Runner shows how a little hard work (and hormones) can go a long way

SOLDOTNA – Wylie Mangesldorf finished fourth in Saturday’s Region III class 4A cross country running championships at Skyview High School.

Just imagine how good he’d be if he practiced.

Mangelsdorf, a junior, admitted he “didn’t run at all” over the summer, electing instead to kick the soccer ball around, relax a bit and do whatever else it is teenagers do between June and August.

“I just kind of do this for the fun of it,” Mangelsdorf said of cross country running.

Kodiak senior Trevor Dunbar easily won the boys’ title for the third year in a row, helping the Bears to a seventh consecutive Region III title. Dunbar, the two-time defending state champion, smiled and waved as he casually cruised across the finish line in a blistering 15 minutes, 32.4 seconds over the 5-kilometer course.

Dunbar was never challenged in the race, breaking free from the pack early on and never looking back. Had he done so, he’d have only seen familiar faces. Kodiak’s Sam Salus finished second, while the Bears’ Dylan Anthony finished third as Mangesldorf faded down the stretch.

Both Salus and Dunbar are seniors, meaning that Mangelsdorf and Anthony will be the top returners next season. Palmer coach Tim Lundt, said that if the talented Moose runner decides to lace up his sneakers once in a while next summer, the sky’s the limit.

“He’s more determined. Now he finally realizes that he can run, and he’s looking forward to next year,” Lundt said.

Mangelsdorf finished 13th at last year’s region meet, running 17:50.9 over the 5-kilometer distance at Colony High School. This year, he lowered his region time to 16:30.6 – without starting cross country practice until August.

He said he’s as perplexed by his rapid rise in the cross country ranks as anyone.

“Honestly I have no idea,” he said.

One key factor in Mangelsdorf’s development was a big growth spurt that helped him shoot up “a couple” inches over the past year.

“I think that’s been the real catch,” Lundt. “He’s able to maintain workouts a little harder.”

Mangesldorf said he thinks his longer legs give him a natural advantage over the competition.

“I grew a little bit this summer, which gives me longer strides,” he said.

Out in front of Mangelsdorf, Dunbar looked effortless in winning the meet, and said he thinks he may be able to run even faster next weekend at the Mike Janecek Trails in Palmer.

“When I’m running these kinds of times, really smooth and really relaxed, I’m really ready to run a fast time,” Dunbar said. “Right now I’m in really good shape.”

Mangelsdorf hung with Anthony and Salus until the final two kilometers, when he said a cramp in his side ended any hopes of a top-three finish.

“I was there until about three [kilometers], and then he started to pull away,” he said of Anthony.

Mangelsdorf said he’s more than happy to settle for fourth this time around.

“I’m pretty happy with it,” he said.

Mangelsdorf said his goal for next week at state is to again hang with the Kodiak runners and possibly pull out a top-five finish.

As for his future in running, he said he’s still undecided how seriously he wants to take cross country. But if he does decide to dedicate himself to the sport full-time, his coach thinks the future is bright.

“A simple thing like running an hour a day may get him his college education,” Lundt said. “I think we’ve got him sold on that idea.”

REGION III CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Skyview High School

Saturday

Class 4A

Boys

Team scores (Top four advance to state) – 1. Kodiak, 26; 2. Colony, 54; 3. Skyview, 106; 4. Soldotna 107; 5. Wasilla 115; 6. Palmer, 141; 7. Homer, 208; 8. Kenai Central, 227; 9. Houston, 228.

