 6.5-kilometer freestyle on Friday — Colony finished second in the boys team standings. Tracen’s time was 17:16 in the freestyle, seven seconds off the pace of Grace Christian’s Trent Fritzel, the winner of the race. Dawson placed fourth in the freestyle, with a mark of 17:26.

Colony’s Dakota Peterson-Thompson was 11th in the classic Saturday, and 10th in the freestyle Friday.

Soldotna won the boys team title, finishing about 90 seconds ahead of Colony in the two-day combined total time.

The Colony girls also finished as the runner-up in the team standings.

Jordyn Block led the Knights with a pair of top-4 performance. Block used a time of 20:47 to place third in the girls’ 6.5-K freestyle, and 23:37 to finish fourth in the 6-5-K classic. Lisbeth Olsen was ninth in the classic and 12th in the freestyle.

Palmer placed third in the girls’ team standings, 17 seconds shy of second-place Colony in the team standings. Rya Berrigan led Palmer with a pair of top-5 finishes. Berrigan placed fourth in the freestyle with a time of 20:54, and fifth in the classic with a time of 23:41. Ruby Woodings was fifth in the freestyle with a time of 20:58, and also placed 13th in the classic. Eva Bingham was 11th in the classic for the Moose.

Josiah Alverts led the Palmer boys with a sixth-place finish in the classic, notching a time of 22:47.

Eli Ickes was 16th in the boys’ classic to lead Wasilla. Ickes also placed 22nd in the freestyle.

Region III Championships

Friday-Saturday, Valdez

Boys final team standings (two-day combined):

1. Soldotna 2:45:54; 2. Colony 2:47:36; 3. Grace Christian 2:49:29; 4. Kenai 2:59:42; 5. Homer 3:36:11.

Girls final team standings (two-day combined):

1. Kenai 2:59:20; 2. Colony 3:09:01; 3. Palmer 3:09:18; 4. Soldotna 3:18:03; 5. Homer 3:18:40.

Boys 8-K classic team standings:

1. Soldotna 1:34:08; 2. Colony 1:35:23; 3. Grace Christian 1:36:48; 4. Kenai 1:43:43; 5. Palmer 1:46:55; 6. Homer 1:49:01.

Girls 6.5-K classic team standings:

1. Kenai 1:35:27; 2. Colony 1:40:32; 3. Palmer 1:41:21; 4. Soldotna 1:46:42; 5. Homer 1:47:10.

Boys 6.5-K freestyle team standings:

1. Soldotna 1:11:46; 2. Colony 1:12:13; 3. Grace Christian 1:12:41; 4. Kenai 1:15:59; 5. Homer 1:18:38.

Girls 6.5-K freestyle team standings:

1. Kenai 1:23:53; 2. Palmer 1:27:57; 3. Colony 1:28:29; 4. Soldotna 1:31:21; 5. Homer 1:31:30.

Boys 8-K classic individual results:

1. D. Knopp, Col 22:24; 2. T. Knopp, 22:34; 3. T. Fritzel, Gra 22:38; 4. K. Danielson, Ken 22:43; 5. L. Micheal, Sol 22:44; 6. J. Alverts, Pal 22:47; 7. J. Pothast, Sol 22:56; 8. L. Fritzel, Gra 23:54; 9. K. Vinson, Sol 24:05; 10. J. Kupferschmid, Sol 24:22; 11. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col 24:42; 12. J. Cosgrove, Gra 24:54; 13. A. Downing, Sol 25:13; 14. T. Mumford, Gra 25:21; 15. A. Johnson, Gra 25:23; 16. E. Ickes, Was 25:24; 17. J. Butler, Ken 25:26; 18. T. Farring, Col 25:42; 19. B. Grover, Col 26:35; 20. H. Parks, Hom 26:36; 21. J. Davis, Hom 26:44; 22. C. Rauch, Hom 26:46; 23. P. Michels, Ken 27:01; 24. B. Swalling, Pal 27:09; 25. J. Roach, Gra 27:22; 26. N. Kristich, Col 27:46; 27. J. Houston, Pal 27:55; 28. J. Shuler, Sol 27:56; 29. L. Floyd, Ken 28:31; 30. A. Gannon, Gra 28:36; 31. M. Torkelson, Ken 28:38; 32. T. Schulz, Hom 28:54; 33. E. Kempf, Ken 29:01; 34. M. Singh, Pal 29:03; 35. T. Debnam, Ken 29:05; 36. M. Chapman, Col 29:17; 37. Q. Alward, Hom 29:21; 38. J. Wisner, Hom 29:23; 39. L. Smith, Sew 30:51; 40. A. Estes, Sew 31:41; 41. J. Sparks, Sol 31:47; 42. S. Relay, Val 32:40; 43. E. Super, Hom 35:19.

