Knights sweep Region III ski titles

HATCHER PASS — It was a good weekend for the Colony Knights and the Hanestad family. Colony star Annika Hanestad pushed her total to six individual region titles. Noah Hanestad helped the Colony boys cruise up the standings.

Last year, the Colony Knights were closer to the bottom than they were to first in the boys’ team standings with their two-day total time. But Saturday, the Knights stood at the top of the podium.

It was part of a sweep of the team titles for the Knights during the Region III Cross-Country Ski Championships at the Government Peak Recreation Area near Palmer.

“One of the boys just commented a few minutes ago we were close to dead last in the region last year on the guys side, and this year we won,” Colony coach David Knopp said.

Powered by the Hanestad family, the Knights finished first in both the girls’ and boys’ team standings.

Noah Hanestad started things off with a victory in the 5-kilometer classic Friday, the first of four Knights in the boys’ top 10 headed into Saturday.

“The boys really pulled through,” Knopp said. “A lot of them have really bought in and trained very diligently on their own in the offseason.”

Hanestad and Joseph Walling of Palmer traded podiums on Friday and Saturday. But on the girls’ side, the storyline centered around Colony standout Annika Hanestad, who swept the girls’ individual titles for the third straight year. Hanestad left the competition in the snow, winning both Friday and Saturday’s races. Colony’s girls held nearly a four-minute lead in the team standings over Soldotna going into Saturday. Colony’s boys trailed Soldotna by less than four seconds. Valley teams filled up podiums at a high rate.

“They just they motivated themselves throughout the season,” Colony coach Mark Strabel said. “It was a difficult December with us being shut down for two weeks because of the earthquake damage. We couldn’t get access to our skis and then they strove through the issues of that.”

Strabel and Knopp seem to think that the opening of the Government Peak Recreation area in 2011 has quite a bit to do with it.

“Yeah in a small area but it’s just been growing and we’re reaping the benefits of it now,” Strabel said. “It’s getting better and better we built the competition trails, which now all of a sudden, hey kids know what tough courses are and they’re rising up to that level.”

The University of Alaska Anchorage Ski team has been using the GPRA trails for their training, and are planning to hold races there in mid-February.

“With this new facility I think the old statement is if you build it they will come. We’re hoping and I think we’re seeing that come to fruition,” Knopp said.

Not only do the recent trails help skiers in their preparation, but the level of coaching in the Valley has risen to match the talent. Sue Skvorc is in her first year at Palmer after 12 years coaching at Colony previously.

“I’ve been in college with each of these guys so I just wanted to come over and congratulate them. They know what they’re doing,” Skvorc said.

A newcomer to the ski scene, Palmer’s Katey Houser, chased Hanestad all weekend. The freshman phenom fresh off her standout season running cross-country took third on Friday, more than two full minutes behind Hanestad. But on Saturday, Houser was on the back of Hanestad’s skis the entire race, finishing behind Hanestad by one second.

“The top two girls today they were so close together. They pushed each other. They turned out times faster than they would have if they had been real spread out,” Skvorc said.

Palmer’s girls sat in fifth place on Friday, but came in second to Colony in the team standings on Saturday by just 35 seconds.

“We doubled their efforts today and they really put up an excellent effort. They really wanted it today and they skied their hearts out,” Skvorc said.

Walling led Palmer with a fourth-place finish on Friday and the finish-line win on Saturday. Walling’s time of 37:28.4 was less than a second faster than Noah Hanestad of Colony, who came in at 38:00.9. Colony placed three skiers inside the top 10 on Saturday. Kaj Taylor of Palmer placed seventh for the Moose, who finished fourth in the boys’ standings.

“We knew our girls team had a lot of potential and now we’re looking forward to State and to tune up our game. I expect us to move up within the region III teams when we’re at state,” Skvorc said.

Both teams will advance to the state meet in Fairbanks in two weeks, and with longer races and an additional day for team relays, Skvorc knows that the team with the most stamina will come out on top.

“The team that’s most prepared to keep going for three days is the team that’s going to prevail,” Skvorc said. “The mental toughness because a sport like this, you’re out there in the cold. You’re out there by yourself, there’s a lot of different variables but the kids who are most mentally tough and really want it push themselves pas where they think they can go, that’s what we’re after.”

Strabel says that the only thing that will be different at the state meet in two weeks is a bigger field.

“Don’t change anything if it’s not broken,” Strabel said.

