NO RIVALRY

PALMER — Allie Ostrander has spent her freshman season taking the state by storm. But the Kenai ninth-grader hasn’t surprised at least one Valley runner.

“She’s amazing. She’s always pushing to do better,” Wasilla sophomore Mariah Burroughs, Ostrander’s cousin, said after the 4A girls race of the Palmer Invitational on Saturday.

Much like she did during the Colony Invitational last week, and basically every race so far in her young high school career, Ostrander blew by the competition, sprinting to an early lead and running alone en route to her winning time of 17 minutes and 51 seconds on the Michael Janecek Trails at Palmer High. Ostrander’s time was more than 40 seconds faster than runner-up Megan Edic of Lathrop.

Burroughs, who finished seventh with a time of 18:55, has been part of a pack of Alaska talent running behind Ostrander throughout the 2011 season. But the chance to run with her cousin has meant the most to Burroughs.

The cousins are actually part of two sets of siblings on the cross-country trails this fall. Her younger sister, freshman Riley, joins Burroughs. Ostrander’s older sister, Taylor, is a senior on the Kenai squad.

Burroughs said there is no rivalry here.

“We’ve kind of waited for this year,” Burroughs said. “We’ve had a lot of fun with it, knowing that all four of us get to race together. It’s really amazing, really special.”

Ostrander and teammate Bailey Beeson, who finished third in the meet, helped the Kardinals win the girls team title t the Palmer Invite. Kenai placed first with 78 points and finished nearly 19 points ahead of second-place West Anchorage and 25 in front of third-place Wasilla.

Burroughs led Wasilla, the defending 4A state champions, with her seventh-place finish and was one of two Warriors to place in the top-10. Wasilla head coach Gary Howell said Burroughs has emerged as the front-runner on his squad.

“Mariah’s figuring out she can run on her own,” Howell said of the sophomore. “She doesn’t need to wait for her teammates. She’s starting to discover how tough she really is. Her training has just been very key. She’s very focused, and she’s just going to get better as the season goes on.”

Freshman Peggy Mathis, who ran among the top-7 for a chunk of the race, placed 10th with a mark of 19:15. Jessica Pahkala was 19th for the Warriors.

Howell said the Palmer Invite was probably the biggest test of the season, so far.

“This is the best state preview we’ve seen in a long time,” Howell said. “Everybody was actually here. This is a better indicator, by far, than (the Skyview Invitational). It’s later in the season. We’re three weeks until state.”

The emergence of Ostrander has also made things interesting.

“I don’t know if she’s elevated the state yet, just because she’s so far in front. The girls can’t see her,” Howell said.

Howell said it’s different than some of the past fast freshman who have come on the scene in recent seasons.

“She takes off and destroys people by such a large margin,” Howell said. “I don’t know that anyone’s even chasing her as much as they’re running for second.”

Howell said a unique thing about girls cross-country is one freshman can change the entire landscape of the competition.

“Kenai picks up Allie, two years ago they didn’t have enough girls to have a team,” Howell said. “Look at West. They’ve got three freshman and all of the sudden they’re in the hunt for the state title. They weren’t even in the conversation before that.”

Colony’s Audrey Michaelson continued her stellar junior year with a fourth-place finish. Michaelson finished at 18:42, just two seconds behind third-place Beeson.

Michaelson was also one of a pair of Knights to finish in the top-15. Bailey Meier was 15th at 19:25. The Knights finished eighth in the team standings.

Hana Bohman finished 27th to lead the 12th-place Palmer Moose.

Palmer senior Mason Minturn helped lead the Moose to a fourth-place finish in the 4A boys’ team standings with his sixth-place finish. Minturn clocked a time of 16:29, and was the top Valley runner in the event.

Joe Day and Schyler Knopp placed 23rd and 24th respectively for Palmer, finishing less than a second apart.

