SENIOR SENDOFF: Wasilla standout edged Palmer freshman phenom for top-5 finish

ANCHORAGE — Palmer freshman Katey Houser almost caught Allison Van Pelt at the finish line.

Almost.

The Valley duo that has battled all year for titles sprinted down the finish line at Bartlett High School during the ASAA/First National Bank Cross-Country State Championships Division I girls’ race side by side.

In the end, Van Pelt prevailed, and capped an illustrious career with a fifth-place finish in a stacked field.

“When I was going down the stretch, I was just thinking that I wanted to go out with a bang and it was my last race,” Van Pelt said. “She was a little bit farther back and track teaches you to lean out the line.”

Palmer head coach Chris Osiensky said that Houser’s strategy all along was to stay behind Van Pelt for a move at the end.

“She let her lead out to about 3 (kilometers) or so and then basically Katey took over that chase pack and then that chase pack was right on her heels with 600 to go,” Osiensky said.

Just a freshman, Houser was the newcomer on the cross-country trails this year, but Van Pelt wouldn’t be denied her fifth-place finish. Officially, the times are the same. Van Pelt finished in 18:50.8, as did Houser, but Van Pelt out-leaned her opponent at the tape.

“I got her going up one of the hills and then she had me again and then it really was back and forth like the whole time,” Houser said.

While this is Houser’s first year as a varsity runner, Van Pelt was making a debut of sorts this season as well. Van Pelt, a Mat-Su Career and Technical student who ran at Houston High as an underclassman, had to spend last year on Wasilla’s junior varsity team due to transfer rules.

“I think any time that you can challenge yourself in a different way, it might not be easy but it’s going to make you a better athlete and a better person,” Wasilla head coach Leslie Varys said.

Varys sprinted around the course to six different spots hoping to catch a glimpse of Van Pelt during the race. She says that chasing the girls helps her deal with the stress that comes with watching the race. Varys had high praise not just for the speed of the Valley runners, but of their race strategy.

“If you want to know how to run cross-country everything that group did that’s how you do it,” Varys said. “Those two have been battling each other all season… That was her goal, was to beat her, but out of respect as one phenomenal athlete to another.”

Lydia Ortiz of Palmer and Lydia Bushey of Colony both broke the top 40. The Colony girls’ team that finished ninth will all return next year. Palmer’s girls’ team led the Valley with a seventh-place finish.

“I think we’re all just going to continue to improve and have fun with it. I’m hoping we can push each other and have a good team,” Bushey said.

Lane Meier, a Colony sophomore, paced the Valley boys during the Division I boys’ race. Meier finished eighth with a time of 16:41, just 1:11 off of the winning time from Chugiak senior Gavin Bausch. Palmer senior Connor Owens finished 18th, Wasilla junior Hunter Hayes 28th, and Colony junior Gavin Block finished 37th. Hayes’ younger brother Landon finished just outside the top 40 with a time of 17:46. Colony’s boys placed ighth in the team standings.

Meier was part of a chase pack that hung behind the lead group of runners from Anchorage. Meier and Owens trailed the lead group until near the 4-K mark. Meier started just out of the top 10 and slowly gained position.

“The race started pretty quick because it’s state and everybody’s out there trying to do their best. I just kept pushing through the pain,” Meier said.

Meier said that he didn’t have any fun, that only winning is fun. Palmer senior Connor Owens employed a different strategy. Donning blue face paint, a tie-dye headband, and a braided man bun, Owens ran with Meier for much of the race.

Owens danced and waved his arms in the air during the warm-up and on the start line. He admitted to listening to a rapper from Texas who’s most popular song is called ‘The Race,’ in preparation.

“We’re not like trying to get into a certain mental state we’re just having fun with it,” Owens said.

Owens accidentally hung around with the top 10.

“I didn’t realize how far up there I was,” Owens said.

Owens finally broke 17 minutes last week at the region meet. Breaking 17 minutes would be a tough task at Bartlett, a notoriously hilly course. Owens took the first corner as wide as he could, zoomed and zig-zagged his way into contention, and gave it all he had down the stretch. He would finish just short of his goal, finishing in 17:01.

“I was like whoa, wait, hold on, why am I so close to them? So I just decided I’m in a good position I’m going to keep this right here, I had a lot of fun,” Owens said.