Hannah Delker led all Peninsula racers with a sixth place finish in a time of 20:13. The Homer pair of Autumn Daigle and Katia Holmes finished in sixth and seventh. Peninsula girls took five of the top ten spots on Friday.

Autumn Daigle led Homer racers on Saturday with a fourth place finish in a time of 16:14. Kenai’s Maria Salzetti was behind her at 16:21. Katia Holmes also finished within the top 10 at seventh for Homer on Saturday. Erika Arthur and Hannah Delker led Soldotna in ninth and 10th.

Jeremy Kupferschmid led Peninsula boys on Friday, taking third in the classic race for the Stars, followed by teammates Bradley Walters in fifth and Jack Harris in sixth. The three all took top ten on Saturday, with Harris in sixth at 22:47 followed by Walters in seventh and Kupferschmid in ninth.

Contact Frontiersman reporter Tim Rockey at tim.rockey@frontiersman.com.

Region III Championships

Friday-Saturday, Government Peak

Individual results (2-day totals):

Girls:

1. A. Hannestad, Col 32:17; 2. K. Houser, Pal 34:23; 3. M. Jackson, Gra 36:07; 4. A. Daigle, Hom 36:27; 5. S. Spaic, Col 36:30; 6. M. Salzetti, Ken 36:53; 7. A. Berrigan, Pal 37:09; 8. H. Decker, Sol 37:12; 9. K. Holmes, Hom 37:21; 10. E. Arthur, Sol 37:43; 11. K. Delker, Sol 37:48; 12. L. Bushey, Col 37:51; 13. Z. Stonorov, Hom 37:53; 14. S. Martin, Sol 38:36; 15. I. Dammeyer, Sol 38:53; 16. N. Bell, Col 39:10; 17. R. Whittington-Evans, Pal 39:11; 18. G. Annett, Gra 39:13; 19. C. Demienteff, Gra 39:17; 20. C. Blackwell, Sol 39:22; 21. A. McLaughlin, Gra 39:33; 22. M. Ticknor, Ken 40:09; 23. S. Lindquist, Sew 40:13; 24. S. Foster, Ken 41:15; 25. K. Deering, Col 41:41; 26. Z. Copp, Pal 41:58; 27. A. Cline, Hom 42:07; 28. A. Straub, Col 42:20; 29. S. Carey, Hom 42:21; 30. L. Fallon, Ken 42:32; 31. B. Werner, Pal 43:04; 32. L. Gionet, Gra 44:25; 33. S. Mueller, Pal 44:29; 34. M. Rossi, Gra 44:59; 35. E. Henneman, Pal 45:29; 36. K. Widenar, Gra 46:39; 37. B. Moffet, Ken 47:05; 38. K. Matturro, Ken 50:28; 39. L. Hankins, Sew 50:45.

Boys

1. J. Walling, Pal 37:28; 2. N. Hanestad, Col 38:00; 3. L. Fritzel, Gra 38:33; 4. C. Fritzel, Gra 39:00; 5. B. Walters, Sol 39:18; 6. J. Harris, Sol 39:34; 7. K. Taylor, Pal 39:39; 8. J. Kupfershmid, Sol 39:58; 9. N. Kristich, Col 40:47; 10. S. Ramirez, Col 40:50; 11. G. Streit, Col 40:57; 12. N. Iverson, Col 41:49; 13. R. Giesler, Sol 42:01; 14. L. Chilton, Sol 42:25; 15. C. Colver, Sol 42:34; 16. W. Metzger, Gra 42:55; 17. W. Wallace, Gra 43:15; 18. K. Leach, Gra 43:16; 19. Q. Cox, Sol 43:55; 20. T. Hippchen, Ken 44:02; 21. J. Foster, Ken 44:57; 22. S. Kniegge, Gra 44:59; 23. J. Dammeyer, Sol 45:21; 24. J. Lee, Pal 46:13; 25. T. Summers, Ken 48:04; 26. L. Miller, Pal 48:15; 27. N. Haakinson, Ken 48:30; 28. C. Bryden, Sew 48L36; 29. J. Rogers, Pal 48:47; 30. S. Roberts, Ken 48:54; 31. A. Super, Hom 49:15; 32. B. Thatcher, Gra 51:04; 33. C. Peterson, Sew 51:33; 34. S. Paperman, Sew 51:33; 35. J. Carranza, Ken 53:22.