Prep ski: Su Valley senior survives collision, posts top-10 overall finish

KINCAID PARK — In the blink of an eye, Galen Johnston went from fast to gasp.

One of Alaska’s top prep nordic skiers, the Susitna Valley senior was cruising toward a finish near the front of the pack in the individual 7.5-kilometer freestyle race during Day 2 of the ASAA Alaska Nordic Skiing Championships at Kincaid Park Friday when disaster struck.

After rounding a sharp curve, Johnston had a full head of steam as he neared Lekisch’s Tunnel at the bottom of a hill. But the tunnel wasn’t clear. Instead, another competitor was stopped cold in the middle of the trail.

Johnston, who entered the freestyle race in sixth place overall after a solid showing in Thursday’s classic race, had no choice but to collide with the stalled skier.

“I put one pole between his legs, spun and landed flat on my back, and knocked the wind out of me,” he said shortly after limping to the finish line in a disappointing 21st position. “I couldn’t breathe the rest of the race.”

When the wreck occurred, Johnston was approximately 10 seconds ahead of South Anchorage’s Andrew Dougherty, who finished fourth. By the end of the race, he’d lost more than a minute on the field.

“It cost me a lot of time,” he said.

Quitting wasn’t in the cards for Johnston, an outdoors fanatic who in 2001 became the youngest person to ever summit Denali at the age of 11. With precious little air in his lungs, he put his head down and pushed on, collapsing in a gasping heap as he reached the finish line.

The rough finish cost the Su Valley standout several places in the overall Skimeister standings, the two-day totals of both classic and freestyle events. Instead of challenging for a spot in the top five, Johnston had to settle for 10th place — good enough to merit all-state recognition, but not what he’d been hoping for.

“That was not what it was supposed to be,” he said.

Still, the affable senior with a bright ski future — he’s already skiing with the prestigious Alaska Pacific University team this season as part of an early-admissions program — said he had no hard feelings toward the skier he collided with.

“It wasn’t his fault at all,” Johnston said. “That’s racing. It happens.”

Despite the ugly end to his individual high school career, Johnston still managed to lead all Mat-Su racers in both Friday’s freestyle race and the overall two-day event. And after he finally caught his breath, Johnston still managed to flash a smile.

“I can breathe again at least,” he said.

South’s Scott Patterson won the freestyle race by more than eight seconds over Service’s Cole Talbot, breezing to the boys’ Skimeister title. South skiers swept the top three spots in the boys combined event, with Dougherty taking second and Eric Packer placing third.

On the girls’ side, East Anchorage senior Jamie Bronga completed a sweep of both the classic and freestyle races Friday to claim the girls’ Skimeister crown. Bronga was followed in Friday’s freestyle by West’s Rachelle Kanady and South’s Caitlin Patterson — the same finishing order as in Thursday’s classic race.

While Friday’s races didn’t turn out so well for the Valley’s top individual skier, one group of Mat-Su athletes used the day as an opportunity to get some redemption on a Kincaid layout that was particularly unkind on Thursday’s opening day.

Both the Palmer boys and girls teams had a miserable opening day Thursday, with poor wax choices, a key disqualification and some unlucky falls combining to send the teams into a freefall. But on Friday, the Moose were all smiles after freestyling their way back to respectability.

“Much, much better,” Palmer coach Darin Markwardt said.

Both Palmer teams placed 17th overall out of 20 teams Thursday, a very poor showing for a team that had hoped to crack the top 10. On Friday, the Moose did just that, with both the Palmer boys and girls finishing 10th in the freestyle team standings.

Markwardt said his team used Thursday’s disappointing results as motivation heading into Friday’s freestyle races.

“We had a little cry session and got it out of us,” Markwardt said. “You’re (angry)? Go ski.”

Leading the way for Palmer boys was Dunedin Strickland, who rebounded from a disqualification Thursday (judges ruled he used illegal freestyle technique in the classic race) to place 27th Friday, second only to Johnston among Mat-Su skiers.

“This was definitely an improvement,” Strickland said following the race.

Strickland wasn’t the only Palmer skier to have a better day Friday. Sophomore Kimberly Del Frate recovered from an injured thumb suffered in a fall Thursday to lead all Mat-Su girls with a 38th place finish Friday.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Del Frate said of her wounded digit. “My dad taped my pole to my hand and I had a brace on under my coat.”

With colder, faster conditions than skiers experienced Thursday, Del Frate said her only fear Friday was going too fast on the slippery Kincaid layout.

“I was a little more cautious on the downhills,” she said.

