Prep skiers ready for state

WASILLA — “Wax on, wax off.”

Those words, used to motivate the title character in the classic 1984 film “The Karate Kid,” could just as easily describe what’s going on with Alaska cross country skiers and coaches as they prepare for this weekend’s Alaska state championships at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.

“It’s going to be imperative that we hit the right wax,” Palmer head coach Darin Markwardt said Monday.

Weather across Southcentral Alaska has ranged from bone-chilling cold to balmy in recent days, meaning coaches are scrambling to figure out just which wax is going to help propel skiers along with the greatest of ease.

How important is wax selection?

Markwardt said when he was a sophomore at Colony High in 1997, the team’s wax selection was crucial to helping the Knights to the first of three consecutive state titles.

“It can definitely come down to that,” he said.

Markwardt said he spent much of Monday at Kincaid Park checking out conditions — and he wasn’t alone. Colony coach Mark Strabel said he’s been testing out wax nonstop over the past couple days, and plans on skiing 50 to 60 kilometers himself just trying to get a feel for what’s going to work on what is, for now, a mix of fast, dirty ice and wet, heavy snow.

“It’ll be the most skiing I’ve got in all winter,” Strabel said.

Colony, Palmer and Wasilla will each send full contingents of six-member boys’ and girls’ teams to Anchorage for Thursday’s classic ski races, which start at 1 p.m. with the boys’ 10-K mass start, followed by the girls’ 7.5-K race.

Susitna Valley will also send a boy’s team with the minimum four racers.

While short on numbers, Su Valley does have the advantage of having the Valley’s top returning skier from last year, senior Galen Johnston. Johnston, who is attending school at Alaska Pacific University this year as part of an early enrollment program, finished 14th overall in the two-day classic/freestyle event. This year, Johnston’s coach Karen Mannix said she thinks the talented senior could finish even higher.

“There’s a strong possibility he could ski in the top 10,” Mannix said.

Su Valley’s team success will likely depend on the health of its members, two of whom — sophomore Tyler Figley junior Elias Holt — have been fighting the flu.

“It’ll just depend on if the cold has gone to their chest,” Mannix said. “We’ll just play it by ear.”

In addition to Johnston, the Rams also will rely on junior Ian Mannix, who placed fourth overall at last weekend’s Mat-Su Borough championships in Talkeetna.

Other area teams have been struggling with the flu season as well. Colony’s Mark Strabel said illness has also slowed some of his team in the weeks leading up to state.

“We’re just trying to get them all healthy,” he said.

If Colony is healthy, the Knights could make some noise on the state level. Both the school’s boys and girls team swept the Mat-Su Borough meet, and the Knights boast two of the Valley’s best individual skiers in senior Mason Wick and sophomore Heidi Doner.

Wick finished third overall at borough’s and was 35th in the state last season, while Doner placed second at borough’s to Palmer’s Kimberly Del Frate and was 68th overall at state last season.

Other top Colony skiers on the boys side include Dave Gray, Sean Boyden and Robert Wise, all of whom finished in the top eight at the borough meet. For the Colony girls, Doner, Sydney Stewart, Caitlyn Skvorc and Ellen Van Gorder all finished in the top five at last week’s meet.

Because of Colony’s depth, Strabel said he’s focusing his team’s attention more on the relays and team scores than individual accolades this year.

“We’re expecting more from a team aspect,” Strabel said, noting that he believes both his boys and girls teams are capable of finishing in the top ten — or better — this weekend.

The Palmer Moose also boast a couple top individual skiers in Kimberly Del Frate and Dunedin Strickland.

Strickland bested Wick last weekend after losing to the Colony skier at the Region III meet a week before, and Markwardt said he believes the sophomore has the potential to improve greatly on his 87th place finish at state a year ago.

“‘Duney’ is mentally the toughest skier I’ve coached in six years,” Markwardt said. “He thinks he can beat anybody.”

Del Frate, meanwhile, is also a sophomore with the ability to ski with the state’s best. Though fighting illness earlier in the winter, Markwardt said Del Frate is returning to form, which showed last week when she won the borough meet by 21 seconds over Doner.

“She’s just starting to get back to where she needs to be,” Markwardt said.

Another Moose likely to ski near the front of the pack is Davis Dunlap, who was sixth at the borough meet.

“He’s an incredibly consistent skier,” Markwardt said.

The Palmer girls are deep overall, with Amanda Del Frate, Shannon Stough and Claire Woodings all finishing in the top ten at last week’s event.

For the Wasilla Warriors, the state championships will be the culmination of a season’s worth of learning for both athletes and the team’s new head coach, Jill Showman.

Showman, a first-year head coach, said her first year on the job has been extremely rewarding from the standpoint that she’s seen her team of mainly newcomers come a long way in a short time this winter.

“It’s been amazing watching their videotape from earlier in the year to now and seeing their times improve,” Showman said.

Showman said she’s got an enthusiastic bunch of kids who have gone from beginners to avid skiers over the course of a couple months.

“The learning curve has been steep, but it’s been wonderful to see their growth,” she said.

Wasilla freshman Cori Schleich led the Warriors by placing 15th at the borough meet, sister Valerie Schleich was 16th and Kirsten Wilber was 17th. The Warriors do have some state experience. Stephanie Flores was 92nd a year ago at the state meet, Katherine Parker was 103rd and Valerie Schelich was 106th.

Wasilla’s most experienced skier on the boys side is Baruch Chamberlain, who placed ninth at boroughs and was 98th at state a year ago.

Showman said she has no expectations heading into state, other than for her athletes to continue to improve.

“We want them to take a look at their own personal bests and use it as an opportunity to continue to grow,” she said.

When Showman says “we” she’s also referring to assistant coach Ed Strabel, a longtime Colony coach who joined up with Wasilla this season to help develop the up-and-coming program. Having Strabel onboard, Showman said, has been invaluable to the team’s growth over the course of the year.

“Wearing red has probably been somewhat difficult for him,” Showman joked. “But having him has been a huge asset.”

While Wasilla isn’t likely to dominate the state meet this year, Showman said the combination of a veteran assistant coach and enthusiastic athletes has the Warriors’ program heading in the right direction.

“It’s given us more motivation to look forward and set some goals and continue planning for upcoming seasons.”

The state cross country meet begins Thursday at Kincaid Park in Anchorage at 9 a.m. with the boys’ 10-kilometer classic race, followed by the girls’ 7.5-kilometer classic race. On Friday, the girls’ 5-kilometer individual freestyle race will begin at 1 p.m., followed by the boys’ 7.5-kilometer race. The final day of the meet, Saturday, will feature the girls’ relay at 11 a.m., followed by the boys’ relay at 12:30 p.m. The girls’ relay will feature four skiers alternating between classic and freestyle technique over a three kilometer course, while the boys will do the same over a five-kilometer layout.

For more information on the meet, visit www.asaa.org

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

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