Doner runs 2nd at Skyview Invitational

SOLDOTNA -- Peter Doner finished second overall to lead Colony's boys to a sixth-place finish Saturday in the Skyview Invitational cross-country running meet.

The Colony girls finished ninth in the team race with Susitna Valley close on their heels in 10th.

Colony boys coach Mark Doner said he cautioned his squad against going out too fast early in the 5-K race. The skyview course has a big hill near the start and he didn't want anyone to burn out early.

His son, Peter, was in 25th place at the hill and moved up to become the leader of a pack just behind the leaders after one kilometer. Jesse Cherry of Chugiak, runnerup in last year's state meet, won the individual title in16 minutes, 40 seconds with Doner 15 seconds back.

Doner passed Jeff Quickel in the last 250 yards as the Dimond standout finished third in 17:05. Palmer High's Rory Egelus was fourth with a time of 17:20.

Colony's boys were the top team among Region 3 schools, but Mark Doner noted that a strong Kodiak team didn't take part in the meet. He says his team is much faster than it was in 2002.

"We have 10 guys running as fast as the top five did last year," he said. "Each varsity runner on the boys and girls team improved their times from a year ago. We did real well."

Meanwhile, Melissa Ostermick of Susitna Valley was the top individual finisher from the Mat-Su in the girls' race. She clocked 21:46 for 26th place.

"That made her second among all the 1-, 2- and 3-A girls," said Su Valley coach Jane Buskirk, whose girls also beat six 4-A teams.

Buskirk credited newcomer Kayti Krepel for an outstanding performance. Krepel is a sophomore competing in cross-country running for the first time this season. She placed 47th with a time of 22:37.

"That's flying for your first 5-K," said Buskirk. "The girls are working real hard and have high expectations."

East High won the girls' team title with 52 points. Natalie Beach led Colony with 31st place in 21:59 as the Knights scored 260 points to edge Su Valley with 276.

Su Valley will join most other Mat-Su teams at the Seward Invitational on Saturday. Colony's varsity teams travel to Kodiak for dual meets.

Skyview Invitational

Boys Team Scores

1) Chugiak, 71; 2) Dimond, 93; 3) East, 115; 4) Service, 138; 5) West, 140; 6) Colony, 164) 7) Bartlett, 190; 8) Anchorage Christian School, 229; 9) Seward, 237; 10) Grace Christian, 251; 11) Soldotna, 285; 12) Cook Inlet, 300; 13) Palmer, 348) 14) Homer, 357; 15) Wasilla, 398; 16) Nikiski, 490; 17) Houston, 557.

Boys Top 15

1) Jesse Cherry, Chugiak, 16:40; 2) Peter Doner, Colony, 16:55; 3) Jeff Quickel, Dimond, 17:05; 4) Rory Egelus, Palmer, 17:20; 5) Monte Garroutte, Homer, 17:24; 6) Justin Singleton, Chugiak, 17:37; 7) Matt Adams, Seward, 17:38; 8) Mick Boyle, Kenai, 9) George Brell, West, 17:47; 10) Trevor Baldwin, Kenai, 17:48; 11) Brian Beeson, 17:53; 12) Ryan Beckett, Service, 18:04; 13) John Murphy, Chugiak, 18:05; 14) Joseph Gugel, Grace Christian, 18:09; 15) Ross Wise, Colony, 18:10.

Girls Team Scores

1) East, 52; 2) Service, 76; 3) Soldotna, 87; 4) Dimond, 115; 5) Chugiak, 135; 6) West, 176; 7) Grace Christian, 233; 8) Seward, 258; 9) Colony, 260; 10) Su Valley, 276; 11) Bartlett, 281; 12) Homer, 314; 13) Kenai, 340; 14) Palmer, 352; 15) Skyview, 382; 16) Nikiski, 445; 17) Houston, 512.

Girls Top 15

1) Juliane Smith, Service, 18:57; 2) Ari Goldstein, Soldotna, 19:22; 3) Whitney Anderson, Seward, 19:23; 4) Leah Besh, East, 19:36; 5) Katelyn Stearns, East, 19:47; 6) Katie Franzmann, Soldotna, 19:53; 7) Kendra Kennedy, Service, 20:18; 8) Brittany Muma, 20:37; 9) Aleta Phelps, Homer, 20:54; 10) Liz Quinley, East, 20:57; 11) Jessica Weimer, Soldotna, 21:07; 12) Emma Rea, West, 21:11; 13) Hanna Johnson, Service, 21:14; 14) Chelsea Holmes, Dimond, 21:15; 15) Jessica Allman, East, 21:19