Valley runners ready for region meet

PALMER — The Palmer girls cross-country running team returned everyone who helped the Moose post a runner-up finish in the region meet last season. The defending champion, Kenai Central, dropped from the Division I to Division II level during the offseason. The Moose added a standout freshman, Katey Houser, who owns the second fastest time in the conference.

The Moose are excited about their potential for success in the Region III Championships Saturday in Soldotna, Palmer head coach Chris Osiensky said, but they don’t want to get ahead of themselves.

“I want to see everyone compete as well as they can and see what that does for the team as a whole,” Osiensky, Palmer’s first-year head coach, said earlier this week. “We want them to run their own races, believe in their fitness.”

Osiensky has a deep group on the girls’ side that includes juniors Lydia Ortiz, Sophia Nowers, Zoe Copp and Nina Kalytiak. There’s sophomore Sophie Wright, who finished second at the Wasilla Invitational in Talkeetna last week. And there’s Houser, who has the second-best time in the region, a mark of 18:53. Houser, who has been out with an injury, has not competed since winning the Seward Invitational Aug. 31. Osiensky said the goal is to have Houser ready for regions.

“We’ve been very cautious with her. We want to get her to the (cross-country skiing) season, which is very important to her,” Osiensky said.

Before missing some time, Houser posted four top-5 finishes. In addition to her win in Seward, she was the runner-up at the Bethel Kuskokwim Classic and Bartlett Invitational State Preview Meet. She was also fifth in the Tsalteshi Invitational on the same course runners will hit Saturday in the region meet.

“Katey as a freshman came into the high school season with high goals without a lot of people knowing,” Osiensky said.

Houser is expected to once again battle Wasilla senior standout Allison VanPelt at the front of the pack. VanPelt, who earned Region III MVP honors as a junior, owns the top time in the region this year, the mark of 18:41 she posted in the Palmer Invitational in early September. VanPelt has finished in the top 4 in all six of her races this year. She scored wins at the Colony and Wasilla invites. VanPelt finished second in Seward, third at the Tsalteshi and Palmer meets and fourth at the Bartlett state preview.

Sophomore Lydia Bushey and junior Sofija Spaic have posted Colony’s top times this year.

While Palmer appears to be the front-runner on the girls’ side, both Osiensky and Colony co-head coach Norm Rousey said it’s pretty wide-open on the boys’ side.

“Everyone body is in this thing,” Rousey said of the race for the Region III boys’ team title and the battle for which three squads earn automatic bids to state. “It could be anyone.”

Osiensky said the same can be said for the boys’ individual standings.

“Usually there’s one guy,” Osiensky said of the perceived favorite.

But this year, Osiensky said there could be about 10 guys who are in the running.

Rousey’s Knights include sophomore Lane Meier, who scored his first career varsity win with a first-place finish in the Wasilla Invite. There is also junior Gavin Block, who has a pair of top-5 finishes in the region meet in his career.

Wasilla has defending region champion Hunter Hayes, a junior, and his Hayes’ younger brother, freshman Landon Hayes. Palmer has junior Amiquq MacLean and senior Connor Owens.

The Region III Division I girls race is scheduled for 12:10 p.m. Saturday at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna, and the Division I boys race is at 1:30 p.m.

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