Warriors dominate at Palmer Invite

PALMER — The Wasilla High School boys’ cross country team gave Anchorage men a run for their money this weekend — and they won.

“I don’t want to ever have to race any of these guys again,” a male Lathrop High School runner said, indicating the threat that the Valley teams bring to the competition.

Junior Quincy Fuller led Warrior teammates Colton Pulver, Justin Gentz, Karl Greathouse, Sam Loye, Lane Reed and Isaak Bell to victory at the Palmer Invitational meet on Saturday over 14 other 4A Varsity male teams from around the state.

“All of our guys were under 18 (minutes), and two were under 17,” Wasilla coach Leslie Varys said.

The first and seventh runners were only 1 minute and six seconds apart, too.

“When you’re snapping photos you’re bound to get two or three (guys) in the picture,” Varys said. “That’s a perfect way to win a race (as a team).”

Without that depth of field, the Wasilla boys might not have finished so well — their total team time was just 13 seconds ahead of South Anchorage’s. But with personal records like Fuller’s occurring already after just two or three races, it’s quite possible the time gap could increase.

“Our team’s really good,” Fuller said after the race.

He finished first for the Warriors with a time of 16:50, and said his run felt “smooth.”

“I was just trying to beat Travis Cooper (from Kenai), but he passed me in the final stretch,” Fuller said.

Greathouse said he expected his team would do well this weekend too, but he wasn’t entirely sure they could win until it happened.

“We knew we’d be in that area though,” he said, referring to their high placement.

Greathouse finished four seconds behind Fuller.

All of the Wasilla boys were still in high spirits as they described their races, post-cool-down.

“It was fantastic,” Reed said of his race.

He finished sixth for the Warriors in 17:41.

The Palmer Invite is often billed as a preview for the state championship meet — 33 teams were in attendance this year — so the boys are already looking forward to cleaning up in a few weeks.

“We’re going to try and win it,” Fuller said, his teammates echoing the sentiment.

Some of the Colony boys said they were hoping to stay competitive with Wasilla at the meet, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards. Colony finished sixth, just a few seconds behind Kenai Central High School, collectively.

It was too late in the day,” said Colony’s Dakota Peterson-Thompson. “I like racing in the morning at like 10.”

Peterson-Thompson finished second for the Knights and placed in the top 25 overall. A side-cramp may have done him in, his mother said, but he was only about twenty seconds off his high school P.R.

Although not all seven runners had it in them today, Tyler Daniel — Colony’s third-place finisher — said he felt “pretty good.”

“The laps kind of psych you out but they give you a good idea of how much (of the race) is left,” Daniel said of courses like Palmer’s.

Daniel ran a P.R. this weekend of 17:39, about 20 seconds faster than his previous record.

He was happy to go sub-18-minutes again, he said, and with any luck his performance will inspire his teammates to take down the Wasilla team.

“Hopefully we can beat them in Seward next weekend,” Daniel said.

On the girls’ side of things, the Knights came in third, about a minute behind Soldotna High School, as a team. They, too, had hoped for a better finish, however.

“I didn’t feel good,” Colony’s female leader Jill Bowker said. “But it’s not like you can quit in the middle of a race.”

Good thing she didn’t, too, or her teammate and Colony’s second finisher Alex Mathis would’ve had bragging rights.

“She passed me at the top of the hill over there (by the starting area) but then I passed her again,” Bowker said.

“It’s kind of funny,” she added. “We’re rivals even though we’re friends.”

Bowker came in third overall with a time of 18:58. Mathis was just five seconds behind, coming in fourth overall.

“I really wanted to get ahead of my teammate,” Mathis said, stating her primary goal in the race this weekend.

Mathis said she also wanted to beat Briahna Gerlach of Glennallen, even though Gerlach’s school is classified as 3A and the girls won’t be in direct competition at state.

Gerlach won the small school’s race with a time of 18:17, more than 90 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in that race.

