Valley runners look to lead Region III pack

MAT-SU —For about the last seven years, the Kodiak High School boys cross country running team has owned Region III.

But this could be the year that another team knocks the Bears off the top of the region ladder.

And the Palmer Moose would love to be the team to do it.

“I hope so,” Palmer coach John Bishop said on Thursday. “We’re hoping to take regions. We beat Kodiak a couple weeks back and we beat Wasilla several times. They’re our main competition.”

Runners from Palmer, Wasilla and Colony will all try to run to the front of the Region III pack when WHS hosts the Region III Cross Country Running Championships Saturday at Crevasse Moraine Park.

Leading Palmer and its region title hopes is senior Wylie Mangelsdorf, who finished fourth in the Region III Championships last year.

Mangelsdorf missed the Wasilla Invitational at Crevasse Moraine last weekend due to illness, but Bishop said his standout runner is healthy.

“I think he’s doing great,” Bishop said of Mangelsdorf, who notched a sub-16 minute time for the first time in his career at the Palmer Invitational earlier this month.

Bishop said he expects Mangelsdorf to contend for a top-3 spot, if not the region crown. His biggest challenge, Bishop said, could be Kodiak’s Dylan Anthony, who finished third in the region last season.

While Mangelsdorf is expected to be among the top runners in the race, a group of Palmer’s young athletes could be key to any hope for a team title.

Jacob Whipple, Mason Minturn and Wyatt Peltier have all had strong races as of late.

Minturn finished third in the recent Mat-Su Borough Championships, while Peltier was sixth.

Minturn and Whipple finished 19th and 20th respectively at the Palmer Invitational.

“We’re feeling pretty confident,” Bishop said.

While Palmer is a candidate to dethrone Kodiak, Wasilla head coach Gary Howell sees the potential of his Warriors to pull off the upset in the boys’ team standings.

“We could be the ones who ruin prom,” Howell joked. “Everyone could be thinking we’ll finish third, and we could wind up winning the whole stinking thing.”

Howell praised the Kodiak program, but said the Bears could be the more vulnerable than they have been in years.

“Nothing against (Kodiak head coach) Marcus Dunbar, but I’d love to see a changing of the guard,” Howell said.

To run past the likes of Kodiak and Palmer, Howell’s Warriors will be looking for solid finishes from seniors Drew Ford and Alden Lee, and sophomore Michael Johnston.

Ford was the runner-up to Mangelsdorf at the Borough meet and finished 15th in the Palmer Invite.

Lee was fourth at the Borough championships and 22nd at Palmer.

Howell also applauded the work of Noah Ripley, who finished seventh in the Borough meet.

“Mr. Consistency has been Noah Ripley,” Howell said.

Ripley, who finished 22nd in the region championships last season, cracked the 17:30 mark for the first time recently, Howell said, a significant accomplishment for the Warrior runner.

Senior Dylan Crawford is among the runners expected to lead the Colony boys.

On the girls side, Wasilla and Colony are expected to battle for the region title, alongside Kodiak.

Both programs finished with an identical 117 total points. Both teams feature top runners in the region.

But the difference could be the runners making up the final few spots on the varsity lineups, Howell said.

“It won’t be the top kids who decide,” Howell said. “The fourth or fifth runner for any team could decide.”

Leading Wasilla is freshman Jenna Ford, who has earned wins in six different races during her first high school running season.

Ford won the Borough title and finished second at the Palmer Invite in recent weeks.

Last week, she captured the Crevasse Moraine course record during the Wasilla Invite.

Leading the Colony Knights is sophomore Alyssa Hutchins, who was the runner-up to Ford in the Borough championships. Hutchins also finished ninth in the Palmer Invite.

Last year, Hutchins was sixth in regions.

Colony’s strong crew of runners also includes Sydney Stewart, Maria Wick and Abby Jahn, all who notched top-12 finishes in the region last year.

Freshman Audrey Michaelson, who finished 23rd in the Palmer Invite, has also stood out for CHS.

The boys 4A race is scheduled to start at noon Saturday, while the girls’ 4A race is set for 1:30 p.m.

Crevasse Moraine, located at the end of Loma Prieta Drive off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, is also home of the Region III-1-2-3A races on Saturday.

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