Valley runners among the top talents in Region III

WASILLA — It’s a luxury for any cross-country program to enter the season with one region front-runner. Wasilla boasts one of the top Region III runners in both the boys’ and girls’ classes.

Junior Hunter Hayes is the defending Region III boys champion. Senior Allison VanPelt earned Region III Co-MVP honors last year despite spending the season at the junior varsity level, not eligible to run varsity after making the move from the Houston High cross-country program to the Warriors prior to the 2017 season.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Wasilla head coach Leslie Varys said recently.

Varys said VanPelt came into the season strong, after training hard throughout the offseason.

“Her work ethic is just phenomenal,” Varys said.

Varys said the size of the girls’ team has also more than doubled, and she’s excited to see VanPelt step up and lead that group.

“There are a lot of first-time runners,” Varys said.

That group includes junior Abbi Boucher, who debuted with a sixth-place at the Colony Invitational. Varys said VanPelt and Boucher have been inseparable in practice. Varys said the team also now includes a handful of players from the Wasilla High girls basketball program, including senior Olivia Davies, who earned a pair of track and field titles during her first year in that program last year.

Varys said Hayes also returned strong this year. Hayes is also a standout wrestler at Wasilla High School. Varys said earning the region title helped Hayes realize he was not just a standout on the mat, but also on the cross-country trails.

“I think it gave him a lot of (confidence),” Varys said. “That was all him, all heart.”

Hayes is joined this year by his younger brother Landon, a freshman who was undefeated in cross-country running as an eighth grader at Wasilla Middle School last year.

“They have a very deep respect for each other,” Varys said.

Varys said Landon Hayes has already established himself as Wasilla’s No. 2 runner on the boys’ side. Varys said the Warriors have another set of brothers who also wrestle, freshman Sam Logsdon and junior Alex Logsdon.

Senior McKinley Larson also returns.

Wasilla also earned the region boys team title last year.

Palmer Moose

The Palmer Moose return everyone from a girls squad that finished second in the Region III team standings last year. But the Moose got even stronger with the addition of freshman Katey Houser, who finished as the runner-up during the Bartlett Invitational State Preview last week in Anchorage.

“She’s been a huge addition to our team,” Palmer first-year head coach Chris Osiensky said.

Osiensky, a 2013 graduate of Palmer High School and former runner for the Moose, said before he even accepted the position he knew how strong the girls’ team could be potentially.

“I already thought for sure we had a huge shot at winning regions,” Osiensky said.

But the addition of Houser makes Palmer even stronger.

The group also includes junior Sophia Nowers, sophomore Sophie Wright and junior Lydia Ortiz, who finished sixth, seventh and eighth in regions last year.

“The top 5 is looking pretty dang strong,” Osiensky said.

Osiensky said senior Amiqaq Maclean and junior Connor Owens are Palmer’s leaders on the boys’ side. Maclean led Palmer with a 26th-place finish at regions last year. In addition to the two leaders, Osiensky said the Moose have a group of runners who are working hard to show their potential.

Colony Knights

Both the Colony Knights boys and girls teams finished third in regions last season and advanced to state. Colony co-head coach Norm Rousey said the Knights are working to try to put themselves in the position to battle for the automatic berths to the state meet.

Junior Gavin Block led Colony into the 2018 season. Block finished fourth in regions last year. Sophomore Lane Meier is also back after finishing sixth in regions as a freshman. Rousey said Jake Waterhouse is a new addition to the team.

On the girls’ side, Rousey said Colony is working to fill the void left by graduated senior Jill Bowker, the Valley’s top runner in the Region III girls race last year.

“Losing Jill is a big one,” Rousey said.

The Knights are looking to young runners such as sophomore Lydia Bushey. Colony also has junior Sofija Spaic.

Redington Huskies

Redington head coach Francisco Campbell said the Huskies, a Division II program, currently have about eight runners in the program.

The Huskies have two seniors, one on each of the teams, with Isaiah Hale and Grace Nolan.

“So far we’re just building,” Campbell said.

Campbell said they are working to get more students interested in running at Redington. But he’s happy with the kids he currently has to work with.

“It’s a lot of fun working with them. They’re very coachable,” Campbell said.

Houston Hawks

Houston head coach Robert Knutson said the Hawks are down to six runners this year.

“Participation is down,” Knutson said.

Knutson said the team has lost athletes to injury and other programs at HHS. There are currently five boys and one girl on the team. Sophomore Nick Hanks is the top runner on the boys team.

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