Warriors running toward title

Frontiersman

WASILLA — As the Wasilla girls cross country running team prepared for Region III Championships, head coach Gary Howell spent extra time thinking strategy.

In the past, the plan’s been fairly simple — run as hard as you can and get to state. But this season, things have been a little different and the Warriors have the bar set higher than simply qualifying for the state championships.

Howell’s Warriors certainly would love to snag their first region title since 2007. But they’re also on a quest for the first state title in school history.

“Our long-term goal is to win the state meet,” Howell said on Wednesday. “That’s really the focus of all that training.”

As a team, the Warriors enjoyed a perfect run through the 2010 regular season. Wasilla scored team titles in every meet entered — the Seward, Skyview, Colony and Palmer invitationals and the Mat-Su Borough Championships — and many of those wins came in lopsided fashion.

Sophomore Jenna Ford, the defending Region III individual champion, had a handful of wins and never finished out of the top three. But the key to the success has been a top-heavy Warrior lineup which typically finishes at the front of the race pack.

“That’s the difference from being region good and state good,” Howell said.

Wasilla currently holds five of the top 11 times in the region. Ford has the second best mark in the region and fourth best in the state, a time of 18 minutes and 48 seconds she posted when she won the Palmer Invite in early September. Ford’s mark is just a fraction slower than the 18:47.2 Kodiak’s Jaymi Bethea posted during the Skyview Invitational early in the year.

Freshman Mariah Burroughs (19:28), junior Morgan Dampier (19:47) and sophomore Mandi Ringgenberg (19:51) have also broken the 20-minute mark this year. Junior Jessica Pahkala is 11th in the region with a time of 20:18.

Last season, Ford was the only Warrior to finish in the top 10, but five finished in the top 20 for a Wasilla squad that finished third in the region team standings.

Colony is the two-time defending region champion, but will take a very young team to the region championships, which start Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna. The Knights lost three of their top four runners from the 2009 championships, but do return sophomore Audrey Michaelson, who finished 13th in the region race last year.

This season, Michaelson has been one of the top athletes in the region. Michaelson currently holds the third-best mark in the region, a time of 19:13 she clocked at the Palmer Invitational.

Sophomore Makenzie Thompson is also ranked in the top 12, with a time of 20:21 she posted at the Palmer Invite.

Hanna Bohman will lead the Palmer Moose into the championships. Bohman has the 16th best time in the region, 20:51.

Juniors lead boys

A pair of juniors should be battling for top five spots in varsity boys race of the Region III Championships.

Wasilla junior Noah Ripley has posted the top time in the Valley this year, a mark of 16:32.6 that he posted at the Skyview Invite the same venue as Saturday’s championships.

Ripley started the season strong, but Howell felt his leader may have suffered from a bit of overtraining late in the year and the Warrior coaching staff has tweaked Ripley’s workouts.

“Sometimes you have to run slower during the week to be fast on Saturday,” Howell said.

Ripley is part of a junior-laden Wasilla team that Howell hopes to see finish among the top teams in the region and state.

“Our goal is a top-five finish in state,” Howell said.

Juniors Simon Fischer (sixth), Josh Pahkala (ninth) and Keith Thompson (12th) have also posted top-12 times in the region this year. A wild card is junior Michael Johnston, who finished third in the region last year.

Palmer junior Mason Minturn has also emerged as on of the top runners in the region. Minturn currently has the region’s fifth-best mark, a time of 16:45 he posted at the Palmer Invite. Last week, Minturn edged Ripley to win the boys’ title at the Mat-Su Borough Championships.

“He’s been working hard,” Palmer head coach John Bishop said of Minturn.

Sophomore Chris Osiensky has also been a top runner on the Palmer squad. He is currently 17th in the region with a time of 17:07.

Last year, Osiensky finished 16th in the region championships and Minturn was 28th.

Colony senior Tanner Enloe, who finished 23rd in regions last year, is expected to lead the Knights into Saturday’s race. Enloe’s season best is 17:44.

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