STRABEL SMASHES COURSE RECORD TO WIN BOROUGH TITLE

TALKEETNA - The only way to stop Eric Strabel this season is to not allow him to run, and even a broken bus could not accomplish that Thursday at the Mat-Su Borough Championships at Su Valley High School.

The Colony team bus broke down at the school before the 70-mile trip to Su Valley High School. The Knights waited for a new bus and finally arrived at the race 45 minutes late. The snafu hardly affected Strabel, who obliterated the course record and won his second Mat-Su Borough Championship in a row.

Strabels time of 15 minutes, 48 seconds was 29 seconds faster than the previous record, which he set at last years race. He wasted no time in getting to the front, and after one mile of the three-mile race, he was more than 30 seconds ahead of second-place Pat Egelus of Palmer.

Strabel is known for his finishes, and he didnt disappoint those in attendance in Talkeetna. He sprinted nearly the final half-mile to claim the course record.

The team championship went to the Moose, who are in contention for the Region III and state titles in the next two weeks.

Egelus finished second to Strabel, and he was followed by Lee Bolling in fourth, Drew Dickson in fifth, Nate Cross in sixth and Aaron Dickson in seventh places. Colonys Nathan Chud was second.

The girls championship was won by the Knights, and they were paced by Diana Heimerl, who won her first individual borough title.

Heimerl and freshman Dominique Colberg ran side-by-side for the first two miles before Heimerl pulled away from her teammate. Nikki Campbell overtook Colberg and finished second to give the Knights a strong presence in the top five. Kelly Quinn was fifth.

Su Valleys Danielle Pratt was fourth, with Nicole Hanson finishing seventh to give Su Valley a second-place finish in the team standings.

Palmers Sara Sakis and Katie Kajdan finished eighth and ninth respectively, and Wasillas Sarah Dimmick was the top Warrior in sixth place.

The Region III meet is Saturday at Nikiski High School. Strabel is the favorite in the individual race, but the team championship could come down to Soldotna and Palmer. The Colony girls team is trying to hold off Kenai and Soldotna.

Rams win meet

The Rams used depth and some fantastic finishes to win the Su Valley Invitational.

The boys team finished second.

The girls team won the meet by a single point over Anchorage Christian School, while the boys team trailed ACS by nearly 20 points.

Anchorage Christian Schools Lucy LeBaron won the individual race, and Valdezs Sarah Fischer was second. Pratt, Hanson and Renae Moore finished third through fifth, while Margaret Denkewalter finished ninth to give the Rams four top-10 racers. Christina Moores 16th-place finish allowed the Rams to win by a single point.

Ivan Steadman was second to Jeff Eide of Valdez in the boys race, but he was followed across the finish line by teammate Kyle Strong. Brain Correira was 11th, Joe Strong 17th and Josh Pratt 21st.

Mat-Su Borough Championships

Sept. 16, Su Valley High School

Boys

Team scores 1. Palmer, 24 points; 2. Colony, 41; 3. Su Valley, 72; 4. Wasilla, 110.

Individual times 1. Eric Strabel, Col, 15:48 (new course record, previous record 16:17 by Strabel); 2. Pat Egelus, Pal, 17:01; 3. Nathan Chud, Col, 17:07; 4. Lee Bolling, Pal, 17:08; 5. Drew Dickson, Pal, 17:11; 6. Nate Cross, Pal, 17:12; 7. Aaron Dickson, Pal, 17:15.51; 8. Ivan Steadman, SuV, 17:15.88; 9. Zach Baer, Pal, 17:16; 10. Jon Kaster, Pal, 17:21; 11. Richard Hallock, Col, 17:23; 12. Joe Straayer, Col, 17:41; 13. Pat McKay, Pal, 17:46; 14. Shawn VanTassel, Pal, 17:48; 15. Kyle Strong, 17:52; 16. Kevin Spangler, Col, 17:56; 17. Josh Pratt, SuV, 18:11; 18. Alex Hill, Pal, 18:16; 19. Tyler Cunningham, Pal, 18:17; 20. Brian Correira, SuV, 18:18; 21. Keegan Egelus, Pal, 18:21; 22. Kelly Sonerholm, Col, 18:32; 23. Mike Rubeo, Was, 18:37; 24. Anthony Terry, Col, 18:41; 25. Joe Strang, SuV, 18:45.09; 26. Giles Lawton, Pal, 18:45.44; 27. Scott Wells, Pal, 18:46; 28. John Egger, Was, 18:49.43; 29. Luc Hegg, Was, 18:49.81; 30. Hunter Gravely, Col, 18:56; 31. Jeff Kase, Col, 19:09; 32. Cam Willingham, Was, 19:10; 33. Joe Rucker, Was, 19:18; 34. Kyle Rustin, Pal, 19:18; 35. Henry Hartman, Was, 19:20.03; 36. Gabe Pepperd, Col, 19:20.80; 37. David Dickson, Pal, 19:24; 38. Matt Birdsasl, Col, 19:34; 39. Cory Moore, SuV, 19:40; 40. Josh Hejl, Col, 19:46; 41. Faustin Wirkus, Was, 20:00; 42. Ben, Pal, 20:02; 43. Matt Brown, Col, 20:21; 44. Randy Gorman, Col, 20:46; 45. David Reiman, Col, 20:48; 46. Nate Neilson, Pal, 21:12; 47. Ryan Cross, Col, 21:13; 48. Trevor Griffin, SuV, 21:25; 49. Lee Blaine, Col, 21:34; 50. Jon Leiner, Col, 21:55; 51. Josh Cox, SuV, 21:58; 52. Scott Zimmerman, Col, 22:31; 53. Andy Rockey, Pal, 23:05; 54. Brian Long, Col, 23:19; 55. Nathan Cypra, Col, 24:00; 56. James Haller, Pal, 25:09; 57. Russell Wirkus, Was, 25:17.

