Quinn, Hanson victorious

PALMER Colonys Ryan Quinn and Su Valleys Nicole Hanson took individual championships at the Swix Mat-Su Pursuit, a two-day event at Colony High School and Crevasse Moraine.

The battle between Quinn and teammate Eric Strabel is becoming a thing of legend, as the pair have traded victories in skiing and cross-country running for three seasons.

At the Mat-Su Pursuit last weekend, Quinn was only seven seconds faster than Strabel, but it was good enough to take the individual title.

Quinn held a six-second lead after the first day of races at Colony High School Friday. On Saturday, Quinn was one second faster than Strabel at the Crevasse Moraine Trail System. The duo was more than a minute ahead of teammate John Heimerl, who completed a sweep of the top three spots for the Colony Knights.

Colonys Jeff Kase took seventh, Darin Markwardt eighth and Mike Backus ninth as the Knights placed six skiers in the top 10.

The powerful team easily captured the team title in the race.

On the girls side, Hanson skied to a 17-second lead over Homers Syverine Abrahmson and added three seconds to the lead Saturday to take the individual title in the Mat-Su Pursuit.

Colonys top finisher was Diana Heimerl in seventh, while Sarah Hanson was ninth and Kristine Larson 10th for the Knights, who finished in third place in the team standings.

Wasillas Sarah Dimmick took 13th and Su Valleys Shelly Soderstrom was 14th. The highest Palmer finisher was Katie Kajdan in 22nd place.

The meet was the second of the cross-country ski season. Last weekend at the Skyview Invitational, Nicole Hanson and Strabel each posted individual victories.

A unique aspect of the Mat-Su Pursuit was the fact that every racer used the same wax on their skis in order to level the playing field. The wax was provided by Swix Sport U.S.A, one of the leading ski-wax manufacturers in the world. On Friday, all competitors used Swix CH6 wax, and on Saturday, all racers used Swix CH4 wax.

Mat-Su Pursuit

girls results

Team times 1. Homer, 108 minutes, 28 seconds; 2. Skyview, 108:37; 3. Colony, 110:31; 4. Su Valley, 116:52; 5. Kenai, 120:04; 6. Palmer, 126:16; 7. Wasilla, 130:41; 8. Soldotna, 132.04; 9. Nikiski, 134:59; 10. Valdez, 142:39; 11. Seward, 143:48.

Individual times (Top 30 and all other Valley finishers) 1. Nicole Hanson, SuV, 25:09; 2. Syverine Abrahmson, Hom, 25:29; 3. Tui Marie Bombeck, Lumen Christie, 25:59; 4. Jessie Banas, Ken, 26:03; 5. Amy Lambe, Sky, 26:12; 6. Ida Martin, Hom, 26:25; 7. Diana Heimerl, Col, 26:38; 8. Marissa Matarrese, Sky, 26:58; 9. Sarah Hanson, Col, 27:19; 10. Kristine Larson, Col, 27:24; 11. Tyr Demaris, Sky, 27:34; 12. Sarah Lambe, Sky, 27:53; 13. Sarah Dimmick, Was, 27:57; 14. Shelly Soderstrom, SuV, 28:27; 15. Jesse Schaefer, Sky, 28:32; 16. Sydney Schoepke, Hom, 28:35; 17. Nikki Fry, Hom, 28:39; 18. Emily Farrens, Hom, 29:00; 19. Aasta Thielke, Hom, 29:09; 20. Erica Hill, Col, 29:10; 21. Renae Moore, SuV, 29:15; 22. Katie Kajdan, Pal, 29:46; 23. Katie Lockwood, Sky, 29:50; 24. Brita West, Sky, 29:54; 25. Cristy Nabinger, Sky, 29:57; 26. Mary Krusen, Ken, 30:00; 27. Sasha Cretkovski, Sol, 30:03; 28. Tawai High, Hom, 30:16; 29. Clare Baldwin, Col, 30:53; 30. Wendy Wiles, Ken, 31:13. Other Valley finishers 33. Heidi Helling, Pal, 31:40; 35. Katy Jordan, Pal, 31.52; 41. Sam Jones, Pal, 32:58; 44. Heikki Hanson, Was, 33:05; 45. Amelia Strohmeyer, Col, 33:15; 49. April Miranda, Pal, 33:48; 50. Christina Moore, SuV, 34:01; 52. Hannah Maddry, Col, 34:15; 53. Caley Cassidy, Was, 34:37; 56. Heidi Black, Pal, 34:56; 59. Amy Weikel, Was, 35:02; 61. Ann Nightengale, Col, 35:18; 70. Jessica Nichols, Col, 37:02; 71. Michelle Miranda, Pal, 37:14; 72. Ashley Costello, Was, 37:19; 73. Leslie Turner, Pal, 38:00; 77. Kristen Wien, Was, 38:21; 78. Sarah Lamagie, Col, 38:53; 80. Chandra Brown, Was, 39:13; 82. Skye Greer, Was, 39:52; 84. Courtney Taylor, Pal, 39:57; 86. Charmon Litterault, SuV, 40:27; 89. Alasha Pickett, Col, 41:39; 90. Amber Hewitt, Was, 42:27; 96. Wendy Winfield, Was, 1:11.15.

