Moose boys, girls finish second in region

SOLDOTNA — The Palmer Moose posted a pair of runner-up finishes during the Region III Nordic Ski Championships at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna on Saturday.

The Soldotna Stars swept the team titles, finishing just ahead of Palmer in both the boys’ and girls’ classes.

Palmer’s Kimberly DelFrate was the top Valley skier of the meet, finishing fourth in the girls’ overall standings with a total time of 37 minutes and 33 seconds. DelFrate finished third in the five-kilometer freestyle on Saturday, with a time of 17:57. On Friday, DelFrate was sixth in the classic event, thanks to a time of 19:35.

DelFrate’s sister Amanda was ninth overall for the Moose, with a total time of 38:44. Amanda DelFrate was 10th in Friday’s race and ninth on Saturday.

Laura Whitmore (16th), Mariah Shones (21st) and Shannon Stough (22nd) also finished in the top-25 for the Moose.

A trio of Palmer skiers finished in the top-11 overall to lead the Moose to a second-place finish in the boys’ team standings.

Davis Dunlap was ninth overall, with a time of 43:18, to lead the Moose. Dunlap was sixth in the 7.5-K classical race on Friday, with his time of 21:51. On Saturday, Dunlap was ninth in the 5-K freestyle.

Thanks to his fifth-place finish in the freestyle, Duney Strickland finished ninth overall with his total time of 43:27. Strickland was 15th in the classical race.

Wylie Mangelsdorf followed his Palmer teammates by finishing 11th overall. Mangelsdorf was eighth in the classical and 11th in the freestyle.

Susitna Valley’s Ian Mannix was the top Valley skier on the boys’ side, with his eighth-place finish. Mannix finished third in the classical (21:27), less than a minute behind first-place Lars Arneson of Cook Inlet Academy. Mannix was 12th in the freestyle.

Morgan Michels led the Su Valley girls, finishing 24th overall.

The Colony Knights finished fifth overall in both the boys’ and girls’ team standings.

Caitlin Skvorc led the Colony girls, finishing 15th overall with a total time of 40:09. Skvorc was 13th in the classic and 25th in the skate.

Ellen VanGorder (25th) and Abby Jahn (30th) also finished in the top-30 for the Colony girls.

Corbyn Jahn was the top skier on the Colony boys squad, finishing 20th overall. He was 13th in the classic and 25th in the skate.

Jon Mastroyannis (26th) and Gunner Williams (29th) also finished in the top-30.

Wasilla finished seventh overall in both classes.

Cori and Valerie Schleich finished 28th and 29th, respectively, for the Wasilla girls.

Leif Johnson led the Warrior boys with a 14th-place finish. Johnson was 12th in the classic and 20th in the skate.

The final event of the season, the ASAA Nordic Ski Championships is scheduled to start Thursday at Birch Hill in Fairbanks.

Region III Nordic

Ski Championships

Friday, Saturday; Tsalteshi Trails; Soldotna

Girls’ team results:

Team times: 1. Soldotna, 2 hours, 27 minutes, 59 seconds; 2. Palmer, 2:36:32; 3. Homer, 2:37:34; 4. Kenai, 2:42:14; 5. Colony, 2:48:14; 6. Valdez, 2:52:38; 7. Valdez, 2:52:38; 8. Wasilla, 2:54:42; 9. Grace, 2:55:45; 10. Skyview, 3:00:07; 11. Seward, 3:01:32.

Friday’s five-kilometer freestyle top 10

1. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 18:14; 2. Molly Watkins, Ken, 18:44; 3. Maranda Merkes, Sol, 19:15; 4. Bree Mucha, Sol, 19:25; 5. Jasmine Clock, Sol, 19:26; 6. Kimberly Delfrate, Pal, 19:35; 7. Sarah Cresap, Gra, 19:48; 8. Kristi Louthan, Ken, 19:59; 9. Melanie Smith, Sol, 20:27; 10. Amanda Delfrate, Pal, 20:30.

Saturday’s five-kilometer freestyle top 10

1. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 16:49; 2. Jasmine Clock, Sol, 17:34; 3. Kimberly Delfrate, Pal, 17:57; 4. Molly Watkins, Ken, 17:58; 5. Sarah Cresap, Gra, 18:10; 6. Maggie Bursch, Hom, 18:13; 7. Amanda Delfrate, Pal, 18:14; 8. Melanie Smith, Sol, 18:22; 9. Kristi Louthan, Ken, 18:30; 10. Mackenzie Barnwell, Sew, 18:33.

