Su Valley girls capture 1A-2A-3A crown

Sports editor

PALMER -- The Susitna Valley girls cross-country team made history Saturday.

After finishing second each of the last two years in the 1A-2A-3A state championships , the Rams won their first cross-country state title.

The Rams are just coming off their 10th consecutive Region II title.

"I couldn't be more proud of them," Su Valley head coach Jane Buskirk said. "We have been talking about peak performances and it turns out that they all had their peak performances in the race."

Su Valley placed three runners in the top 10. Junior Tazlina Mannix ran neck and neck with eventual champion Linnea Pudwill, before finishing a close second at 20:09.

Fellow Ram junior Melissa Ostermick finished sixth at 20:27, and freshman Jenny Thompson finished ninth at 20:48.

What is encouraging for Su Valley and head coach Jane Buskirk is that her entire team will be returning next season. According to Buskirk, there are also a pair of junior high school runners that will make an impact on her squad next season.

"I am looking forward to it," Buskirk said. "We will have three of the top five runners in the state. It would be nice to put together a squad of 12 to 15 runners. That way we can run a junior varsity also."

Mannix improved on her performance in state last year. In the 2001 finals, Mannix finished in third place. This season the junior's time was 13 seconds ahead of her time last year.

Ostermick finished in the same position she did as last year, but more than a minute faster.

Thompson, in her first final of her high school career, was the second fastest freshman in the event.

The Rams were the only team in the event to have more than one runner in the top 10.

Krystal Moore also finished high for Su Valley, placing 13th.

"The key was Krystal's finish. We were hoping for a top-20 finish. She pulled off the race of her life. Our strength is our depth. No one runner has to carry the team on her shoulders. They can always count on the other runners," Buskirk said.

Su Valley finished with 39 points, well ahead of second place Grace Christian.