Redington freshman leads Valley runners at state meet

ANCHORAGE — Redington freshman Mya Campbell led all Valley runners with a fourth-place finish in the Division II girls race during the ASAA/First National Bank State Cross-Country Running Championships Saturday at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.

With a dramatically lower number of participants in state races this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and an end to the mass start, Valley runners made an impressive showing among the state’s best.

“To see so many kids from our region, four, five, six finish inside the top 20 is just incredible,” Colony sophomore Zac Cheyette said. “With COVID it really shows much the running community can change and work, and I’m just happy that we could put together a meet that we could run in because it would’ve been really annoying to go through our whole season and not get to have that feeling I got to run at state. I think it shows even with COVID, with the global pandemic we can make something out of it.”

Cheyette praised the work of local running coaches who were able to employ mitigation strategies to safely hold cross-country running meets this season. The traditional mass start was abandoned for a staggered start where heats of eight running would each take off together with time in between each group.

“I was really relaxed. I think the waves made it more relaxing because it was less stressful than seeing everyone in front of you and behind you,” Palmer senior Sophie Wright said. “I think it was a great course. It was a great race. It was good to finish the season. I like the weather. It was great compared to regions, and I’m happy how it went.”

Less than 40 runners competed in each race where traditionally nearly 40 runners from each region would compete. Campbell blazed to the top finish of an Valley runner, placing fourth in the Division II girls race. Wright led all Valley girls in Division I with a 15th-place finish in a time of 19:46. Wright’s teammate, Madeline Ortiz, finished in 29th with a time of 21:21. Colony’s Shea Alaniva finished in 32nd place with a time of 21:46, and teammate Lydia Bushey finished two seconds after in 33rd. Lucy Shea finished 35th for Colony with a time of 22:15.

As the cross-country season came to a close on Saturday, seniors passed the torch to their younger teammates, many of whom have begun to challenge the upperclassmen for bragging rights within the region.

“There’s a lot of athletes that are working really hard and hard work pays off eventually,” Colony senior Garrett Streit said. “I think they have a lot of potential but one of my favorite sayings is hard work always beats talent, so it’s up to them. If they want to crank out the hours, train their (butts) off the next three years, sure it’s up to them I think.”

Cheyette led a group of speedy underclassmen who competed for the Valley on Saturday, with a 10th-place finish and time of 16:51. There were five Valley boys who finished in the top 20, including Region III champion Landon Hayes who finished 17th with a time of 17:05 for Wasilla. Cheyette’s teammate, Tobias Buchanan, a freshman, took 13th place with a time of 16:58. Streit finished 20th with a time of 17:08 in his last high school race.

“You can’t control what other people do, you can control how much effort you put in yourself,” Palmer freshman Fischer Adams said.

Adams finished 19th, just one second ahead of Streit for a time of 17:07. Brennan Lackey finished 31st for Wasilla in 17:49, and there were eight Valley boys who qualified for state among the 39 runners in the race. Mike Reem finished in 24th with a time of 17:24 for Palmer, and Tobin Miller finished 35th in a time of 17:52 for the Moose.

“I gave it everything I had and stuck to my game plan. Sure I would have liked to have gotten better, but I had all these great people supporting me and you can’t be sad with it. It’s the end, and the last dance,” Reem said.

After the race, Reem expressed to his younger teammates how proud he was of them. As the only competitor for Palmer who qualified for last year’s state meet, Reem said he is pleased to see a new crop of fast athletes from the Valley. Adams said that his goal is to break 15 minutes and Reem encouraged him to strive for a state championship.

“I think the Valley has really put themselves out there as one of the top regions in the state,” Reem said, “We’ve got these older guys, me, Ryan, Noble that come out and teach the younger guys that are going to come get us, and I think it’s just the young kids coming out and wanting it and nipping at people. It’s just that fighting mentality that we’ve got here in the Valley.”