Wasilla runner earns second straight cross-country state title

As a sophomore, Hailee Giacobbe worked her way to state cross-country championship gold. But now as a junior, the Wasilla High School standout had the added responsibility of protecting that prize.

Despite all of the added pressure, she prevailed.

Giacobbe used a time of 19 minutes, 18 seconds to earn her second straight Division I girls individual title during the ASAA/First National Bank State Cross-Country Championships Saturday afternoon on the Michael Janecek Trails at Palmer High School.

With her state championship victory, Giacobbe finished her junior year undefeated.

“I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to perform well,” Giacobbe said Saturday after her win.

She was first in all eight races this season, and now has 12 straight victories in an Alaska 5-K cross-country race dating back to September of 2024.

“Remaining in first, it puts a huge target on your back,” she said.

Last year, Giacobbe became the first WHS athlete to earn a girls cross-country running state title. She is now the first Valley runner to win consecutive girls cross-country state championships.

The last Valley runner to notch the three-peat was Wasilla’s Chris Gilbert, who won three straight boys cross-country titles from 1986-1988.

Giacobbe’s time of 19:18 was her third-fastest mark of the year, despite the wet conditions and muddy trail.

“I am so tired. That was a rough course,” Giacobbe said. “Super muddy. I almost fell down on one of the hills. I had to keep my balance after that.”

Giacobbe said the conditions did not change her strategy greatly.

“I really focused on running my race,” she said. “But I definitely took a lot of the corners wide because they were muddy and slick. Other than that, I tried to run my race.”

Giacobbe finished 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Rosie Conway of East Anchorage. She built her lead in the second half of the race, but Giacobbe said she never felt safe.

“I actually didn’t feel like I had the lead for good at all,” Giacobbe said. “I had this vision in my mind they were right on my tail.”

Colony senior Trygve Vang-Thompson was the top Valley runner in the Division I boys race, with a time of 16:46. The back-to-back Region III runner-up improved his state placement from ninth last year.

Vang-Thompson also helped the Knights finish as Division I boys runner-up in the team standings with 82 total points. Senior Gabriel Black earned a 10th-place finish, with a time of 17:16. Sophomore Benjamin Aliberti was 25th, junior Theodore Stamoolis placed 26th and junior Raven Spangler was 31st.

The Knights were also second in the girls team standings with 118 total points.

Freshman Clara Sensabaugh led the Knights with a 20th-place finish and time of 20:05.5, a stride ahead of teammate Aubrey Virgin, a junior who placed 21st at 20:05.7. Freshman Klysa LeCount (27th) and senior Jayda Iniguez (28th) also placed in the top 30.

Palmer senior Bodie Miller led the Moose boys with a seventh-place finish and time of 17:08. Junior Karley Tichenor led the Palmer girls at 15th and a time of 20:32.

Chugiak won its fifth straight Division I girls team title, and South Anchorage captured the boys championship for the second time in three years.

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