Local runners thrown curve as they prepare for region meet

WASILLA — As local cross-country running runners hit practice Thursday afternoon, they knew they were preparing for Saturday’s Region III Championships. They just didn’t know where the meet would be.

It wasn’t until hours after practice ended for most teams that word began to spread that the meet had officially been moved from Seward to Skyview High’s Tsalteshi Trails due to persistent rain and flooding in the Seward area.

While most local coaches Thursday were frustrated about not knowing where the region meet would be — Palmer High was also considered a serious possibility to host the championships — many said they felt the move to Tsalteshi is not a game-changer.

Colony head coach Mark Strabel said it will be a new experience for most of his athletes. The Knights have opted to skip the Skyview Invite, the annual regular-season race at Tsalteshi, during the last few seasons. But regardless of where the race is at, it’s still a 5-kilometer race, Strabel said. Considering his team’s work training this year, Strabel didn’t seem worried.

The Wasilla Warriors girls are aiming for the Region III three-peat Saturday. With Seward originally slated as the host for the 2012 championships, Wasilla head coach Gary Howell scheduled two trips to Seward during the regular season to give his athletes a chance to familiarize themselves with the new region championships course. Last Tuesday, teams from Colony, Palmer and Wasilla competed in a five-team meet in Seward.

Thursday night, not long after learning Skyview would be the host school as Howell frantically tried to secure new hotel reservations for his athletes, Howell said the new venue shouldn’t create a big issue for his runners.

“Bring on the adversity. It doesn’t matter to us,” Howell said.

Regardless of where the race is held — Seward, Skyview High in Soldotna or the Valley — local coaches known weather and poor conditions will be a factor. Heavy rains have plagued each area for days.

“Everyone’s going to run in the same pig pit,” Howell said. “It’s going to be pretty sloppy, pretty muddy.”

When Howell emailed his athletes about the change Thursday, he told them to embrace the adversity.

“If you don’t embrace it, you’ll be miserable,” Howell said.

On the line Saturday are spots to the state championships, which are scheduled for Sept. 29 at Bartlett High School in Anchorage. The top 3 teams advance to state, as do the top 15 runners in each class who are not on one of the three qualifying teams.

Wasilla, the two-time defending region and state championships, will run for its third straight Region III title Saturday. All but two scoring runners return from Wasilla’s title-winning squad of 2011.

“The girls, I have a good feeling,” Howell said. “We’ve been training really hard. We’re healthy. That’s about all you can really ask for.”

Mariah Burroughs (third), Peggy Mathis (fourth) and Jenna Ford (ninth) each posted top-10 finishes last season. Howell said he’d love to see five in the top 10 Saturday.

Burroughs and Ford have posted the fourth- and fifth-fastest times in the region this year. Riley Burroughs has the ninth-best time in the region this season.

Howell said Mathis and Mariah Burroughs have been battling for the top position on the team. He said Burroughs has been excelling on the hills, while Mathis has been among the strongest Warriors on flatter ground.

Colony senior Audrey Michaelson is also expected to run in the front pack. Michaelson finished second in the region championships last season and third in the state meet. Michaelson ran a personal-best time of 18 minutes and 43 seconds at the Palmer Invitational earlier this year. She finished about a minute behind first-place Allie Ostrander of Kenai. Ostrander, who finished with a 35-second lead over Michaelson in the 2011 Region III Championships, is considered the favorite again this year.

Strabel said Michaelson should not focus on Ostrander.

“I told Audrey to run her race,” Strabel said.

Makenzie Thompson and Bailey Meier are also expected to contend for spots in the state meet. Strabel said he’d also love to see his Knights challenge for the top spot in the girls’ team standings.

“I think it could be a tight race.” Strabel said.

Sophomore Samantha Contreras, who has the 19th-best time in the region this year, is expected to lead the Palmer Moose.

While Wasilla will run in defense of its girls championship, Kodiak returns as the reigning champion on the boys side. Kodiak’s Levi Thomet and Cole Christiansen have spent the season as the top two runners in Region III, but Strabel likes his deep boys team.

“It’s going to be hard to beat Kodiak with their 1-2 punch, but I think we’re a good, solid second in regions,” Strabel said.

Colony’s Lyon Kopsack has the fifth-fastest time in the region this season and Brandon Schafer is at No. 7. Boaz Sessom, who capped his regular-season by winning the 2.5-K Mat-Su Borough Championships last week, is listed at 13th in the region.

Strabel said Darien Sinnett could also be key Saturday.

“He’s been our sleeper,” Strabel said of Sinnett. “He’s been either sick or injured. He hasn’t raced a whole lot, but he’s our sleeper.”

With only three teams with automatic berths, Howell said he knows it will be a challenge for the Warriors to advance as a team, but Howell said his Warriors could excel on a sloppy trail.

“This is certainly to favor our boys side. I know we’re on that bubble to try to make state. We’ve got a large contingent of wrestlers in cross-country. They eat this stuff up. They’re excited about it,” Howell said.

Brendon Lee and Shannon Carpenter have been the top runners on the Wasilla boys team this season. Howell said Nate McKimson has also impressed and could work his way into the varsity lineup.

Palmer senior Chris Osiensky will be gunning for a top-3 spot in the boys race. Osiesnky ran a season-best 16:23 at the Skyview Invitational in August. After he finished second in the Mat-Su Borough Championships last week, Osiensky said his primary goal is to continue to work toward the 16-minute mark.

“Time is more important to me than place for sure,” said Osiensky, who will run in a race in Oregon two weeks after the state meet. “I want to shoot to run close to 16-flat.”

Junior Sean Hermann has also been strong this year, with the eighth-best time in the region.

According to an email sent by meet officials Thursday night, organizers are planning to stage a three-lap course on the lower trail of the Tsalteshi complex, the Wolverine Trail. The lower trail is primarily a sandy course that holds up better to rain. The Region III-4A girls and boys races are slated for 3:15 p.m. and 4:45 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him @matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.