Individual finishers (Top 15 advance to state) – 1. Trevor Dunbar, Kodiak, 15 minutes, 32.4 seconds; 2. Sam Salus, Kod, 15:56.8; 3. Dylan Anthony, Kod, 16:19.7; 4. Wylie Mangelsdorf, Pal, 16:30.6; 5. Mike Moerlein, Sky, 16:56.0; 6. Steven Sinnett, Col, 17:07.5; 8. Johnny Cook, Sky, 17:09.7; 9. Chaven Davidson, Kod, 17:13.2; 10. Dylan Crawford, Col, 17:16.2; 11. James Oslowski, Kod, 17:16.4; 12. Travis Semmens, Sol, 17:20.5; 13. Alex Stone, Sol, 17:29.7; 14. Jeff Mullen, Sol, 17:32.5; 15. Jeff Ford, Col, 17:34.7; 16. Schyler Knopp, Col, 17:36.1; 17. Patrick Schneider, Kod, 17:40.0; 18. Patrick Wise, Pal, 17:45.2; 19. Travis Patterson, Hou, 17:47.9; 20. Simon Fischer, Was, 17:48.7; 21. Jaron Christensen-Vavalis, Was, 17:52.2; 22. Noah Ripley, Was, 17:54.6; 23. Drew Ford, Was, 17:55.4; 24. Brayden Holt, Sky, 17:55.9; 25. Tux Seims, Hom, 17:57.2; 26. Blake Wangberg, Col, 18:00.9; 27. Alex Reimer, Col, 18:01.7; 28. Justin Blott, Kod, 18:02.3; 29. Michael Johnston, Was, 18:05.6; 30. Ryan Sanders, Sol, 18:06.4; 31. Cameron Sholar, Was, 18:06.6; 32. Brandon Wolsterman, Pal, 18:12.1; 33. Alec Sweetland, Sky, 18:19.2; 34. Josh Pahkala, Was, 18:20.7; 35. Logan Patrick, Hom, 18:30.8; 36. Corey Gulley, Sky, 18:35.9; 37. Alex Springer, Ken, 18:44.2; 38. Jordan Merkes, Sol, 18:49.1; 39. Josiah Moldenhauer, Sol, 18:51.2; 40. Michael Morin, Ken, 18:58.6; 41. Jamison Richey, Hou, 19:04.7; 42. Ben Ballard, Pal, 19:08.09; 43. Evan Atchley, Ken, 19:12.8; 44. Clay Evan, Sol, 19:17.4; 45. Kevin Montgomery, Pal, 19:20.2; 46. Clarence Ess, Pal, 19:22.4; 47. Patrick Schneider, Hom, 19:29.6; 48. Ryan Helminski, Sky, 19:32.0; 49. Dan Adickes, Hom, 19:35.6; 50. Yuzhun Evanoff, Sky, 19:53.1; 51. Adam Agosti, Ken, 19:57.9; 52. Eric Weinfurter, Hom, 19:59.3; 53. Dustin Dodds, Hou, 20:03.5; 54. Daniel VanHoomisen, Pal, 20:12.6; 55. Joe Warner, Hou, 20:15.1; 56. Bo Reilly, Ken, 20:23.4; 57. Jody Gaines, Hom, 20:35.0; 58. Kenley Scarlett, Ken, 20:55.9; 59. Lincoln Wensley, Ken, 21:04.3; 60. Matt Lindsey, Hou, 21:25.5.

Girls

Team scores – 1. Colony, 41; 2. Soldotna, 60; 3. Wasilla, 70; 4. Kodiak, 81; 5. Kenai Central, 139; 6. Homer, 157; 7. Palmer, 196.