Though not as exciting as some of their Valley counterparts, the Colony Knights took a more steady approach to getting some of the top results among Mat-Su skiers.

For the Colony girls, sophomore Sydney Stewart capped a stellar weekend by placing 54th in the freestyle to place 40th overall — the best finish among all Valley girls at the meet — while senior Mason Wick just reached his pre-meet goal of cracking the top 20 in the overall standings.

Wick, who was 28th in the freestyle and 15th in the classic, said the fast conditions made for some tricky skiing Friday, especially on the downhill portions of the course.

“You had to keep your balance more than usual because of the soft snow and the speed,” he said. “It was really fast.”

ASAA Alaska Nordic Ski Championships

Day 2: Freestyle technique

Kincaid Park, Anchorage

Boys (7.5-kilometer)

Team times — 1. South Anchorage, 1 hour, 19 minutes, 55.3 seconds; 2. Service, 1:22:14.2; 3. Lathrop, 1:26:02.2; 4. West Anchorage, 1:26:36.2; 5. West Valley, 1:27:05.6; 6. Eagle River, 1:29:48.5; 7. East Anchorage, 1:32:36.1; 8. Skyview, 1:33:21.4; 9. Soldotna, 1:33:28.1; 10. Palmer, 1:33:42.5; 11. Dimond, 1:34:40.4; 12. Chugiak, 1:36:13.8; 13. Homer, 1:36:30.9; 14. Colony, 1:37:08.3; 15. Susitna Valley, 1:39:55.0; 16. Seward, 1:42:08.1; 17. Kenai Central, 1:45:17.8; 18. Bartlett, 1:49:34.5; 19. Grace Christian, 1:55:32.2; 20. Wasilla, 2:03:01.2

Top-10 individuals — 1. Scott Patterson, Sou, 19:22.4; 2. Cole Talbot, Ser, 19:31.1; 3. Eric Packer, 20:05.8; 4. Andrew Dougherty, Sou, 20:08.1; 5. Tyler Kornfield, Ser, 20:10.3; 6. Josh Yeaton, Sou, 20:19.0; 7. Jordan Buetow, Lat, 20:36.2; 8. Don Haering, West, 21:08.4; 9. Eric Ryan, Ser, 21:08.5; 10. Erin Phillips, East, 21:15.9.

Mat-Su finishers — 21. Galen Johnston, SuV, 21:46.9; 27. Dunedin Strickland, Pal, 22:01.0; 28. Mason Wick, Col, 22:02.3; 46. Ian Mannix, SuV, 23:18.4; 50. Ryan Cunningham, Pal, 23:35.9; 55. Wylie Mangelsdorf, Pal, 23:54.9; 56. Davis Dunlap, Pal, 24:10.7; 68. Robert Wise, Col, 24:39.9; 69. Dave Gray, Col, 24:40.2; 83. Lauri Husa, Pal, 25:44.7; 84. Jon Mastroyanis, Col, 25:45.9; 88. Sean Boyden, col, 26:10.6; 90. Corbyn Jahn, Col, 26:21.5; 93. Leif Johnson, Was, 26:29.7; 97. Elias Holt, SuV, 27:00.9; 98. Kevin Smith, 27:16.0; 103. Tyler Figley, SuV, 27:48.8; 114. Tucker Minnick, Was, 31:06.9; 118. Keith Pulver, Was, 32:34.5; 119. Steve Chapman, Was, 32:50.1

Girls (5-kilometer)

Team times — 1. South Anchorage, 1:05:34.5; 2. Service, 1:05:55.3; 3. Chugiak, 1:07:46.1; 4. East Anchorage, 1:08:03.5; 5. West Anchorage, 1:08:03.8; 6. Soldotna, 1:10:28.6; 7. West Valley, 1:13:04.4; 8. Homer, 1:14:35.3; 9. Kenai Central, 1:15:22.3; 10. Palmer, 1:15:48.6; 11. Lathrop, 1:17:41.2; 12. Colony, 1:18:26.0; 13. Dimond, 1:19:00.3; 14. Valdez, 1:20:09.5; 15. Seward, 1:20:57.2; 16. Eagle River, 1:22:41.5; 17. Wasilla, 1:24:26.3; 18. Grace Christian, 1:24:28.9; 19. Bartlett, 1:32:06.3; 20. Skyview, 1:33:07.0

