Region champ leads Knights into state ski meet

PALMER — Annika Hanestad has entered a big stretch. The Regions III Championships, the ASAA/First National Bank Nordic Ski State Championships and U.S. Junior Nationals, all within less than a month.

And Hanestad, a member of the Colony Knights cross-skiing program, is off to a great start.

Hanestad earned Region III Skimeister honors for the second straight year, finishing first overall in the girls’ class during the final day of the championships, Feb. 17, at Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna.

“It was a good weekend for her,” Colony head coach Mark Strabel said earlier this week. “She raced well.”

Hanestad finished with a total time of 29 minutes, 16 seconds, 33 seconds better than runner-up Addison Gibson of Kenai Central. The junior finished first in the 5-kilometer freestyle race, with a time of 14:30, on Feb. 16. She was also first in the 5-kilomter classic, with a mark of 14:46, the following afternoon.

“There’s still a lot more racing to go,” Strabel said. “We’re looking beyond just regions.”

The next stop of Hanestad and her fellow Valley skiers is the state meet, which starts Thursday at Birch Hill in Fairbanks. Next month, Hanestad will head to Heber, Utah, where she will compete in the junior nationals, which starts March 6.

“I knew she was race well (at regions), but we’re going to keep going faster next weekend and a couple of weekends after that,” Strabel said.

Strabel said, with a good weekend, Hanestad could find herself among the top handful of skiers in the state.

“She has a good shot at the top 3,” Strabel said.

Hanestad is already one of only two Colony skiers to finish in the top 10 of the girls’ overall standings at the state meet in school history. Hanestad finished 10th overall last season, matching the 10th-place finish notched by former Knight Diana Heimerl in 2001.

Hanestad was also one of a pair of Knights to finish in the top 5 of the overall girls’ region standings. Senior Alyson Kopsack finished fifth overall, with a total time of 32:17.

“She raced well,” Strabel said.

Strabel said the veteran has battled some late-season fatigue, but expects her to continue to bounce back.

“She’s going to race a lot better this coming weekend,” Strabel said.

Strabel said he expects his athletes to have more success on the Birch Hill trails in Fairbanks.

The Colony girls finished second in the team standings.

“It’s a bummer we didn’t get the title, but all the girls raced well and I’m proud of that,” Strabel said.

Palmer finished as the runner-up in the boys’ team standings. Joseph Walling led the Moose, finishing fifth overall with a total time of 34:40. Walling was sixth in the 5-K freestyle, with a time of 13:37. He was fifth in the 7.5-K classic, with a time of 21:03.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Region III ski championships

at Tsalteshi Trails

GIRLS

Team results — 1. Kenai Central, 2:09:48; 2. Colony, 2:11:40; 3. Soldotna, 2:14:20; 4. Homer, 2:14:39; 5. Grace Christian, 2:23:42; 6. Palmer, 2:27:12.

Individual Skimeister (combined times) — 1. Annika Hanestad, Colony, 29:16; 2. Addison Gibson, Kenai, 29:49; 3. Riana Boonstra, Kenai, 30:51; 4. Ruby Lindquist, Seward, 31:21; 5. Alyson Kopsack, Colony, 32:17; 6. Katia Holmes, Homer, 32:29; 7. Autumn Daigle, Homer, 32:44; 8. Kellie Arthur, Soldotna, 32:48; 9. Sonora Martin, Soldotna, 32:51.

