Moose exceed expectations

PALMER — John Bishop started the 2010 season thinking 2011.

The Palmer head coach was facing life without graduated senior Wylie Mangelsdorf, who finished fifth in the 2009 state championships. Another runner he saw as a top returner transferred from Palmer High and one other veteran opted not to run this season.

With no seniors on the boys’ varsity roster and a boatload of young runners, Bishop faced the prospect of a rebuilding year. But last week during the Region III Championships at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna, the Moose shocked everyone, including Bishop.

A pair of Palmer runners placed in the top six and the Moose qualified as a team to compete in the ASAA/First National Bank State 4A Cross Country Running Championships at Bartlett High School Saturday afternoon.

“They’re going way beyond where I expected them to be,” Bishop said Wednesday.

Junior Mason Minturn emerged as a top runner in the region. He won a title at the Mat-Su Borough Championships late last month at Houston High School and finished fourth in the region championships last week with a time of 16 minutes and 48 seconds.

Sophomore Chris Osiensky has also been strong. He finished sixth at regions at 17:01.

Bishop said Andrew Liebing, Sean Hermann, Joe Day, AJ Gentz and Cody White have all worked to fill the void left by departed runners, allowing the Moose to put together a state-qualifying team.

Palmer also qualified for the state meet last year and finished seventh in the boys’ team standings. Minturn placed 30th for Palmer.

A pair of Palmer runners also qualified for the girls’ race Saturday. Hana Bohman and Gretchen Winter earned the chance to compete at the state meet with top-15 finishes. Bishop said he was pleasantly surprised to see the runners qualify.

“As individuals, I didn’t think we were going to make top-15,” Bishop said of the Palmer girls.

Wasilla Warriors

The Wasilla girls team is hoping to make school history Saturday afternoon with the program’s first state title.

“We’re pretty pumped, we’ve had a good week,” Howell said.

Howell’s Warriors are expected to battle the likes of Cook Inlet Conference champion South Anchorage, West Anchorage, West Valley and Service for the state title. South placed four runners in the top 11 of the CIC championships. Wasilla had five runners place in the top 12 of the Region III meet.

Freshman Marriah Burroughs was the top Wasilla runner at the region championships, finishing third at 19:34. Sophomore Jenna Ford, the 2009 region champ, finished fifth at 19:39. Sophomore Mandi Rinngenberg (ninth), junior Jessica Pahkala (10th) and junior Morgan Dampier (12th) also posted top-12 finishes.

Howell said regardless of where the team finishes in the standings Saturday, the Warriors have enjoyed a memorable season.

“This is the most successful season I’ve had as a coach, the most successful season we’ve had at Wasilla High School,” Howell said.

Wasilla finished fifth in the girls’ standings of the state meet last year. Ford led the Warriors with a sixth-place finish.

The Wasilla boys’ will take a runner-up finish from the region meet into the state championships. Junior Josh Pahkala was one of three Warriors to place in the top 10 of the region meet. Pahkala used a personal best time of 16:9 to finish fifth.

Juniors Noah Ripley and Michael Johnston finished ninth and 10th respectively.

Colony Knights

The Colony Knights girls’ squad also qualified for the state meet with a third-place finish in the region team standings.

Leading the Knights down the trail is sophomore Audrey Michaelson, the 2010 Region III runner-up.

“She ran a fantastic race today,” Colony head coach Mark Strabel said by phone from Soldotna after the region meet. “We knew she’d be up there in the mix and the way things panned out, Audrey ran awesome.”

Makenzie Thompson finished 11th for the Knights.

The girls 4A race is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. Saturday and Bartlett High and the boys 4A race is expected to start at 2:15 p.m.

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