Prep ski: Moose rebound in relay events

KINCAID PARK — Palmer completed an emotional recovery from a disastrous opening day at the ASAA Alaska Nordic Skiing Championships with two strong performances in the relay events on the final day of competition Saturday at Kincaid Park.

The Palmer boys’ team of seniors Kevin Smith and Ryan Cunningham and sophomores Davis Dunlap and Dunedin Strickland led all Region III teams in the boys’ relay by placing eighth, while the Moose girls were tops among Mat-Su teams in 11th.

“We’re very happy,” Palmer head coach Darin Markwardt said.

The Colony boys were 11th in the boys’ mixed relay, which combined two legs of classic skiing with two freestyle legs.

Susitna Valley was 15th, while Wasilla placed 20th.

Colony’s girls were 13th in the relay, while Wasilla placed 17th.

South Anchorage won the boys’ relay and overall team title, while the South girls were first in the relay but placed second to Service in the race for the overall team title.

While Colony lost out to its Valley rival in the relays, the Knights got the last laugh overall in the three-day team event, placing 10th in both the boys’ and girls combined team events to lead all Valley teams at the meet.

Led by a 10th-place overall finish by Galen Johnston, the Susitna Valley boys were 15th, the Palmer boys were 16th and the Wasilla boys were 20th. Palmer’s girls team placed 14th overall, while Wasilla was 18th.

Colony had the best overall weekend and Johnston was the top individual, but it was Palmer that was celebrating the most following Saturday’s final relay, mobbing boys’ anchor leg skier Dunedin Strickland as he crossed the finish line in eighth.

Markwardt said Saturday’s relay performances were noteworthy because they showed the Moose belong in the discussion when it comes to Alaska’s top nordic ski programs.

“People look at us now and they’re not going to laugh at us,” Markwardt said. “They’re starting to take notice.”

In the girls’ relay, sisters Kimberly and Amanda Del Frate teamed up with Jessica Odegard and Laura Whitmore to edge chief rival Colony by nearly 50 seconds. Then in the boys’ race, the Moose got a gutsy performance from Davis Dunlap, who overcame a nasty flu bug to pull away from several teams late.

“Davis Dunlap had the race of his life,” Markwardt said.

Markwardt said he had originally planned to sit Dunlap, but on Friday night the sophomore convinced his coach — and the teammate he’d be replacing — he was well enough to ski.

“I had a fever and had really bad races the last two days. But last night I convinced Wylie (Mangelsdorf) to let me take his spot, and Darin agreed,” Dunlap said.

The decision paid off.

“This is probably our best finish this year,” anchor man Strickland — also a sophomore — said following the race.

After seeing their team hopes go down the drain after Thursday’s dismal results, Strickland said it was a big thrill to make such a great showing in the relays.

“It felt like the season was pretty much over on a bad note on the first day,” he said.

Coming back from disaster, he said, made the whole meet worthwhile.

“It’s a great day.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

ASAA Alaska Nordic Ski Championships

Relays

Saturday

Kincaid Park, Anchorage

Girls (4X3-kilometer, mixed classic and freestyle)

1. South Aanchorage (Packer, Backstrum, Yeaton, Patterson), 36:58.6; 2. Service, 37:04.0; 3. West Anchorage, 38:17.2; 4. East Anchorage, 38:21.5; 5. Chugiak, 38:27.3; 6. Soldotna, 39:29.2; 7. West Valley, 40:25.6; 8. Homer, 41:27.6; 9. Kenai Central, 41:51.2; 10. Lathrop, 42:00.8; 11. Palmer (Laura Whitmore, Amanda Del Frate, Jessica Odegard, Kimberly Del Frate), 42:34.9; 12. Dimond, 43:12.4; 13. Colony (Caitlin Skvorc, Sydney Stewart, Heidi Doner, Ellen VanGorder), 43:24.1; 14. Eagle River, 43:25.6; 15. Valdez, 44:29.1; 16. Seward, 44:30.6; 17. Wasilla, 46:32.2; 18. Grace Christian, 47:12.0; 19. Bartlett, 48:49.7; 20. Skyview, 50:58.4

Boys (4X5-kilometer mixed classic and freestyle)

1. South Anchorage (Dougherty, Yeaton, Patterson, Packer), 46:41.6; 2. Service, 47:13.7; 3. Lathrop, 48:04.6; 4. West Valley, 49:02.0; 5. West Anchorage, 50:00.5; 6. Eagle River, 51:05.0; 7. East Anchorage, 51:16.5; 8. Palmer (Ryan Cunningham, Kevin Smith, Davis Dunlap, Dunedin Strickland), 52:58.0; 9. Soldotna, 53:10.0; 10. Skyview, 53:20.3; 11. Colony (Dave Gray, Robert Wise, Jon Mastroyanis, Mason Wick) 53:49.5; 12. Homer, 53:53.9; 13. Chugiak, 53:57.4; 14. Dimond, 54:09.2; 15. Susitna Valley (Ian Mannix, Elias Holt, Tyler Figley, Galen Johnston), 54:45.0; 16. Seward, 56:02.4; 17. Kenai Central, 57:20.1; 18. Grace Christian, 1:04:04.2; 19. Bartlett, 1:05:16.9; 20. Wasilla (Leif Johnson, Keith Pulver, Tucker Minnick, Steve Chapman), 1:07:12.1

Final Team standings

Three-day total times

Boys

1. South, 3 hours, 56 minutes, 06.3 seconds; 2. Service, 4:01:28.6; 3. West Valley, 4:08:53.2; 4. Lathrop, 4:10:16.2; 5. West, 4:11:36.1; 6. Eagle River, 4:21:57.9; 7. East, 4:24:32.3; 8. Soldotna, 4:29:35.1; 9. Skyview, 4:30:48.4; 10. Colony, 4:33:36.1; 11. Chugiak, 4:39:09.0; 12. Dimond, 4:39:20.0; 13. Homer, 4:40:23.4; 14. Seward, 4:48:46.0; 15. Susitna Valley, 4:46:16.8; 16. Palmer, 4:47:09.4; 17. Kenai Central, 4:59:23.3; 18. Bartlett, 5:34:14.6; 19. Grace Christian, 5:35:47.6; 20. Wasilla, 5:48:08.4

Girls

1. Service, 3:26:39.5; 2. South, 3:28:19.5; 3. East, 3:29:28.9; 4. Chugiak, 3:31:05.0; 5. West, 3:33:35.3; 6. Soldotna, 3:41:57.0; 7. West Valley, 3:43:02.7; 8. Homer, 3:46:33.1; 9. Kenai Central, 3:55:13.2; 10. Colony, 4:00:41.9; 11. Lathrop, 4:03:25.2; 12. Seward, 4:06:23.6; 13. Valdez, 4:09:10.5; 14. Palmer, 4:10:41.3; 15. Dimond, 4:11:20.8; 16. Eagle River, 4:17:24.9; 17. Grace Christian, 4:17:34.3; 18. Wasilla, 4:23:28.4; 19. Bartlett, 4:45:29.2