Friday 5K freestyle — 1. Annika Hanestad, Colony, 14:30; 2. Addison Gibson, Kenai, 14:53; 3. Ruby Lindquist, Seward, 15:00; 4. Riana Boonstra, Kenai, 15:20; 5. Alyson Kopsack, Colony, 15:57; 6. Sonora Martin, Soldotna, 15:59; 7. Kellie Arthur, Soldotna, 16:11; 8. Katia Holmes, Homer, 16:12; 9. Autumn Daigle, Homer, 16:14; 10. Sadie Lindquist, Seward, 16:15; 11. Maria Salzetti, Kenai, 16:25; 12. Hannah Delker, Soldotna, 16:50; 13. Zoe Stonorov, Homer, 16:59; 14. Cameron Blackwell, Soldotna, 16:59; 15. Kate Bering, Homer, 17:02; 16. Isabella Dammeyer, Soldotna, 17:04; 17. Katie Delker, Soldotna, 17:05; 18. Aila Berrigan, Palmer, 17:06; 19. Nicole Bell, Colony, 17:10; 20. Sofija Spaic, Colony, 17:23; 21. Anya Danielson, Kenai, 17:24; 22. Abigail Beveridge, Grace, 17:28; 23. Kylee Deering, Colony, 17:29; 24. Amy Baxter, Palmer, 17:30; 25. Mazzy Jackson, Grace, 17:42; 26. Erika Arthur, Soldotna, 17:43; 27. Anna McLaughlin, Grace, 17:50; 28. Dareena Doyle, Kenai, 18:14; 29. Grace Annett, Grace, 18:23; 30. Laura Ellis, Grace, 18:28; 31. Sophie Wright, Palmer, 18:29; 32. Emmalee Moore, Seward, 18:32; 33. Mickinzie Ticknor, Kenai, 18:33; 34. Lydia Bushey, Colony, 18:57; 35. Brita Restad, Homer, 19:17; 36. Zoe Copp, Palmer, 19:19; 37. Grace Miller, Palmer, 19:22; 38. Valerie DeMarzo, Grace, 19:26; 39. Ocean Tennant, Palmer, 19:31; 40. Elianna Kniegge, Grace, 19:49; 41. Ithaca Bergholtz, Kenai, 20:35; 42. Brittyn Werner, Palmer, 20:44.

Saturday 5K classic — 1. Annika Hanestad, Colony, 14:46; 2. Addison Gibson, Kenai, 14:56; 3. Riana Boonstra, Kenai, 15:31; 4. Katia Holmes, Homer, 16:16; 5. Alyson Kopsack, Colony, 16:19; 6. Ruby Lindquist, Seward, 16:20; 7. Autumn Daigle, Homer, 16:30; 8. Kellie Arthur, Soldotna, 16:37; 9. Sonora Martin, Soldotna, 16:51; 10. Laura Ellis, Grace, 17:21; 11. Sofija Spaic, Colony, 17:21; 12. Cameron Blackwell, Soldotna, 17:21; 13. Hannah Delker, Soldotna, 17:29; 14. Ithaca Bergholtz, Kenai, 17:31; 15. Kate Bering, Homer, 17:39; 16. Zoe Stonorov, Homer, 17:43; 17. Katie Delker, Soldotna, 17:44; 18. Marie Salzetti, Kenai, 17:44; 19. Sophie Wright, Palmer, 17:49; 20. Mickinzie Ticknor, Kenai, 17:50; 21. Abigail Beveridge, Grace, 17:53; 22. Amy Baxter, Palmer, 18:06; 23. Mazzy Jackson, Grace, 18:09; 24. Nicole Bell, Colony, 18:11; 25. Erika Arthur, Soldotna, 18:26; 26. Isabella Dammeyer, Soldotna, 18:31; 27. Anya Danielson, Kenai, 18:35; 28. Brita Restad, Homer, 18:49; 29. Grace Annett, Grace, 18:53; 30. Kylee Deering, Colony, 18:54; 31. Dareena Doyle, Kenai, 19:06; 32. Ocean Tennant, Palmer, 19:22; 33. Lydia Bushey, Colony, 19:24; 34. Zoe Copp, Palmer, 19:27; 35. Valerie DeMarzo, Grace, 19:41; 36. Emmalee Moore, Seward, 19:43; 37. Elianna Kniegge, Grace, 20:06; 38. Anna McLaughlin, Grace, 20:08; 39. Grace Miller, Palmer, 21:36.

BOYS

Team results — 1. Soldotna, 2:17:58; 2. Palmer, 2:29:47; 3. Grace, 2:29:25; 4. Colony, 2:34:24; 5. Homer, 2:34:43; 6. Kenai, 2:39:31.

Individual Skimeister (combined times) — 1. Karl Danielson, Kenai, 32:51; 2. John-Mark Pothast, Soldotna, 33:22; 3. Luke Fritzel, Grace, 33:56; 4. Jeremy Kupferschmid, 34:18; 5. Joseph Walling, Palmer, 34:40; 6. Joshua Shuler, Soldotna, 34:55; 7. Jacob Davis, Homer, 35:17; 8. Bradley Walters, Soldotna, 35:24; 9. Jack Harris, Soldotna, 35:40; 10. Denver Waclawski, Homer, 36:51.