Owens is the lone senior and praised the younger runners for their potential. Junior Amiqaq Maclean finished 51st running just under 18 minute and sophomore Mike Reem finished in 62nd for the Moose. Fans, parents, coaches and athletes alike cheered on every runner at the finish line, in sometimes stark contrast to team sports. While Owens and Van Pelt depart from high school cross-country, the future looks fast.

“I cheer for all these Valley kids, I’m a Valley girl,” Varys said. “That’s one of the things I love about this sport is that you can have a rival like Katey but you’re just so excited and thankful for the opportunity that you get to compete and show off the skills that we have in the Valley.”

Division I Girls

1. Kendall Kramer, West Valley 17:52 2. Sadie Tuckwood, Juneau Douglas 18:18 3. Emily Walsh, Eagle River 18:31 4. Ava Earl, South Anchorage 18:39 5. Allison VanPelt, Wasilla 18:51 6. Katey Houser, Palmer 18:51 7. Adrianna Proffitt, Chugiak 18:56 8. Grace Fahrney, Service 19:08 9. Tatum Witter, Service 19:22 10. Aubrey LeClaire, West Anchorage 19:26 11. Naomi Bailey, West Valley 19:43 12. Anna Iverson, Juneau Douglas 19:45 13. Kylie Judd, Dimond 19:54 14. Lucy Young, South Anchorage 19:54 15. Breanna Day, Chugiak 20:00 16. Jordan Strausbaugh, Soldotna 20:00 17. Katherine McKenna, Juneau Douglas 20:00 18. Natalie Hood, West Anchorage 20:04 19. Maggie Druckenmiller, West Valley 20:06 20. Nowelle Spencer, Service 20:09 21. Sophia Dedmore, Chugiak 20:11 22. Clare Howard, Service 20:16 23. Abigail Robinson, South Anchorage 20:20 24. Elizabeth Novakovich, South Anchorage 20:20 25. Trinity Jackson, Juneau Douglas 20:21 26. Annika Schwartz, Juneau Douglas 20:22 27. Lily Slatonbarker, West Anchorage 20:24 28. Mary Reinbold, Dimond 20:27 29. Ryann Dorris, West Anchorage 20:28 30. Payton Smith, West Anchorage 20:33 31. Lydia Ortiz, Palmer 20:36 32. Kiah Dihle, Thunder Mountain 20:41 33. Garvey Tobin, Service 20:43 34. Sophie Wright, Palmer 20:44 35. Ivy Eski, West Anchorage 20:52 36. Zoey Chang, Service 20:53 37. Sam Starks, West Valley 20:57 38. Lindsey Gerlach, Chugiak 20:59 39. Hannah Yi, West Anchorage 21:03 40. Lydia Bushey, Colony 21:03 41. Erika Arthur, Soldotna 21:09 42. Gloria Bailey, West Valley 21:10 43. Malina Fagan, Kodiak 21:16 44. Hannah Deer, Thunder Mountain 21:16 45. Sofia Spaic, Colony 21:19 46. Emma Jerome, West Valley 21:19 47. Abigail Haas, Lathrop 21:19 48. Lindsey Western, South Anchorage 21:21 49. Brooklyn Gould, Chugiak 21:23 50. Clare Hanneman, Lathrop 21:29 51. Emma Axelsson, West Valley 21:40 52. McKenna McNutt, Juneau Douglas 21:43 53. Tanis Lorring, Soldotna 21:44 54. Morgan Elerding, Ketchikan 21:45 55. Nataya Lee, South Anchorage 21:51 56. Grace Dunn, Chugiak 21:53 57. Monica Bustillos, Colony 21:57 58. Abby Novak, Colony 22:00 59. Jasmin Holst, Juneau Douglas 22:00 60. Rahab Porter, Lathrop 22:04 61. Ellie Burns, Soldotna 22:06 62. Zoe Cupp, Palmer 22:15 63. Cameron Blackwell, Soldotna 22:24 64. Kali Smedley, Chugiak 22:26 65. Julia Thomas, South Anchorage 22:26 66. Sophia Nowers, Palmer 22:28 67. Ruby McCue, Ketchikan 22:32 68. Jordan Ruffner, Soldotna 22:33 69. Alyssa Miles, Colony 22:42 70. Ana Arreola, Palmer 22:54 71. Nina Kalytiak, Palmer 22:56 72. Claire Smith, Colony 22:59 73. Nicole Bell, Colony 23:27 74. Ryann Canna Denison, Soldotna 23:39 75. Tjarn Bross, Lathrop 23:48 76. River Wiseman, Lathrop 24:00 77. Shalom Neff, Lathrop 24:08 78. Amber Elkenberry, Lathrop 25:45

