Rain, multi-lap courses throw skiers for a loop at state

KINCAID PARK — A few good men and women from the Mat-Su Valley posted top 25-finishes during the ASAA/First National Bank Nordic Skiing State Championships on at least one day of racing, but many agreed the weekend was mentally tough.

The Colony High School boys’ team placed the highest of all the Valley teams in the three-day totals, coming in seventh behind Kenai Central by about three and half minutes. The Colony girls’ team finished 10th.

“It’s a little typical, we were hoping for a little bit better this year but, you know, it is what it is,” said Colony head coach Mark Strabel.

The first day’s races were something of a “convoluted mess,” he said — limited snow coverage forced race organizers to loop the course around the stadium several times to get in enough distance for a standard state championship.

Because of this, the lady Knights’ sixth skier, Alyson Kopsack, accidentally did about half a lap extra, Strabel said, and scoring skier Coleen Geraghty was disqualified in Thursday’s 5-kilometer classic race.

Geraghty said she thought the finish lane was the lap lane, but when people began congratulating her, she knew that wasn’t right.

As she went back to correct her mistake, however, she made another.

“I went back and apparently when I cut across the trail I impeded another racer,” she said. “I thought I checked, but I guess not.”

Palmer’s Rya Berrington was also disqualified in the classic race, for missing one of the smaller loops.

Berrington said she was kind of “out of it” from being sick, so when a skier passed her in the stadium heading into the finish, and spectators told her to follow, she figured they had just been paying better attention.

“I was like, ‘oh, I must’ve already done it,’” she said, of the smaller loop.

Each of Thursday’s and Friday’s races were interval-starts, which also made it harder for some to keep track of where they were in the standings.

But not the Knopp twins.

Dawson and Tracen were again Colony’s first two skiers in both days of individual racing, coming in 21st and 23rd overall, respectively, in combined totals.

“They weren’t anything special, but they were good,” Tracen said, of his races. “I didn’t have any expectations.”

Dawson had a similar experience, he said.

“I was hoping for a little bit better (place-wise) and just, I didn’t feel very good this weekend,” he said.

Dawson, like Berrigan, had also been recovering from illness since the Region III championship meet.

For the boys’ 10-kilometer freestyle Friday, Colony skier Nick Harrison — who came in fourth for the Knights in the combined, individual standings — said there was one particularly challenging feature of the course.

“There was this really slick 180-degree turn at the bottom of a downhill that most people fell on,” though no Colony skiers did, he said. “It was a little bit tricky.”

Overall, it seemed like Valley skiers were just a little bit tired. Colony relay team member Dakota Peterson-Thompson said his races were “fun but a little fatiguing” and winning lady Knight Greta Jenkins — who finished 26th overall in combined times — said all the girls “felt really tired this weekend.”

“I think the biggest thing with this weekend though is that it (required) a lot of mental (stamina),” said Jordyn Block, the second skier in for Colony.

Block came in 32nd overall in combined times.

Although the high school season has come to an end, Jenkins and Dawson Knopp will compete in the 2015 Cross Country Junior Nationals Championships in Truckee, California, March 8-14.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

ASAA/First National Bank Nordic Skiing State Championships

Results

Team scores

Combined 3-day totals

Girls

1. West, 2:56:06; 2. South, 3:01:11; 3. Service, 3:02:05; 4. East, 3:04:17; 5. Chugiak, 3:06:24; 6. Kenai, 3:10:17; 7. Dimond, 3:14:54; 8. Soldotna, 3:17:32; 9. West Valley, 3:17:53; 10. Colony, 3:22:20; 11. Homer, 3:31:10; 12. Palmer, 3:31:36; 13. Eagle River, 3:40:20; 14. Valdez, 3:54:00; 15. Grace, 3:54:09.

Boys

1. Service, 3:50:37; 2. South, 3:51:03; 3. West Valley, 3:51:52; 4. West, 3:54:30; 5. Dimond, 4:04:09; 6. Kenai, 4:05:03; 7. Colony, 4:08:38; 8. Grace, 4:14:55; 9. Soldotna, 4:16:16; 10. East, 4:18:32; 11. Eagle River, 4:26:29; 12. Chugiak, 4:27:10; 13. Lathrop, 4:37:26; 14. Palmer, 4:39:16; 15. Homer, 4:42:37; 16. Bartlett, 5:09:37.