boys results

Team standings 1. Colony, 79:36; 2. Skyview, 88:00; 3. Soldotna, 89:40; 4. Homer, 90:03; 5. Kenai, 96:26; 6. Su Valley, 102:45; 7. Palmer, 113:28; 8. Wasilla, 117:24.

Individual times (Top 30 and all other Valley finishers) 1. Ryan Quinn, Col, 18:55; 2. Eric Strabel, Col, 19:02; 3. John Heimerl, Col, 20:13; 4. Seth Holden, Sky, 20:51; 5. Brandon Newbould, Sol, 20:58; 6. Casey Watson, Hom, 21:02; 7. Jeff Kase, Col, 21:26; 8. Darin Markwardt, Col, 21:56; 9. Mike Backus, Col, 21:57; 10. Mike Penland, Sol, 22:01; 11. Peter Boraas, Sky, 22:18; 12. Brian Chaffee, Sky, 22:24; 13. Andy Jones, Sky, 22:27; 14. Lucas Olive, Sew, 22:28; 15. Andy Liebner, Sol, 22:34; 16. Ian Weatherly, Hom, 22;41; 17. Matt Hanson, Was, 22:47; 18. Hans Hill, Col, 22:57; 19. Richard Hallock, Col, 22:58; 20. Josh Mumm, Hom, 23:08; 21. Kyle Lints, Hom, 23:12; 22. Zack Bell, Ken, 23:17; 23. Jacob Fellman, Sky, 23:39; 24. Zach Hall, Nik, 23:51; 25. David Wohlers, Ken, 23:58; 26. Justin Pierce, Col, 23:59; 27. Ian Comer, Col, 24:05; 28. Chris Seagren, Sol, 24:07; 29. Adam Tressler, Sky, 24:20; 30. Tyler Boyd, Ken, 24:27. Other Valley finishers 36. Joe Straayer, Col, 24:40; 40. Janus Leo, SuV, 24:50; 41. Lee Bolling, Pal, 24:56; 43. Pat Schroder, SuV, 25:08; 44. Ryan Cross, Col, 25:20; Eric VonDongen, Col, 25:26; 48. Joel Mosier, SuV, 25:42; 52. Kevin McNeal, Col, 26:14; 53. Doug Davey, Col, 26:21; 55. Brain Uher, SuV, 27:05; 57. Zach Baer, Pal, 27:21; 58. Josh Hejl, Col, 27:34; 65. Pat Egelus, Pal, 29:42; 66. Shawn Fitzberald, SuV, 29:50; 67. Ryan Bjorstad, Was, 30:27; 69. Kevin Spangler, Col, 31:26; 70. Nathanael Nielsen, Pal, 31:29; 72. Faustin Wirkus, Was, 31:54; 75. Mike Beeson, Pal, 32:03; 76. Cam Willingham, 32:16; 78. Robert Wing, SuV, 34:00; 79. Will Elliott, Was, 34:20; 80. Janek Wierzbicki, Col, 34:41; 83. Jesse Thompson, Pal, 37:36; 85. Wade Turner, Col, 38:47; 86. Patrick Boyle, Was, 39:25; 87. Luigi Ippolito, Pal, 40:06; 88. Sean Holland, Pal, 40:35; 89. Trevor DuBois, Pal, 40:36.