The other standout finisher at the meet this weekend was, of course, the junior Mount Marathon racer Allie Ostrander, who won the 4A varsity girls’ race in 16 minutes and 40 seconds.

Houston’s Andrew Spencer had a big day for the Hawks, finishing fourth in the 123A boys’ race. Spencer finished with a time of 17:18.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

2014 Palmer XC Invitational

4A Varsity Girls Team Results

1. West Anchorage, 68; 2. Soldotna, 77; 3. Colony, 106; 4. Kenai Central, 124; 5. West Valley, 132; 6. South Anchorage, 146; 7. Chugiak, 158; 8. East Anchorage, 160; 9. Eagle River, 185;10. Palmer, 237; 11. Wasilla, 241; 12. Dimond, 336

4A Varsity Boys Team Results

1. Wasilla, 74; 2. South Anchorage, 79; 3. West Valley, 84; 4. West Anchorage, 116; 5. Kenai Central, 136; 6. Colony, 174; 7. Lathrop, 178; 8. Palmer, 194; 9. Dimond, 201; 10. Chugiak, 253; 11. Soldotna, 290; 12. East Anchorage, 317; 13. Bartlett, 320; 14. Eagle River, 375;15. North Pole, 420

4A Varsity Girls Results (top 25)

1. Allie Ostrander, Kenai Central 16:40 2. Olivia Hutchings, Soldotna 18:52 3. Bowker Jill, Colony 18:58 4. Alex Mathis, Colony 19:03 5. Morgan Lash, South Anchorage 19:10 6. Molly Gellert, West Anchorage 19:15 7. Megan Fink, East Anchorage 19:35 8. Jenna Difolco, West Valley 19:40 9. Riley Burroughs, Wasilla 19:41 10. Kayle Blackmore, West Anchorage 19:49 11. Brooke Gottmeier, West Valley 19:52 12. Dani McCormick, Soldotna 19:54 13. Hannah Brown, South Anchorage 19:55 14. Daisy Nelson, Soldotna 19:58 15. Victoria Mayer, West Anchorage 19:59 16. Ruby Woodings, Palmer 20:01 17. Acadia Graham, East Anchorage 20:02 18. Maggie York, West Anchorage 20:07 19. Abby Amick, East Anchorage 20:08 20. Fionia Fick, West Anchorage 20:08 21. Riana Boonstra, Kenai Central 20:12 22. Elisabeth Bowker, Colony 20:14 23. Sadie Fox, Soldotna 20:19 24. Peyton Young, Eagle River 20:25 25. Brynn Kruchoski, Chugiak 20:28

Other Valley finishers:

37. Coleen Geraghty, Colony 21:02 38. 44. M.E. Meyerhofer, Colony 21:21 46. Samantha Contreras, Palmer 21:33 50. Allison Qualls, Palmer 21:39 52. Jocelyn Kopsack, Colony 21:45 53. Riley McLellan, Wasilla 21:48 55. Jordan Burroughs, Wasilla 21:55 63. Gracie Minnick, Wasilla 22:18, 68. Rya Berrigan, Palmer 22:29, 72. Elliese Wright, Palmer 22:57 78. Danika Ingersoll, Wasilla 23:12 79. Lexi Pepperd, Wasilla 23:21 80. Eva Bingham, Palmer 23:25, 82. Kayla Munday, Wasilla 23:28

