Su Valley hosts Mat-Su Boroughs

If the sight of snow is a blissful sight to cross-country skiers, then Valley skiers found paradise at Su Valley High School Friday for the 2002 Mat-Su Borough Cross-Country Ski Championships.

An abundance of fresh powder fell over the Talkeetna area during the previous 24 hours before the race, providing a thick bed of snow to form an excellent race trail.

"It has been snowing non-stop since yesterday," said Su Valley coach Karen Mannix just prior to Friday's start. "We have been grooming continually to keep the trail in shape."

Skiers from Palmer, Colony, Wasilla and Su Valley competed in boys' 8k and girls' 6.6k races. Skiers from Valdez also competed in both races but were not counted in the standings.

The race provided the last opportunity for skiers to compete before the regional meet, which starts this weekend at Nikiski.

Su Valley took the top three spots in the girls' race to pace the Rams to a first place team finish. Tazlina Mannix won the 6.6k race with a time of 22 minutes, three seconds. Teammates Renae Moore and Melissa Ostermick finished second and third.

"I had a pretty good race and our team did well today," Tazlina Mannix said. "The trail was kind of soft so I wanted to get ahead of the everyone to get the hard pack."

With the vast amount of snow on the ground, skiers quickly loosened the snow on the trail with each pass. The trail was freshly regroomed before each race to pack the snow on the trail.

Tazlina Mannix will compete in the region tournament but will miss the state tournament. She and her family will travel to Salt Lake City to watch the Olympics.

"I'm a sophomore, so I will have more opportunities to compete at state," Tazlina Mannix said. "I hope to learn a lot from watching the Olympians."

Cate Jelle of Palmer was looking for a good race in hopes of getting on the team roster for the state meet. Jelle finished eighth among Valley girl skiers.

"I broke my wrist last year and haven't had my best races so far this year," Jelle said. "But today was great."

The Palmer team finished second in the girls' race, followed by Colony and Wasilla.

Colony took the top three Valley positions in the boys' race to give the Knights' team first place. Jeff Warner won the 8k race with a time of 24 minutes, 55 seconds. Ross Wise placed second and Preston Pickett took third.

"I felt much better today than the last time we raced here earlier in the year," Pickett said. "I am in much better condition now."

Russell Wirkus of Wasilla had set a goal to finish in the top 10, but set a priority to just ski well in the race.

"The race was awesome and felt great," Wirkus said. "I wanted to take another lap."

The Wasilla team finished second in the boys' race with Palmer finishing third.

The exposure to good snow conditions should certainly help the lower Valley skiers in preparation for the region meet.

"We are skiing on ice at Colony," said Knights coach Ed Strabel. "I step off of the trail here (at Su Valley) and sink two-feet down."

Results of the girls' and boys' races:

Girls: 1. Tazlina Mannix, Su Val; 2. Renae Moore, Su Val; 3. Melissa Ostermick, Su Val; 4. Bridget Heimerl, Col; 5. Mary Brown, Pal; 6. Kristin Gearry, Col; 7. Becky James, Pal; 8. Cate Jelle, Pal; 9. Rachel Riner, Was; 10. Emily Smayda, Pal; 11. Rebecca Wachter, Was; 12. Ester Hundley, Pal; 13. Hannah Drake, Col; 14. Ayla Dolecki, Su Val; 15. Atali Smith, Was; 16. Alissa Morino, Pal; 17. Laura Wesser, Was; 18. Rose Wallin, Was; 19. Haylee Fishback, Col; 20. Paisley Meekin, Pal; 21. Danielle Woolen, Was; 22. Charlotte VonSteiglitz, Was; 23. Claire Warren, Was; 24. Felicity Copping, Was; 25. Emily McMartin, Col; 26. Katherine Wein, Was; 27. Sara Slausson, Was; 28. Kat Shortridge, Was; 29. Marissa Hamrick, Was; 30. Brooke Welsh, Col.

Boys: 1. Jeff Warner, Col; 2. Ross Wise, Col; 3. Preston Pickett, Col; 4. Ryan Ford, Pal; 5. Peter Doner, Col; 6. Wade Turner, Col; 7. Luke Tegler, Col; 8. Ben Meyer, Was; 9. Nick Wise, Col; 10. Kerry Klauder, Col; 11. David Dickson, Pal; 12. Kenny Crewdsen, Was; 13. Russell Wirkus, Was; 14. Joe Dougherty, Col; 15. Jim Kase, Col; 16. Brandon Gonski, Col; 17. Steve Welch, Col; 18. Ryan Snyder, Col; 19. Charles Boyle, Was; 20. Patrick Boyle, Was; 21. Justin Priest, Pal; 22. Sean Pezzinni, Was; 23. Chris Heiserman, Col; 24. Jon Leiner, Pal; 25. Andreas Kutz, Was; 26. Zach Mierva, Pal; 27. Ian Pierce, Col; 28. Josh Saxon, Col.