Overall top 10

1. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 35:03; 2. Molly Watkins, Ken, 36:43; 3. Jasmine Clock, Sol, 37:01; 4. Kimberly Delfrate, Pal, 37:33; 5. Sarah Cresap, Gra, 37:59; 6. Maranda Merkes, Sol, 38:08; 7. Bree Mucha, Sol, 38:16; 8. Kristi Louthan, Ken, 38:30; 9. Amanda Delfrate, Pal, 38:44; 10. Melanie Smith, Sol, 38:50.

Other Valley finishers:

15. Caitlin Skvorc, Col 40:09, 16. Laura Whitmore, Palmer 40:18, 21. Mariah Shones, Pal 40:06, 22. Shannon Stough, Pal 40:59, 25. Morgan Michels, SV 41:41, 25. Ellen VanGorder, Col 41:44, 28. Cori Schleich, Was 42:08, 29. Valarie Schleich, Was 42:14, 30. Abby Jahn, Col 42:21, 36. Shannon Van Bavel, Col 44:02, 38. Taylor Stewart, Col 44:27, 41. Kiersten Wilber, Was 44:50, 44. Lindsey Dreese, Col 45:17, 45. Hannah Smith, Col 45:27, 46. Katherine Parker, Was 45:30, 48. Lizzie Lutz, 46:07, 52. Robyn Hall, Was 47:20, 57. Kelsey Ryneski, Was 56:55.

Boys’ team results:

Team times: 1. Soldotna, 2:48:21; 2. Palmer, 2:55:44; 3. Homer, 3:02:39; 4. Skyview, 3:08:46; 5. Colony, 3:09:23; 6. Kenai, 3:13:27; 7. Wasilla, 3:13:29; 8. Seward, 3:22:15; 9. Su Valley, 3:24:56; 10. Grace, 3:30:36; 11. Valdez, 3:44:26.

Friday’s 7.5-kilometer classical top 10

1. Lars Arneson, Cook Inlet Academy, 20:29; 2. Travis Semmens, Sol, 20:39; 3. Ian Mannix, SuV, 21:27; 4. Jordan Merkes, Sol, 21:36; 5. Ryan Sanders, Sol, 21:49; 6. David Dunlap, Pal, 21:51; 7. IntiMayo Harbison, Sol, 21:52; 8. Wylie Mangelsdorf, Pal, 21:54; 9. Will Anderson, Hom, 22:00; 10. Aaron Chase, Sol, 22:01.

Saturday’s five-kilometer freestyle top 10

1. Lars Arneson, CIA, 20:04; 2. Travis Semmens, Sol, 20:06; 3. IntiMayo Harbison, Sol, 20:44; 4. Aaron Chase, Sol, 20:45; 5. Duney Strickland, Pal, 20:46; 6. Ryan Sanders, Sol, 20:46; 7. Anders Nyquist, Ken, 20:48; 8. Will Anderson, Hom, 21:10; 9. Davis Dunlap, Pal, 21:25; 10. Andrew Arnold, Gra, 21:27.

Overall top 10

1. Lars Arneson, CIA, 40:34; 2. Travis Semmens, Sol, 40:46; 3. Ryan Sanders, Sol, 42:36; 4. IntiMayo Harbison, Sol, 42:37; 5. Aaron Chase, Sol, 42:47; 6. Anders Nyquist, Ken, 42:54; 7. Will Anderson, Hom, 43:11; 8. Ian Mannix, SuV, 43:15; 9. Davis Dunlap, Pal, 43:18; 10. Duney Strickland, Pal, 43:27.

Other Valley finishers:

11. Wylie Mangelsdorf, Pal 43:29, 14. Leif Johnson, Was 44:54, 19. Ted Hoople, Pal 45:30, 20. Corbyn Jahn, Col 45:36, 21. Baruch Chamberlin, Was 46:07, 22. Jacob Simon, Pal 46:53, 26. Jon Mastroyanis, Col 47:37, 28. Andrew McConnell, Pal 47:46, 29. Gunner Williams, Col 47:50, 31. Steve Sinnett, Col 48:20, 38. Abe Meyerhofer, Col 49:19, 39. Robert Wise, Col 49:19, 42. A. Strickland, Pal 50:11, 43. Tyler Figley, SV 50:52, 45. Keith Pulver, Was 51:17, 48. Connor Mattson, Was 52:13, 49. Josh Pahkala, Was 52:24, 52. Suvan Sterling, SV 54:18.