Division I Boys

1. Daniel Bausch, Chugiak 15:30 2. Santiago Prosser, Dimond 16:03 3. Alexander Maurer, Service 16:12 4. Ethan Davis, West Anchorage 16:20 5. Arne Ellefson-Carnes, Juneau Douglas 16:25 6. Niko Latva-Kiskola, Dimond 16:38 7. Everett Cason, West Anchorage 16:38 8. Lane Meier, Colony 16:41 9. Kaleb Beloy, South Anchorage 16:42 10. Fred Rygh, Dimond 16:42 11. George Cvancara, Dimond 16:43 12. Jack Cater, West Valley 16:46 13. Dallin Gardiner, Dimond 16:51 14. Zanden McMullen, South Anchorage 16:51 15. Michael Earnhart, Chugiak 16:56 16. Mekbeb Denbrock, Soldotna 16:57 17. Miles Dennis, Chugiak 16:57 18. Connor Owens, Palmer 17:01 19. Jack Winford, West Valley 17:02 20. Isaac Dammeyer, West Anchorage 17:03 21. Hyrum Nelson, Chugiak 17:03 22. Noah Hoefer, Dimond 17:07 23. Bradley Walters, Soldotna 17:08 24. Eric Difolco, West Valley 17:09 25. Koen House, West Valley 17:09 26. Paul Winegeart, Kodiak 17:10 27. Jacob Lestina, Chugiak 17:11 28. Hunter Hayes, Wasilla 17:13 29. Nick Carl, Eagle River 17:13 30. Cameron Sheldon, Dimond 17:13 31. Nolan Earnest, West Valley 17:15 32. Seth Chamberlain, South Anchorage 17:18 33. Eli McKenzie, West Anchorage 17:19 34. Harrison Sturm, West Anchorage 17:20 35. Ambrose Bucy, Juneau Douglas 17:20 36. Clem Taylor-Roth, Juneau Douglas 17:21 37. Gavin Block, Colony 17:22 38. Connor Marbrey, Kodiak 17:23 39. Will Gerlach, Chugiak 17:24 40. Skyler Parks, West Anchorage 17:25 41. Ari Endestad, West Valley 17:27 42. Baird Reynolds, Lathrop 17:29 43. Tucker Kelly, Thunder Mountain 17:32 44. Spencer Putnam, South Anchorage 17:42 45. Alex Olson, West Valley 17:45 46. Landon Hayes, Wasilla 17:46 47. Max Beiergrohslein, Chugiak 17:48 48. Kai Meyers, South Anchorage 17:49 49. Ben Post, West Anchorage 17:50 50. Colt Hubert, Kodiak 17:54 51. Amiqaq Maclean, Palmer 17:55 52. Ronan Davies, Juneau Douglas 17:59 53. Koby Goldstein, Juneau Douglas 18:00 54. Lazarus Porter, Lathrop 18:03 55. Norse Iverson, Colony 18:05 56. Jacob King, Ketchikan 18:07 57. Nathaniel Good, Colony 18:08 58. Jack Harris, Soldotna 18:10 59. Simon Keffalos, South Anchorage 18:14 60. Phillip Smith, Ketchikan 18:14 61. Youji Seto, Kodiak 18:15 62. Mike Reem, Palmer 18:15 63. Lance Chilton, Soldotna 18:16 64. Anchor Musgrave, Soldotna 18:17 65. Finn Morley, Juneau Douglas 18:20 66. Braxton Gruner, Kodiak 18:22 67. Dalton Hoy, Juneau Douglas 18:23 68. Sullivan Menard, Colony 18:24 69. Garrett Streit, Colony 18:32 70. Jerrod Bolton, Kodiak 18:32 71. Riley Birbilas, Kodiak 18:37 72. Koston Williams, Lathrop 18:38 73. Jonathan Burrell, Lathrop 18:39 74. Brent Capps, Ketchikan 18:43 75. Owen Averett, Lathrop 18:45 76. Ben Fischer, South Anchorage 19:01 77. Logan Shane, Soldotna 19:12 78. Jake Waterhouse, Colony 19:21 79. Maleda Denbrock, Soldotna 19:22 80. Jonathan Ebel, Lathrop 20:00 81. Erik Attla, Lathrop 20:21