Friday 5K freestyle — 1. John-Mark Pothast, Soldotna, 13:03; 2. Karl Danielson, Kenai, 13:07; 3. Luke Fritzel, Grace, 13:15; 4. Joshua Shuler, Soldotna, 13:21; 5. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Soldotna, 13:33; 6. Joseph Walling, Palmer, 13:37; 7. Bradley Walters, Soldotna, 13:43; 8. Jacob Davis, Homer, 13:48; 9. Jack Harris, Soldotna, 14:03; 10. Denver Waclawski, Homer, 14:23; 11. Jode Sparks, Soldotna, 14:27; 12. Aiden Gannon, Grace, 14:34; 13. Jeremy Houston, Palmer, 14:42; 14. Cole Fritzel, Grace, 14:48; 15. Kaj Taylor, Palmer, 14:53; 16. Elic Cowan, Colony, 14:54; 17. Ben Swanson, Valdez, 14:57; 18. Nathan Kristich, Colony, 15:02; 19. Lee Jaxson, Palmer, 15:03; 20. Avi Johnson, Grace, 15:14; 21. Joseph Dammeyer, Soldotna, 15:18; 22. Calum Colver, Colony, 15:25; 23. Simeon Ramirez, Colony, 15:28; 24. Joshua Taylor, Colony, 15:29; 25. Josh Foster, Kenai, 15:44; 26. Tristan Summers, Kenai, 15:48; 27. Billy Morrow, Kenai, 15:48; 28. Garrett Streit, Colony, 15:50; 29. Will Wallace, Grace, 15:51; 30. Gideon Cullver, Kenai, 16:02; 31. Josh Wisner, Homer, 16:14; 32. Ben Kettle, Homer, 16:16; 33. Egor Sturdy, Seward, 16:27; 34. Erik Jones, Grace, 16:32; 35. Manveer Singh, Palmer, 16:33; 36. Mathew Grzybows, Kenai, 17:28; 37. Andy Super, Homer, 17:45; 38. Josten Carlson, Valdez, 17:49.

Saturday 7.5K classic — 1. Karl Danielson, Kenai, 19:44; 2. John-Mark Pothast, Soldotna, 20:19; 3. Luke Fritzel, Grace, 20:40; 4. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Soldotna, 20:44; 5. Joseph Walling, Palmer, 21:03; 6. Jacob Davis, Homer, 21:28; 7. Joshua Shuler, Soldotna, 21:33; 8. Jack Harris, Soldotna, 21:37; 9. Bradley Walters, Soldotna, 21:40; 10. Denver Waclawski, Homer, 22:27; 11. Jode Sparks, Soldotna, 22:36; 12. Jeremy Houston, Palmer, 22:46; 13. Kaj Taylor, Palmer, 23:12; 14. Aiden Gannon, Grace, 23:19; 15. Nathan Kristich, Colony, 23:23; 16. Cole Fritzel, Grace, 23:30; 17. Elic Cowan, Colony, 23:52; 18. Erik Jones, Grace, 24:02; 19. Joshua Taylor, Colony, 24:04; 20. Ben Swanson, Valdez, 24:06; 21. Caleb Rauch, Homer, 24:13; 22. Lee Jaxson, Palmer, 24:27; 23. Manvee Singh, Palmer, 24:54; 24. Will Wallace, Grace, 24:57; 25. Calum Colver, Colony, 25:12; 26. Simeon Ramirez, Colony, 25:14; 27. Joseph Dammeyer, Soldotna, 25:16; 28. Garrett Streit, Colony, 25:23; 29. Egor Sturdy, Seward, 25:41; 30. Ben Kettle, Homer, 25:50; 31. Josh Wisner, Homer, 25:53; 32. Josh Foster, Kenai, 26:06; 33. Tristan Summers, Kenai, 26:22; 34. Gideon Cullver, Kenai, 26:48; 35. Billy Morrow, Kenai, 27:02; 36. Mathew Grzybowski, Kenai, 28:21; 37. Josten Carlson, Valdez, 28:52; 38. Andy Super, Homer, 30:50.