Valley teams sweep Bartlett XC meet

ANCHORAGE — Heading into the first meet of the season, the Wasilla coaching staff had a hunch the Warrior boys had the potential to do well.

Saturday, the Wasilla boys were part of a Valley sweep of the team standings at the Bartlett Invitational in Anchorage. Both the Wasilla boys and Colony girls won team titles, and Wasilla, Colony and Palmer swept the top-3 spots in the boys’ standings.

Wasilla finished with five runners in the top 18, and 51 total points en route to winning the meet.

“The boys have been running really well,” Wasilla assistant coach Gary Howell said by cellphone following the meet. “They kind of packed up.”

That was part of the strategy for the day, Howell said.

“The whole plan was to keep them together until about (3 kilometers), and then it was every man for himself after that,” Howell said. “It worked out perfectly.”

Quincy Fuller, a newcomer to Wasilla High, led the Warriors with a time of 17 minutes, 25 seconds, and posted a sixth-place finish. Fuller was in the middle of a cluster of runners separated by less than two seconds. He was also a half-second shy of a fourth-place finish. Lathrop’s Logan Mowry (17:25.3) and Vance Underwood (17:25.6) both finished just ahead of Fuller (17:25.8).

Fuller was also the first of five Warriors separated by 42 seconds. Colton Pulver (17:42) and Karl Greathouse (17:46) were 12th and 14th respectively. Justin Gentz (17:59) and Isaak Bell (18:07) finished 16th and 18th.

Colony placed two in the top 3 en route to the girls’ team title.

“It was a good performance today,” Colony head coach Rhonda Knopp said by phone after the meet. “Really solid running today. Everyone felt really good about their races.”

Freshman Jill Bowker finished second in the girls’ race, with a time of 19:39. Newcomer Alex Mathis, a transfer from Wasilla, was third at 19:57.

“For the first race as a freshman, it was a nice, solid race,” Knopp said of Bowker. “Alex had a great race as well.”

Elisabeth Bowker (13th, 20:59), Coleen Geraghty (19th, 21:44), Jocelyn Kopsack (21st, 21:59) and Peggy Mathis (23rd, 22:26) also finished in the top 25 for the Knights.

“We’re just starting the season and we’re very happy with how everybody ran today,” Knopp said.

Colony won the meet with 43 total points in the girls’ standings. Chugiak was second with 60.

Colony also finished third in the boys team standings with 92 total points. Tracen Knopp led all Valley runners in the boys race, with a time of 17:21 and a third-place finish. Dawson Knopp (17:58) finished 15th and Dakota Peterson-Thompson (18:06) finished 17th.

Palmer finished third in the boys’ team standings. Josiah Alverts (17:52) was 14th for the Moose.

Riley Burroughs led Wasilla with a fourth-place finish in the girls’ standings, with a time of 20:10.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Bartlett Invitational

Saturday, Bartlett High

Boys team standings:

1. Wasilla 51, 2. Colony 92, 3. Palmer 103, 3. (tie) Grace Christian 103, 5. Lathrop 125, 6. Eagle River 126, 7. Dimond 129, 8. Seward 151.

Boys individual results (top 25):

1. T. Jordan, Chu 15:56; 2. M. Todd, ACS 17:12; 3. T. Knopp, Col 17:21; 4. L. Mowry, Lat 17:25.3; 5. V. Underwood, Lat 17:25; 6. Q. Fuller, Was 17:25.8; 7. H. Kratz, Sew 17:26.1; 8. J. Walsh, ER 17:26.2; 9. Z. Young, Gra 17:26.2; 10. M. King, BB 17:31; 11. A. Smith, ER 17:39; 12. C. Pulver, Was 17:42; 13. K. Greathouse, Was 17:46; 14. J. Alverts, Pal 17:52; 15. D. Knopp, Col 17:58; 16. J. Gentz, Was 17:59; 17. D. Peterson-Thompson, Col 18:06; 18. I. Bell, Was 18:07; 19. T. Fritzel, Gra 18:08; 20. H. Foster, Pal 18:11; 21. R. Kavolok, Pal 18:22; 22. C. Jensen, Pal 18:23; 23. D. VanderWeide, Gra 18:30; 24. L. Reed, Was 18:33; 25. D. Cvancara, Dim 18:37.

Other Valley finishers:

27. M. Mathis, Was 18:38; 36. R. Haan, Col 19:15; 37. K. Lucas, Col 19:19; 42. J. Burton, Pal 19:28; 44. J. Kina, Pal 19:40; 50. Z. Zmuda, Col 19:56; 59. B. Mordue-Swalling, Pal 21:31.

Girls team standings:

1. Colony 43, 2. Chugiak 60, 3. Eagle River 63, 4. Lathrop 95, 5. Dimond 109, 6. Palmer 117.

Girls individual results:

1. B. Gerlach, Glen 19:02; 2. J. Bowker, Col 19:39; 3. A. Mathis, Col 19:57; 4. R. Burroughs, Was 20:10; 5. P. Young, ER 20:26; 6. S. Hartke, Chu 20:38; 7. E. Heil, Dim 20:43; 8. B. Kruchoski, Chu 20:43; 9. B. Wedin, Sew 20:45; 10. A. Fournier, Lat 20:45; 11. H. Booher, Chu 20:45.6; 12. S. Frazier, ER 20:55; 13. E. Bowker, Col 20:59; 14. R. Woodings, Pal 21:03; 15. A. Hebard, Lat 21:03; 16. C. Applegate, Gra 21:13; 17. E. Tvelia, ER 21:37; 18. A. Pfeiffenberger, Sew 21:38; 19. C. Geraghty, Col 21:44; 20. K. Manwaring, Chu 21:56; 21. J. Kopsack, Col 21:59; 22. E. Balsan, ACS 22:15; 23. P. Mathis, Col 22:26; 24. T. Heagy, ER 22:29; 25. L. Oba, Lat 22:36.

Other Valley finishers:

29. A. Qualls, Pal 23:14; 34. E. Bingham, Pal 23:48; 37. El. Wright, Pal 24:11; 41. Em. Wright, Pal 24:41.