4A Varsity Boys Results

1. Jonah Theisen, Kenai Central 16:01 2. Ty Jordan, Chugiak 16:07 3. Jordan Theisen, Kenai Central 16:14 4. Max Donaldson, West Valley 16:19 5. Spencer Mitton, South Anchorage 16:48 6. Hamish Wolfe, South Anchorage 16:48 7. Travis Cooper, Kenai Central 16:48 8. Quincy Fuller, Wasilla 16:50 9. Tristan Sayre, West Valley 16:51 10. Colton Pulver, Wasilla 16:54 11. Chandler Lokanin, Dimond 17:04 12. Luke Jager, West Anchorage 17:08 13. Jonathan Koenig, West Valley 17:10 14. Tracen Knopp, Colony 17:11 15. Foster Birnbaum, West Anchorage 17:14 16. Justin Gentz, Wasilla 17:14 17. Miles King, Bristol Bay 17:20 18. Will Balcao, South Anchorage 17:20 19. Cannen Burgess, West Anchorage 17:20 20. Karl Greathouse, Wasilla 17:22 21. Luke Meiwes, South Anchorage 17:23 22. Sam Loyer, Wasilla 17:25 23. Dakota Peterson-Tho, Colony 17:26 24. Vance Underwood, Lathrop 17:26 25. Logan Mowry, Lathrop 17:32

Other Valley finishers:

28. Hayden Foster, Palmer 17:37, 29. Tyler Daniel, Colony 17:39, 33. Lane Reed, Wasilla 17:41, 35. Josiah Alverts, Palmer 17:44, 37. Dawson Knopp, Colony 17:46, 38. Ryan Kavalok, Palmer 17:46, 40. Cameron Jensen, Palmer 17:48, 45. Isaak Bell, Wasilla 17:56, 58. Johnie Burton, Palmer 18:21, 75. Kamber Lucas, Colony 18:59, 85. Zach Zmuda, Colony 19:19, 94. Levi Natwick, Palmer 19:43, 95. Vince Sanderson, Colony 19:43, 96. Josh Klina, Palmer 19:46

123A boys team results:

1. Grace Christian 36, 2. Homer 61; 3. Galena 102; 4. Unalaska 109; 5. ACS 112; 6. Barrow 141; 7. Monroe 209; 8. Bethel 215; 9. Delta 216; 10. Eielson 216.

123A girls team results:

1. Homer 24, 2. Grace 46, 3. Bethel 110, 4. ACS 119, 5. Hutchison 122, 6. Barrow 138, 7. Unalaska 158, 8. Eielson 183.

123A girls individual results (top 20):

1. B. Gerlach, ACS 18:17; 2. M. Pitzman, Hom 19:52; 3. M. Mitchell, Hom 20:07; 4. C. Applegate, Gra 20:13; 5. A. Waclawski, Hom 20:18; 6. T. O’Hara, ACS 20:19; 7. S. Hamberger, Cor 20:29; 8. A. Hatter, Gra 20:39; 9. H. Wayner, Gra 20:50; 10. Z. Shemet-Pitch, Hom 21:03; 11. A. Mosley, Hom 21:03; 12. L. Evarts, Hom 21:03; 13. A. Wolgemuth, Bar 21:15; 14. G. Jacobsen, Glen 21:50; 15. S. Brown, Gale 22:13; 16. G. Moore, Hut 22:22; 17. C. Buffas, Mon 22:24; 18. K. McWilliams, Bet 22:27; 19. B. Hartley, SV 22:30; 20. K. Wood, Gra 22:36.

123A boys individual results:

1. K. Korta, Gal 16:51; 2. R. Enlow, Una 16:59; 3. Z. Young, Gra 17:08; 4. A. Spencer, Hou 17:18; 5. T. Fritzel, Gra 17:40; 6. J. Brant, Hom 17:42; 7. M. Todd, ACS 17:43; 8. J. Sondergaard, Glen 17:43; 9. G. Sorensen, Gra 17:46; 10. Z. Hamberger, Cor 17:41; 11. J. Beachy, Hom 17:54; 12. D. VanderWeide, Gra 17:55; 13. W. Hoogendorn, Nom 17:58; 14. M. Remolino, Una 18:09; 15. P. Hernandez, Bar 18:11; 16. J. Moos, Gal 18:13; 17. N. Snow, Gra 18:15; 18. J. Favis, Hom 18:21; 19. B. Beachy, Hom 18:22; 20. E. Issacson, Gra 18:29.