Girls 6.5-K classic individual results:

1. A. Gibson, Ken 22:57; 2. R. Boonstra, Ken 23:03; 3. H. Pothast, Sol 23:19; 4. J. Block, Col 23:37; 5. R. Berrigan, Pal 23:41; 6. R. Lindquist, Sew 24:17; 7. R. Norris, Val 24:15; 8. K. Cooper, Ken 24:25; 9. L. Olsen, Col 24:39; 10. M. Salzetti, Ken 25:00; 11. E. Bingham, Pal 25:11; 12. K. Arthur, Sol 25:18; 13. R. Woodings, Pal 25:36; 14. C. Powers, Col 25:49; 15. S. Wolf, Hom 26:18; 16. R. Ellert, Hom 26:20; 17. A. Kopsack, Col 26:26; 18. I. Bergholtz, Ken 26:54; 19. M. Lundin, Pal 27:03; 20. K. Davis, Hom 27:08; 21. A. Taylor, Pal 27:13; 22. A. Beveridge, Gra 27:14; 23. K. Holmes, Hom 27:23; 24. L. Floyd, Ken 28:03; 25. S. Lindquist, Sew 28:05; 26. C. Demintieff, Gra 28:07; 27. S. Feige, Pal 28:13; 28. I. Block, Col 28:15; 29. M. Alexson, Hom 28:17; 30. A. Baxter, Pal 28:24; 31. B. Bennett, Sol 28:47; 32. M. Vantrease, Hom 28:52; 33. S. Hill, Sol 29:16; 34. M. Chythlook, Sol 29:18; 35. H. Delker, Sol 29:56; 36. M. Salzetti, Ken 31:04; 37. K. Hendricks, Sol 31:11; 38. J. McNelly, Val 31:30.

Boys freestyle individual results:

1. T. Fritzel, Gra 17:09; 2. T. Knopp, Col 17:16; 3. J. Pothast, Sol 17:24; 4. D. Knopp, Col 17:26; 5. K. Danielson, Ken 17:44; 6. L. Fritzel, Gra 17:56.4; 7. L. Michael, Sol 17:56.9; 8. K. Vinson, Sol 17:58; 9. J. Kupferschmid, Sol 18:25; 10. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col 18:29; 11. J. Cosgrove, Gra 18:30 12. J Davis, Hom 19:00; 13. T. Farring, Col 19:01; 14. A. Johnson, Gra 19:05; 15. J. Butler, Ken 19:09; 16. J. Roach, Gra 19:12; 17. A. Downing, Sol 19:20; 18. J. Houston, Pal 19:21; 19. P. Michels, Ken 19:24; 20. J. Shuler, Sol 19:31; 21. T. Schulz, Hom 19:31; 22. E. Ickes, Was 19:35; 23. L. Floyd, Ken 19:40; 24. T. Mumford, Gra 19:49; 25. C. Rauch, Hom 19:56; 26. H. Parks, Hom 20:09; 27. B. Grover, Col 20:18; 28. E. Kempf, Ken 20:24; 29. B. Swalling, Pal 20:33; 30. N. Kristich, Col 20:53; 31. T. Debnam, Ken 20:57; 32. Q. Alward, Hom 20:59;; 33. J. Sparks, Sol 21:25; 33. M. Chapman, Col 21:25; 35. M. Singh, Pal 21:29; 36. A. Gannon, Gra 21:32; 37. M. Torkelson, Ken 21:46; 38. A. Estes, Sew 22:13; 39. J. Wisner, Hom 22:48; 40. L. Smith, Sew 23:21; 41. S. Relay, Val 24:06; 42. E. Super, Hom 24:12.

Girls freestyle individual results:

1. R. Boonstra, Ken 20:01; 2. A. Gibson, Ken 20:24; 3. J. Block, Col 20:47; 4. R. Berrigan, Pal 20:54; 5. R. Woodings, Pal 20:58; 6. H. Pothast, Sol 21:01; 7. R. Norris, Val 21:15; 8. R. Lindquist, Sew 21:28; 9. K. Cooper, Ken 21:36; 10. K. Arthur, Sol 21:48; 11. M. Salzetti, Ken 21:50; 12. L. Olsen, Col 21:52; 13. C. Powers, Col 22:00; 14. R. Ellert, Hom 22:14; 15. S. Wolf, Hom 22:47; 16. A. Taylor, Pal 22:56; 17. E. Bingham, Pal 23:07; 18. K. Holmes, Hom 23:12; 19. A. Beveridge, Gra 23:15; 20. I. Bergholtz, Ken 23:17.1; 21. M. Vantrease, Hom 23:17.2; 22. C. Demintieff, Gra 23:22; 23. S. Lindquist, Sew 23.26; 24. K. Davis, Hom 23:33; 25. M. Alexson, Hom 23:34; 26. S. Feige, Pal 23:37; 27. A. Kopsack, Col 23:48; 28. L. Floyd, Ken 23:53; 29. M. Lundin, Pal 23:56; 30. A. Baxter, Pal 23:56; 31. I. Block, Col 23:57; 32. J. Jenkins, Col 23:58; 33. M. Chythlook, Sol 24:10; 34. H. Delker, Sol 24:21; 35. B. Bennett, Sol 24:23; 36. M. Salzetti, Ken 24:44; 37. S. Hill, Sol 25:17; 39. K. Hendricks, Sol 27:12; 39. J. McNelly, Val 27:43.