Runners ready for regions

WASILLA — Rhonda Knopp compared her team’s regular-season work on the cross-country trail to a semester in the classroom. The studying has been done. Now it’s time to figure out where her Knights rank against their peers.

And it all starts Saturday during the Region III Championships at Colony High School.

“We told the kids, it’s like school. You take a lot of quizzes. Those are the races we’ve been doing each weekend. We have a test this Saturday and the final’s at Bartlett,” Knopp said of the Region III meet and the ASAA state championships, slated for Oct. 3 at Bartlett High School. “We want to get through our first big test.”

A passing grade for the Colony boys and girls cross-country running squads would be a top-3 finish in the team standings, which would score the Knights an automatic bid to next-week’s state meet. The Colony girls are the defending region champion, with a great shot at repeating. The Colony boys finished fifth last year, and missed the state tourney.

The Colony girls have been the team to beat in the region this year, winning three meets and finishing in the top 3 of every meet on its regular season schedule. But Knopp said the Knights can’t just pencil in a victory.

“Even though they’ve had a strong showing all season, anything can happen,” Knopp said. “You don’t take anything for granted.”

The Knights currently have four athletes on Region III’s list of top 10 times this year. Sophomore Jill Bowker has recorded the second-best time in the region, with the mark of 19 minutes and 4 seconds she clocked during the Su Valley Invitational last week in Talkeetna. Cathelyne Powers (seventh, 19:50), Elisabeth Bowker (ninth, 20:01) and Jordyn Block (10th, 20:04) have also recorded top 10 times.

Jill Bowker finished third in the region meet as a freshman.

After missing the final meet last year, the Colony boys are eyeing a return to state. After battling illness and injury through the regular season, Knopp said the Colony boys are finally at full strength. The Knights had their full varsity team together for the first time last week at Su Valley.

“We’re excited to have a full roster on both the boys and the girls side,” Knopp said. “It’s taken a little while to get there.”

Junior Tracen Knopp notched the region’s top time of the regular season during the Su Valley Invite, clocking a mark of 16:18. It was also a personal record for Knopp. Senior Dakota Peterson-Thompson (16:43) and junior Dawson Knopp (16:51) also recorded personal bests at Su Valley, and are now ranked sixth and eighth respectively in the region.

“It was a great meet. There were a lot of PRs,” Knopp said. “They have a lot of confidence, feel like they’re prepared.”

The Wasilla boys are also gunning for one of those three automatic team berths for the state tournament.

“We’ve done all the work. The rest is just going to be how bad we want it,” Wasilla head coach Leslie Varys said of a boys team that finished second in the region meet last year.

Varys said she likes her team’s chances of scoring a spot in state, and believes her squad has the chance to secure a top-2 finish in the team standings.

“I’m really happy with how they’ve been doing. They look strong and really hungry to get a good place at regions,” Varys said.

Seniors Quincy Fuller and Karl Greathouse will lead Wasilla into the region meet.

“Quincy and Karl have been great seniors and leaders. They’re working really hard,” Varys said.

In the last three weeks, Fuller has recorded his top time and top place of his career. The senior set a personal record with a time of 16:41 at the Palmer Invitational in early September. A week later, Fuller finished as the runner-up in the Seward Invite, the best placement of his career. Fuller has the fifth-best time in the region.

Greathouse (17:20) is ranked 11th in the region. Wasilla sophomore Isaak Bell is ranked 12th.

Palmer head coach John Bishop said he has four athletes with a great shot at qualifying for state as individuals. That group includes one of the top girls runners in the state, junior Ruby Woodings.

“Ruby’s doing great. She’s finally got it into her head that she can win,” Bishop said.

Bishop said he believes Woodings can exceed the goals the athlete set for herself, not only in the region, but also the state. Woodings is currently ranked fifth in the region with a mark of 19:27, had finished in the top 6 in three of the four meets she competed in this season.

Bishop also noted Rya Berrigan on the girls’ side, and Ryan Kavalok and Leif Mumma on the boys’ side.

The Houston Hawks sport an athlete with a top-10 time in Region III’s 123A class. Freshman Allison VanPelt is ranked seventh among the 123A girls with a time of 20:04.

The Region III Championships start Saturday with the junior varsity open girls’ and boys’ races at 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. The boys’ varsity 123A and 4A races are at noon and 12:45 p.m. The girls’ varsity 123A and 4A events are slated for 1:30 and 2:15 p.m.

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