Noah Ripley led the Wasilla boys with his 17th-place finish. Abe Meyerhofer was 38th to lead Colony.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Palmer Invitational

Saturday, Michael Janecek Trails

4A girls team scores:

1. Kenai 78; 2. West Anchorage 97; 3. Wasilla 103; 4. Lathrop 141; 5. South Anchorage 142; 6. Eagle River 143; 7. Kodiak 167; 8. Colony 170; 9. West Valley 210; 10. East Anchorage 210; 11. Service 221; 12. Palmer 287; 13. Homer 335; 14. Chugiak 394.

4A girls individual results (Top 20):

1. A. Ostrander, Ken 17:51.3; 2. M. Edic, Lat 18:34; 3. B. Beeson, Ken 18:40; 4. A. Michaelson, Col 18:42; 5. L. Blanchet, West 18:43; 6. J. Nothey, Ser 18:45; 7. M. Burroughs, Was 18:55; 8. B. Lizotte, Lat 18:45; 9. R. Roelle, West 19:11; 10. P. Mathis, Was 19:15; 11. S. Kirk, South 19:15; 12. G. Graham, East 19:21; 13. E. Rorabaugh, WV 19:22; 14. A. Horn, Kod 19:24; 15. B. Meier, Col 19:25; 16. K. Wddleton, West 19:29; 17. B. Mucha, Sol 19:29; 18. E. Hail, ER 19:30; 19. J. Pahkala, Was 19:37.

Other Valley finishers:

25. M. Thompson, Col 19:49; 27. H. Bohman, Pal 19:52; 30. J. Ford, Was 20:11; 44. M. Ringgenberg, Was 20:43; 50. H. Hana, Pal 20:55; 62. R. Burroughs, Was 21:17; 70. T. Haan, Col 21:42; 71. M. Osiensky, Pal 21:44; 73. J. Kopsack, Col 21:48; 82. M. Wright, Was 22:16; 83. D. Cummings, Pal 22:17; 84. R. Diotte, Col 22:22; 91. A. Woodings, Pal 22:58.

4A boys team scores:

1. West Valley 50; 2. Kodiak 70; 3. Service 87; 4. Palmer 139; 5. Lathrop 166; 6. Juneau-Douglas 171; 7. Chugiak 211; 8. Wasilla 250; 9. West Anchorage 255; 10. Kenai 277; 11. Colony 284; 12. South Anchorage 288; 13. East Anchorage 298; 14. Skyview 305; 15. Eagle River 364.

4A boys individual results:

1. P. Noon, WV 15:27; 2. M. Romey, Ser 16:00; 3. K. Grzeda, WV 16:02; 4. D. Francis, Jun 16:04; 5. C. Christiansen, Kod 16:14; 6. M. Minturn, Pal 16:29; 7. J. Miller, Jun 16:34; 8. L. Thomet, Kod 16:35; 9. J. Farr, East 16:36; 10. D. McPhetres, Chug 16:39; 11. M. Sayre, WV 16:41; 12. J. Fogle, Kod 16:49; 13. E. Hoefler, WV 16:49; 14. L. Hepler, Ser 16:50; 15. L. Schlemme, Ser 16:50; 16. T. Norvell, Jun 16:56; 17. N. Ripley, Was 16:57; 18. B. King, ER 16:59; 19. L. Fried, Kod 17:02; 20. M. Hilbish, Sky 17:03.

Other Valley finishers:

23. J. Day, Pal 17:07; 24. S. Knopp, Pal 17:07; 34. A. Liebing, Pal 17:13; 38. A. Meyerhofer, Col 17:21; 42. B. Lee, Was 17:25; 45. J. Pahkala, Was 17:27; 48. B. Schafer, Col 17:28; 52. C. Ess, Pal 17:37; 56. K. Lucas, Col 17:43; 69. B. Atkinson, Col 18:01; 70. C. Smith, Pal 18:02; 73. L. Reed, Col 18:04; 84. D. Sinnett, Col 18:21; 85. B. Carricaburu, Was 18:23; 88. B. Muniz, Pal 18:24; 90. R. Steiner, Was 18:25; 93. K. Kruz, Hou 18:30; 100. A. Oliver, Was 18:49; 103. D. Drake, Hou 18:52; 114. J. Richey, Hou 19:14; 117. A. Kinne, Hou 19:36; 130. J. Richter, Hou 21:37.