Individual results – 1. Ivy O’Guinn, Sky, 19 minutes, 4.4 seconds; 2. Bree Mucha, 19:14.5; 3. Chloe Ivanoff, Kod, 19:23.2; 4. Melanie Smith, Sol, 20:05.9; 5. Alyssa Hutchins, Col, 20:09.7; 6. Sydney Stewart, Col, 20:11.0; 7. Molly Watkins, Ken, 20:11.2; 8. Jaymi Bethea, Kod, 20:12.7; 9. Kendra Miner, Was, 20:21.26; 10. Maria Wick, Col, 20:22.2; 11. Taylor Ostrander, Ken, 20:26.7; 12. Abby Jahn, Col, 20:29.2; 13. Heidi Doner, Col, 20:32.5; 14. Alison Kelley, Was, 20:36.5; 15. Rachel Kennedy, Was, 20:40.8; 16. Maranda Merkes, Sol, 20:47.4; 17. Caitlin Scvorc, Col, 20:48.3; 18. Brooke Nelson, Was, 20:48.7; 19. Katie Bialka, Was, 20:52.0; 20. Kailey Mucha, Sol, 20:55.0; 21. Emily Ripley, Was, 21:10.5; 22. Allie Smith, Kod, 21:14.4; 23. Shannon Wyatt, Sol, 21:20.3; 24. Kayla Williamson, Hom, 21:26.4; 25. Rachel Hoffman, Was, 21:31.3; 26. Christy Roe, Kod, 21:59.5; 27. Amelia Egle, Kod, 22:00.3; 28. Sarah Walton, Sol, 22:01.7; 29. Taylor Stewart, Col, 22:02.9; 30. Gretchen Winter, Pal, 22:05.6; 31. Shelby Burgess, Hom, 22:15.2; 32. Jenna Jensen, Sol, 22:32.9; 33. Emma Laukitis, Hom, 22:36.5; 34. Jenni Fried, Kod, 22:39.4; 35. Samantha Haight, Kod, 22:42.1; 36. Frances Bursch, Hom, 22:48.1; 37. Grace Bohman, Pal, 22:50.0; 38. Alaine Miller, Hom, 22:50.2; 39. Carolyn Kiefer, Ken, 23:12.7; 40. Oshi Wills, Hom, 23:16.0; 41.Maggie McCarron, Hom, 23:24.7; 42. Michelle Klaben, Ken, 23:27.1; 43. Morgan Lundt, Pal, 23:29.7; 44. Hanna Smith, Pal, 23:57.7; 45. Annalise Theisen, Ken, 24:11.0; 46. Morgan Wensley, Ken, 24:47.2; 47. Hilary Denoncour, Pal, 25:11.0; 48. Morgan Whitfield, Pal, 25:18.4; 49. Kiersten Dahms, Pal, 25:31.6.

Class 1-2-3A

Boys

Team scores (Top three advance to state) – 1. Grace Christian, 23; 2. Anchorage Christian, 56; 3. Seward, 57; 4. Valdez, 109; 5. Cordova, 132.

Individual results (Top 15 advance to state) – 1. Jacob Kirk, Gra, 16 minutes, 15.9 seconds; 2. Tyler Anderson, ACS, 16:37.1; 3. Leif Karlberg, Gra, 16:50.3; 4. Andrew Arnold, Gra, 17:02.4; 5. Travis Price, Sew, 17:18.0; 6. John Weber, Gra, 17:26.6; 7. Brett Chase, Sew, 17:34.1; 8. Matt Baker, ACS, 17:39.2; 9. Caleb Cotter, Gra, 17:49.6; 10. Caleb Davis, Gra, 17:51.2; 11. George Keeney, Val, 17:54.3; 12. Sebastian Strickland, Nik, 18:05.4; 13. Luke Charters, ACS, 18:15.9; 14. Andrew Buchanan, Sew, 18:15.9; 15. Joseph Dillon, Gra, 18:17.4. Other Peninsula finishers: 16. Austin Gillespie, Sew, 18:19.4; 18. Tyler Haddow, Sew, 18:37.1; 24. Jacob Marshall, Sew, 20:23.1; 27. Pyper Dixon, Sew, 21:03.4.

Girls

Team scores – 1. Grace Christian, 22; 2. Seward, 39; 3. Anchorage Christian, 83.

Individual results – 1. Allison Barnwell, Sew, 19:42.0; 2. Holly Kopp, Gra, 20:10.1; 3. Marjie Dupea, Gra, 20:24.8; 4. Mariah Applegate, Gra, 20:27.2; 5. Mackenzie Barnwell, Sew, 20:45.1; 6. Jaala Gionet, Gra, 21:16.2; 7. BethAnne Davis, Gra, 21:40.1; 8. Sarah Cresap, Gra, 21:43.8; 9. J.A. Loughlin, Gra, 21:47.0; 10. Kristina Atherton, Sew, 22:14.4; 11. Kelley Sefton, Sew, 22:41.4; 12. Lara Frisch, Val, 22:58.5; 13. Samantha Feemster, Sew, 23:22.6; 14. Tristen Larson, Val, 23:42.3; 15. Catie Zweifel, Sew, 23:43.6. Other Peninsula finishers – 19. Maddy Campbell, Sew, 24:26.3.