Prep runners ready for regions

WASILLA — For the last four seasons, the Wasilla Warriors girls’ cross-country running team ruled Region III.

Heading into the 2014 season, Wasilla was the winner of four straight Region III girls’ team titles. Things have been a little different this year. Wasilla lost the bulk of its talent on the girls’ side. But there’s another Wasilla team ready to run down region gold.

The Wasilla boys team — which captured team titles at the Bartlett, Colony, Palmer and Seward meets this year — is expected to battle for a crown when runners hit the trails for the 2014 Region III Championships Saturday in Kodiak.

“I’m really excited,” Wasilla head coach Leslie Varys said of the boys’ team. “These boys have all worked so hard. They’ve been building up to this point. They’re excited too. They’ve watched the girls get all the attention. I always felt like they deserved attention, how hard they’ve worked.”

Varys praised the strength of Wasilla’s boys’ team. She said Wasilla has six strong experienced runners: seniors Colton Pulver, Justin Gentz, Lane Reed and Sam Loyer, and juniors Karl Greathouse and Quincy Fuller. She also noted freshman Isaak Bell, who Varys said is working hard to soak everything in while competing on a “championship quality team.”

Fuller has Wasilla’s best finish of the season, fourth at the Colony Invite. The Warriors may not have a runner that has broken into the top three yet, but Wasilla has had success placing a group of runners in the top 25.

Wasilla placed its top five among the first 22 runners across the finish line en route to its team title in the Palmer Invitational. The five runners were separated by only 35 seconds, helping Wasilla win its first Palmer Invite boys title since 1986.

“It’s a coaches dream,” Varys said.

Wasilla has six runners in Region III’s list of top 20 ranked athletes on the boys’ side.

Like the Wasilla boys, the Colony girls have also enjoyed an immense amount of team success this season. Colony has captured girls team titles at the Bartlett, Tsalteshi, Colony and Seward meets. Colony head coach Rhonda Knopp said by email, Colony is healthy and the Knights have worked past a string of sickness that hit both the boys and girls teams during the regular season.

The Colony girls have been led by a pair of underclassmen, freshman Jill Bowker and sophomore Alex Mathis, throughout the year. Bowker is ranked third in Region III in 2014 and Mathis is right behind at No. 4. Mathis was the runner-up at both the Region III and state meets last season as a member of the Wasilla Warriors.

Another Colony sophomore, Cathelyne Powers, is ranked seventh.

The Colony boys boast one of the top five runners in Region III, sophomore Tracen Knopp.

Knopp is ranked fifth this year, with his mark of 16:33 at the Tsalteshi Invitational. He also won the Colony Invitational earlier this season. Knopp will be running in his first Region III meet Saturday. He missed his entire freshman season due to injury.

The Palmer girls and Wasilla girls both have athletes eager to repeat top 10 performances at regions. Last season, Palmer’s Ruby Woodings was sixth. Wasilla’s Riley Burroughs finished ninth.

Burroughs is ranked fifth in the region this year.

The Houston Hawks will be led by Andrew Spencer in the Region III 123A championships. Spencer was 12th at regions last year.

Action starts at Kodiak’s Bear Valley Golf Course with the junior varsity open races at 10 a.m. The 123A girls and boys races are at 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The 4A girls and boys races are at 12:15 p.m. and 1:45 p.m.