Wasilla junior wins George Plumley Invite

Last year as sophomores, Wasilla’s Hailee Giacobbe and East Anchorage’s Katahdin Staples ran to Division I state titles at Bartlett High School.

It’s a new season, and there is a different venue for the ASAA cross-country running state championships. The state meet is returning to the Michael Janecek Running Trails at Palmer High School.

Hundreds of runners from across the state had a chance to preview the 2025 state meet course, and both DI defending champs prevailed.

Giacobbe and Staples each finished first in the girls and boys varsity races during the George Plumley Invitational Saturday at Palmer High School.

In the girls race, Giacobbe continued her streak for the Warriors. She is now 4-for-4 in meets this season, and has now won eight straight races. The last time Giacobbe did not finish first in an Alaska prep cross-country running race was September 7, 2024, at Palmer when she was third at the Plumley Invite.

Giacobbe used a time of 19 minutes, 24 seconds to win on Saturday.

She also had to pass East Anchorage senior Rosie Conway, who led for about the first two-thirds of the race. Not only did Giacobee move past Conway, but she also built a 12-second margin at the finish line.

Soldotna senior Sophia Jedlicki led early, sprinting ahead of the pack right after the gun, and maintained a healthy lead for the opening stretch of the lead. Jedlicki would eventually finish seventh (19:56) just ahead of teammate Tania Boonstra (20:01), who was eighth.

South Anchorage’s Calista Zuber (third), Chugiak’s Hannah Shaha (fourth) and West Valley’s Miriam Armstrong (fifth) rounded out the girls top five.

Junior Aubrey Virgin led the Colony girls with a 16th-place finish, and time of 20:48. Palmer junior Karley Tichenor was 23rd at 20:59. Freshman Claire Sensabaugh was also in the top 25 for the Knights, placing 23rd at 20:59.

Chugiak earned the girls team title with 59 total points. Colony scored a top 5 finish, placing fifth with 176 points.

Staples hit a time of 16:18 to win the boys varsity race, his third straight gold of the season and fifth straight dating back to last year. The East Anchorage runner needed the 16:18 to fend off three others in the top four who set either a personal or season record.

Palmer junior Bodie Miller continued his strong season setting a personal best with a time of 16:34, good enough for a third-place finish. It’s four seconds faster than his previous best, and he now has a trio of top-4 finishes to his credit this year.

A pair of Division II standouts also placed in the top four. Mountain City Christian sophomore Breyden Nottingham was the runner-up with a PR of 16:29. Homer senior Johannes Bynagle set a season record of 16:38, and placed fourth.

Senior Trygve Vang-Thompson led Colony at 10th, with a time of 17:04. Fellow senior Gabriel Black was 13th for the Knights at 17:16.

Justin Dalitsch led Wasilla, placing 32nd at 17:37.

South Anchorage grabbed the boys team title with 83 total points. Homer was the top Division II team as the runner-up at 105. Colony led Mat-Su squads at third with 153.

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