Sloppy weather leads to more cancellations

WASILLA — Class was in session in most Mat-Su Valley schools on Friday, but for the second consecutive day, the plans of a handful of local prep teams were changed.

Cross country skiing teams from Colony, Palmer, Wasilla and Susitna Valley were scheduled to compete in the Skyview Invitational in Soldotna on Friday and Saturday, but Mat-Su School District officials opted to cancel trips for extracurricular activities that required a trip to the Kenai Peninsula this weekend, Wasilla High School assistant principal Dan Michael said Friday afternoon.

Michael said reports of the road conditions along the Seward Highway were too poor to risk taking the trip.

That decision also affected scheduled trips for the Wasilla and Houston basketball programs. The Wasilla girls, as well as the Houston boys and girls basketball squads were slated to compete in the Nikiski Tip-Off at Nikiski High School this weekend. That trip was also canceled.

The Wasilla boys basketball team was part of the eight-team field of the Alaska Airlines Classic, hosted by West Anchorage High School. The tourney was slated to start Thursday, but the first day of the event was canceled. Tourney play started Friday at 3 p.m.

The Warriors opened tourney play with a loss to Dimond Friday evening, and followed with a pair of consolation-round games on Saturday.

The Houston hockey team was able to salvage part of a three-day trip to Fairbanks. The Hawks’ game against Lathrop on Thursday was postponed until Saturday. The Hawks flew to Fairbanks, HHS activities director Norm Bouchard said, and arrived just in time to face West Valley on Friday. By postponing Thursday’s game, Houston played both Lathrop and its previously scheduled game against North Pole on Saturday.

Bouchard said neither of the games could be canceled because they are both official Mid-Alaska Conference contests and the state hockey squads are in the final two weeks of the regular season.

At Palmer High School, the Moose girls’ basketball game at Service High School on Thursday was canceled, but the Palmer boys did make the trip to Anchorage to play Service on Friday night.

Palmer High activities director Jeff Thiede said the Moose will try to reschedule the girls’ game, or at least find another 4A nonconference opponent to fill the schedule.

Persistant poor weather — rains and high wides — that contributs to less-than-favorable driving conditions led to the decision to close schools across the Valley on Wednesday and Thursday. Per Mat-Su School District rules, all extracurricular activities are automatically canceled on days in which schools are closed for weather-related issues. Travel outside of the Mat-Su Borough can also be canceled by district officials.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.