Knights young, but sport record numbers

PALMER — Mark Strabel can look at his Colony Knights cross country running roster two ways.

If the Colony head coach was a glass half-empty type of guy, Strabel could fixate on the 23 runners the Knights lost to graduation. But instead, while realizing his team is young, Strabel sees Colony as a squad stocked full with budding young talent.

Strabel’s squad may lack some of the big veteran guns the Knights have boasted in the past. But this year, the Knights have 60 runners, many of whom are underclassmen.

“This is the biggest team we’ve had so far, in all the years of cross country running,” Strabel said.

That’s quite the statement consdering the Knights have eight combined state titles and a boat load of region crowns to their credit. Facing life without those 23 graduated seniors, Strabel said he, alongside assistatnt Rhonda Knopp, were determined to rebuild the roster.

“Coach Knopp and I were going to the middle school, beating the hallways, trying to get kids to join the cross country running team,” Strabel said.

The campaign worked, and the Knights now have about 60 runners on the roster. About 40 are underclassmen.

On the girls’ side, Colony’s top four runners are underclassmen.

“Most of them are young,” Strabel said of the Colony girls. “Last year, the majority (of the team) were senior girls. That whole group graduated.”

Sophomore Audrey Michaelson returns as the front-runner. Michaelson finished 23rd in the Northern Lights Conference Championships last year and 13th in state. This season, she’s already finished second in the Colony Twilight and Interior Invitational.

Michaelson showed her speed early in the season, sprinting past a pair of runners on the final stretch to finish as the Colony Twilight runner-up.

“She’s always had that kick,” Strabel said. “We’re trying to have her pace it over the whole course.”

Sophomore Makenzie Thompson also returns. Thompson finished third in the Interior Invite at Birch Hill Recreation Area in Fairbanks last Saturday.

The Knights also have a handful of freshmen who could make an impact. That group includes Ariana Saxon, Carolyn Cox, Rebeka Diotte, Bailey Meier and Tracie Haan.

Michaelson (second), Thompson (third), Cox (seventh), Meier (13th) and Diotte (16th) each finished in the top-16 to help the Knights win the Interior Invite.

Strabel also noted senior Jamie Krediet, a soccer standout at Colony.

Senior Tanner Enloe leads the boys’ sqaud. Strabel said Enloe, who placed 36th in state last year, could be on the verge of making a move in the NLC.

“He’s always been right there,” Strabel said. “But it’s one of those things, we havn’t really seen what he’s capable of donig yet.”

The Knights also have junior Abe Meyerhofer.

“He’s slowing been working his way up. He’s been working hard,” Strabel said. “he really come on the last half of last season.”

Like the girls, the Colony boys also have a promising group of freshmen that includes Eli Brayton, Brandon Schafer adn Ben Atkinson.

Saturday the Knights will host the Colony Invitational at Colony High School. The meet, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, includes a list of 15 teams from across the state. The boys’ varsity race is slated for 11:30 p.m. and the girls’ varsity race is at 12:15 p.m.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.