Wasilla girls cross country running squad makes school history

Sept. 24, 2006

By DARRELL L. BREESE/ Frontiersman

NIKISKI - Wasilla's Katie Bialka and Brooke Nelson found a little something extra Saturday as both Warrior runners were able to power through the tough hills at Nikiski High School during the Region III cross country running championships.

Their strong runs, combined with the efforts of their teammates, turned out to be a history-making performance for the Wasilla girls.

Led by Bialka and Nelson, the Warriors claimed the first title in cross country running in the school's history, edging Region III power Kodiak by seven points.

&#8220I don't think the girls even comprehend that they are the first team in the school's 70-year history to win a cross country running championship,” Wasilla head coach Gary Howell said. &#8220One of the girls even asked if winning meant they would get to put a banner up in the gym.”

Bialka moved up throughout the race and finished in third place, and Brooke Nelson lead a trio of Warriors across the line in eighth, ninth and 10th place.

Lead by the Top-15 finishes of its scoring runners, the Warriors team of Elle Fuller, Amanda Dau, Ema Olsen, Jessica Gross and Kendra Nelson ran like champions on the challenging, hilly Nikiski Community Trails Course.

&#8220All of our girls ran faster times today then they did at the Dimond meet two weeks ago,” Howell said. &#8220The hills slowed all the other teams down, so I was really excited with their performance.”

Howell said he first started to believe his team could challenge for the region title when they finished sixth at the Dimond meet. But he didn't want to share that with anyone until after they won.

&#8220I believed they had it in them,” Howell said. &#8220But there was no way I was going to tell them they could make history if they won until we had the trophy in our hands. I wasn't going to have them thinking about that.”

According to Howell the bravest performance of the day was turned in by Gross, who had a fever Friday night, but still ran a 22-minute, 5-second time to finish 13th overall, and secure the Warriors win.

Skyview runner Ivy O'Guinn won the race with a time of 20:16, just ahead of Kodiak's Abby Reed.

Kodiak ran away with the Class 4A boys title, as expected, thanks to placing three runners in the top-five. Trevor Dunbar won in 16:50 and runner-up Cory Pena, crossed at 17:16.

Wasilla's Jimmy Sliwa rounded out the top three, sprinting past Lucas Freid in the final 400 meters to prevent a Kodiak sweep of the top spots.

The Seward girls appear to be in top form for the state championships next week. Denali Foldager passed Anchorage Christian's Nychele Fischetti in the last mile, then caught her sister Rubye on a hill to win the individual title with a time of 20:57.

Rubye Foldager was second in 21:02, Seward's Allison Barnwell was fifth in 21:54, Sara Glaser was seventh in 22:06 and Kendra Oldow was 12th in 23:24.

Anchorage Christian School runner Michael Miller moved to the front of the pack at the start of the boys 3A race and began to shed his closest pursuers, working hard on the hills, about a mile into the race.

His victory helped the Lions secure the 3A boys team title.

The top three teams from the region and any runner in the top-15 places not on a qualifying team advance to the state championship meet Saturday on the Tsalteshi Trails at Skyview High School in Soldotna.

Colony sisters, Johanna and Heidi Doner finished in fifth and sixth respectively to help the Knights secure third place in the 4A girls race and the final state berth. Palmer's Jaquie Lutz will also be running at the state meet, thanks to a 12th place finish.

Antone Zagars paced the Colony boys to a second-place finish in the team competition, crossing the line in 17:39, for fifth place. Teammates Cody Huggins, Mason Wick. Nick Whitmore and Ryan Van Gorder all finished in the Top-15 for the Knights.

CIA and Heritage top Region II teams

The Su Valley rams just missed qualifying both their boys and girls cross country running teams for the state championships, after finishing third at the Region II Championships Saturday.

The host Rams girls team finished four points behind the Tri-Valley team in the girls race and the winning Cook Inlet Academy team. Holly Kopp set the pace for the winning Eagles with a first place finish in 19 minutes 44.51 seconds.

The Heritage Christian School boys ran away with the team title placing four runners in the Top-5. The Su Valley boys were lead by Travis Clark who finished fourth with a time of 17:29.52.

Clark and teammate Galen Johnston will both represent the Rams at the state championships next Saturday. As will Caitlin Hunt and Kristjana Timmers.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.