Top-10 Individuals — 1. Jamie Bronga, East, 15:22.4; 2. Rachelle Kanady, West, 15:28.4; 3. Caitlin Patterson, Sou, 15:31.8; 4. Amy Glen, Ser, 15:44.7; 5. Esther Kennedy, Ser, 16:13.6; 6. Kinsey Loan, Chu, 16:18.1; 7. Karina Packer, Sou, 16:27.7; 8. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 16:31.9; 9. Jessie Yeaton, Sou, 16:33.1; 10. Alyson McPhetres, Chu, 16:38.4

Mat-Su finishers — 38. Kimberly Del Frate, Pal, 18:23.9; 46. Jessica Odegard, Pal, 18:45.8; 51. Amanda Del Frate, 18:57.4; 54. Sydney Stewart, Col, 19:06.0; 55. Heidi Doner, Col, 19:06.4; 65. Ellen VanGorder, Col, 19:32.4; 66. Laura Whitmore, Pal, 19:41.5; 71. Valerie Schleich, Was, 20:28.7; 74. Caitlin Skvorc, Col, 20:41.2; 78. Kiersten Wilber, Was, 20:51.0; 81. Abby Jahn, Col, 20:57.6; 82. Mariah Shones, Pal, 21:00.3; 83. Heather Kelahan, Col, 21:07.4; 84. Stephanie Flores, Was, 21:09.6; 88. Shannon Stough, Pal, 21:25.5; 94. Katherine Parker, Was, 21:57.0; 95. Cori Schleich, Was, 22:05.7; 96. Mirijam Muench, Was, 22:11.6

Overall Skimeister (classic and freestyle combined)

Girls

1. Jamie Bronga, East, 39:06.2; 2. Rachelle Kanady, West. 39:55.3; 3. Caitlin Patterson, Sou, 40:16.3; 4. Amy Glen, Ser, 41:05.9; 5. Esther Kennedy, Ser, 41:17.9; 6. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 41:31.2; 7. Kinsey Loan, 41:45.2; 8. Alyson McPhetres, Chu, 41:47.7; 9. Karina Packer, Sou, 41:57.9; 10. Christina Knapp, East, 42:21.6

Mat-Su finishers — 40. Sydney Stewart, Col, 47:10.9; 49. Heidi Doner, Col, 48:10.4; 54. Kimberly Del Frate, Pal, 48:48.3; 60. Ellen Van Gorder, Col, 50:29.7; 66. Caitlin Skvorc, Col, 51:32.8; 70. Abby Jahn, Col, 51:59.1; 71. Jessica Odegard, Pal, 51:59.9; 73. Stephanie Flores, Was, 52:51.0; 74. Amanda Del Frate, Pal, 53:01.4; 77. Valerie Schleich, Was, 53:42.3; 78. Heather Kelahan, Col, 53:50.8; 80. Laura Whitmore, Pal, 54:16.8; 85. Kiersten Wilber, Was, 54:54.2; 89. Katherine Parker, Was, 55:46.7; 90. Cori Schleich, 55:50.9; 96. Mariah Shones, Pal, 57:30.2; 100. Mirijam Muench, Was, 58:18.3; 104. Shannon Stough, Pal, 58:53.5

Boys

Top-10 — 1. Scott Patterson, Sou, 46:15.8; 2. Andrew Dougherty, Sou, 46:57.0; 3. Eric Packer, Sou, 46:57.1; 4. Cole Talbot, Ser, 47:20.7; 5. Tyler Kornfield, Ser, 47:30.9; 6. Jordan Buetow, Lat, 48:31.0; 7. James Crimp, West, 48:49.5; 8. Eric Ryan, Ser, 49:03.2; 9. Eric Hoffman, WV, 49:09.1; 10. Galen Johnston, SuV, 49:11.6

Mat-Su finishers — 20. Mason Wick, Col, 50:52.6; 42. Ian Mannix, SuV, 54:05.9; 46. Robert Wise, Col, 54:31.4; 66. Jon Mastroyanis, Col, 57:30.5; 71. Ryan Cunningham, Pal, 58:21.9; 72. Corbyn Jahn, Col, 58:33.5; 74. Sean Boyden, Col, 58:39.5; 75. Dave Gray, Col, 58:39.6; 79. Wylie Mangelsdorf, Pal, 58:59.4; 87. Leif Johnson, Was, 1:00:45.0; 92. Davis Dunlap, Pal, 1:02:26.1; 94. Elias Holt, SuV, 1:03:07.6; 95. Lauri Husa, Pal, 1:03:13.9; 97. Kevin Smith, Pal, 1:03:26.6; 99. Tyler Figley, SuV, 1:05:06.7; 110. Tucker Minnick, Was, 1:11:33.5; 113. Keith Pulver, 1:14:09.3; 114. Steve Chapman, 1:14:28.5