Girls

Individual combined times

Top 30

1. L. Blanchet, West, 33:39; 2. E. Tarbath, Ser, 34:50; 3. T. Hunt-Smith, Ser, 35:10; 4. A. Flynn, South, 35:15; 5. M. Gellert, West, 35:30; 6. M. York, West, 35:36; 7. A. Darnell, South, 35:54; 8. A. Amick, East, 35:58; 9. S. Fox, Sol, 36:09; 10. A. Gibson, Ken, 36:14; 11. Ha. Booher, Chu, 36:48; 12. F. Fick, West, 36:52; 13. J. Difolco, WVal, 36:59.0; 14. R. Terry, Ser, 36:59.0; 15. N. Kiekintveld, South, 37:01; 16. R. Cvancara, Dim, 37:12; 17. K. Denton, Dim, 37:17.2; 18. A. Jager, East, 37:17.8; 19. He. Booher, Chu, 37:21; 20. E. Nelson, Chu, 37:37; 21. R. Boonstra, Ken, 37:43; 22. I. Bembenek, South, 37:48; 23. H. Pothast, Sol, 37:53; 24. M. Fink, East, 38:03; 25. J. Grunblatt, South, 38:28; 26. G. Jenkins, Col, 38:30; 27. A. Bergholtz, Ken, 38:42; 28. L. Von Imhof, Dim, 38:43; 29. S. Romey, Ser, 38:51.7; 30. C. Cook, Chu, 38:51.8.

Other Valley finishers

32. J. Block, Col, 38:59; 39. R. Woodings, Pal, 40:36; 48. L. Olsen, Col, 41:53; 54. A. Taylor, Pal, 43:12; 60. M. Meyerhofer, Col, 43:29; 68. E. Bingham, Pal, 44:54; 72. I. Warhus, Was, 45:24.; 76. S. Feige, Pal, 46:48; 77. A. Kopsack, Col, 46:54; 85. A. Syvertson, Was, 51:29; 87. R. Youngblood, Pal, 54:11.

Boys

Individual combined times

Top 25

1. M. Donaldson, WVal, 45:11; 2. H. Wonders, South, 45:23; 3. G. Schumacher, Ser, 45:36; 4. C. Truskowski, Ser, 45:52; 5. T. Cooper, Ken, 45:54; 6. C. Tobin, Ser, 46:25; 7. W. Balcao, South, 46:31; 8. M. Hoefler, South, 46:34; 9. L. Jager, West, 46:51; 10. W. Mans, West, 47:00; 11. J. Mayo, WVal, 47:03; 12. J. Consenstein, West, 47:10; 13. L. Cvancara, Dim, 47:21; 14. K. Denton, Dim, 47:33; 15. J. Koenig, WVal, 47:37; 16. B. Koenig, WVal, 47:39; 17. T. Fritzel, Grace, 47:41; 18. R. Bickford, West, 47:47; 19. B. Egeland, South, 47:52; 20. M. Muffoletto, Ser, 47:55; 21. D. Knopp, Col, 47:59; 22. T. Sayre, South, 48:05; 23. T. Knopp, Col, 48:08; 24. H. Wolfe, South, 48:10; 25. A. Hull, South, 48:16.

Other Valley finishers

42. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col, 51:32; 48. N. Harrison, Col, 52:36; 51. G. Birch, 53:11; 52. J. Alverts, Pal, 53:18; 59. Co. Hand, Pal, 54:11; 64. E. Ickes, Was, 55:04; 66. T. Farring, Col, 55:20; 78. L. Seims, Was, 57:03; 83. B. Mordue-Swalling, Pal, 58:44; 84. Ca. Hand, Pal, 58:58; 88. J. Houston, Pal, 1:00:37; 94. S. Haney, Pal, 1:04:12.