Valley runners sweep Colony Invite

PALMER — What separated Colony senior Audrey Michaelson and West Anchorage’s Rachel Roelle Saturday morning?

Milliseconds.

Michaelson edged Roelle by four-hundreths of a second to win the Colony Invitational at Colony High School on Saturday. Michaelson used a time of 19:46.03 to win the race on her home trails and finish slightly ahead of Roelle and her time of 19:46.07.

“She looked pretty strong there,” Colony coach Stacy Strabel said of Michaelson.

The battle between the Colony senior and the West senior provided, arguably, the most intriguing matchup of the race, that featured teams from Anchorage, the Valley, Homer and the Interior. Michaelson has finished second in the Interior Invite and fourth in the Bartlett Invite on recent weekends. She also won the Colony Twilight early in the season.

Last season, Michaelson was second in the Region III Championships at third at state.

Roelle finished third at Bartlett and sixth at Skyview this season, and won the 2,500-meter Steel Bucket Cup in Anchorage early in the season.

Last season, Roelle was fifth in the Region IV Championships, and top 20 at state.

“She’s one of the faster runners in the state,” Strabel said of Roelle. “They were pretty close throughout the race, Audrey just out-kicked her.”

Michaelson was one of three Knights to place in the top 10, and that trio helped Colony finish second in the team standings. Makenzie Thompson used a time of 20:26 to finish third and Bailey Meier was 10th at 21:08.

Michaelson was also one of pair of Valley runners to win gold Saturday. Palmer senior Chris Osiensky cruied to a win in the boys race.

Osiensky, who placed fifth at Skyview last weekend, finished with a time of 17:09. He held a 10-second lead over runner-up John Farr of East Anchorage. Osiensky’s teammate, Sean Hermann, placed sixth at 17:46.

Colony’s Lyon Kopsack finished third to help the Colony boys also place second in the team standings. Kopsack’s time of 17:22 placed him about three seconds behind the runner-up.

Boaz Sessom was 10th for the Knights, and Darien Sinnett (12th), Kamber Lucas (19th) and Dakota Peterson-Thompson (20th) also finished in the top 20 for the Knights.

Samantha Contreras led the Palmer girls with a 19th-place finish. Molly Osiensky was 31st.

Freshman Bernadette Hartley posted Susitna Valley’s best time with a 24:35 in the girls race. Ahanu Kinney led Houston with a time of 19:44 in the boys race.

The next race on the schedule is the Palmer Invitational, slated for Saturday at Palmer High.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him @matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.

Colony Invitational

Saturday, Colony High School

Girls individual results:

1. A. Michaelson, Col 19:46.03; 2. R. Roelle, West 19:46.07; 3. M. Thompson, Col 20:26.04; 4. L. Blanchet, West 20:37.07; 5. M. Fink, East 20:38; 6. K. Blackmore, West 20:41; 7. K. Weddleton, West 20:43; 8. S. Hartke, Chu 20:52; 9. J. Fleischman, West 20:55; 10. B. Meier, Col 21:06.

Other Valley finishers:

18. T. Spaic, Col 21:51; 19. S. Contreras, Pal 22:06; 22. T. Haan, Col 22:18; 24. J. Kopsack, Col 22:27; 31. M. Osiensky, Pal 23:18; 37. R. Diotte, 24:07; 38. B. Hartley, SV 24:35; 39. A. Qualls, Pal 24:59; 40. M. Lundin, Pal 25:04; 41. A. Loper, SV 25:46.

Boys individual results:

1. C. Osiensky, Pal 17:09; 3. J. Farr, East 17:19; 4. L. Kopsack, Col 17:22; 4. D. McPheters, Chu 17:31; 5. A. Monzon, ACS 17:36; 6. S. Hermann, Pal 17:46; 7. T. Sorenson, Chu 17:49; 8. C. McCarron, Hom 17:50; 9. P. Moma, West 17:53; 10. B. Sessom, Col 17:53.

Other Valley finishers:

12. D. Sinnett, Col 17:57; 19. K. Lucas, Col 18:25; 20. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col 18:25; 24. L. Reed, Col 18:38; 25. J. Gentz, Pal 18:42; 32. R. Kavalok, Pal 19:21; 34. B. Mahan, Pal 19:28; 36. J. Link, Col 19:34; 37. I. Bingham, Pal 19:37; 38. A. Kinney, Hou 19:44; 42. E. Kinney, Hou 20:07; 47. D. Banse, Pal 20:31; 56. Z. Grace, Hou 22:16.