Girls

Team scores 1. Colony, 21; 2. Su Valley, 52; 3. Palmer, 72; 4. Wasilla, 85.

Individual times 1. Diana Heimerl, Col, 19:29; 2. Nikki Campbell, Col, 19:36; 3. Dominique Colberg, Col, 19:46; 4. Danielle Pratt, SuV, 19:55; 5. Kelly Quinn, Col, 19:58; 6. Sarah Dimmick, Was, 20:19; 7. Nicole Hanson, SuV, 20:26; 8. Sara Sakis, Pal, 20:44; 9. Katie Kajdan, Pal, 20:51; 10. Marisa Pepperd, 20:59; 11. Renae Moore, SuV, 21:06; 12. Margaret Denkewalter, SuV, 21:32; 13. Clare Baldwin, Col, 21:39; 14. Kalea Garrod, Col, 21:57; 15. Amber Tubbs, Col, 22:02; 16. Kristine Larson, Col, 22:20; 17. Emilie Ebanol, Was, 22:26; 18. Sarah Haller, Pal, 22:45; 19. Arianna Smith, Was, 23:06; 20. Hannett Niaddry, Col, 23:40; 21. Sam Gatto, Col, 23:54; 22. Lindsy Burton, Col, 23:55; 23. Karissa Markwardt, Col, 23:57; 24. Charlene Borge, SuV, 24:05; 25. Evalyn Kiffe, Pal, 24:12; 26. Michelle Harmeling, Pal, 24:42; 27. Jody Brown, Col, 24:43; 28. Christine Moore, SuV, 24:52; 29. Gesa Hinrick, SuV, 25:12; 30. Calley Cassidy, Was, 25:13; 31. Kristen Wein, Was, 25:25; 32. Nikki Greer, Was, 25:31; 33. Kara Rowland, Col, 25:53; 34. Jessica Stewart, Col, 26:15.15; 35. Caitlin Haley, Was, 26:15.75; 36. Anne Nightengale, Col, 26:24; 37. Alina Tykalsky, Col, 26:28; 38. Luanne Morris, Col Middle, 26:30; 39. Carly Thaggard, Col Middle, 26:31; 40. Kim Cottle, Was, 26:50; 41. Laura Wesser, Was, 32:01; 42. Rosie Schulz, Pal, 32:41.

Su Valley Invitational

Boys

Team scores 1. ACS, 38; 2. Su Valley, 54; 3. Valdez, 58; 4. Tri Valley, 91; 5. Heritage, 125.

Top 10 1. Todd Eide, Val, 17:29.0; 2. Ivan Steadman, SuV, 17:30.2; 3. Kyle Strong, SuV, 17:40.8; 4. Jake Johnson, Val, 17:44.8; 5. Mike Barth, 17:45.6; 6. Shaun LeBaron, ACS, 17:55.8; 7. Aaron Gogain, ACS, 18:17.9; 8. Jon Villard, ACS, 18:21.0; 9. Trevor Millar, Her, 18:21.6; 10. Sean Leet, Tri, 18:29.6. Other Su Valley finishers 11. Brian Correira, 18:32.1; 17. Joe Strang, 18:55.9; 24. Josh Pratt, 19:33.1; 25. Cory Moore, 19:36.6; 41. Josh Cox, 22:04.2; 46. Mike Blanton, 22:55.0; 51. Mike McNulty, 24:18.6; 55. Brian McNulty, 30:16.4.

Girls

Team scores 1. Su Valley, 37; 2. ACS, 38; 3. Valdez, 48.

Top 10 1. Lucy LeBaron, ACS, 19:31.8; 2. Sarah Fischer, Val, 20:15.0; 3. Danielle Pratt, SuV, 20:39.6; 4. Nicole Hanson, SuV, 20:53.0; 5. Renae Moore, SuV, 20:53.3; 6. Cherie Ward, Her, 20:58.1; 7. Ali Fischer, Val, 20:59.9; 8. Amanda Hofacker, ACS, 21:11.6; 9. Shauna LeBaron, ACS, 21;23.3; 10. Margaret Denkewalter, SuV, 21:25.6. Other Su Valley finishers 21. Christina Moore, 24:45.3; 23. Charlene Borge, 25:30.1; 28. Gesa Hinrick, 27:36.4. Photo by CASEY RESSLER.