WHS grad runs to next level

WASILLA — Noah Ripley had always wanted to run at the college level. But as Ripley made the transition from Wasilla Warriors runner to Wasilla High School graduate, Ripley began to believe his days running competitively with a team were over.

But that all changed late this summer when Ripley, a 2012 graduate of WHS, received a big packet of information in the mail from Western Washington University.

“I was pretty shocked,” Ripley said recently. “I pretty much thought I wasn’t going to get the chance to run (in college). I was dumbstruck. “

Receiving the package in the mail was followed by phone calls from the Vikings cross-country running coach and captain of the team. Ripley visited the school’s Bellingham, Wash., campus during the long Thanksgiving weekend of his senior year of high school. He talked to the school’s running coach and expressed his interest.

“I asked him if I could run with the team, but I didn’t know if it would work out,” Ripley said. “It’s a really good program, and they have a lot of fast runners. I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out.”

Ripley enrolled in the school without the expectation of competing on the Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference running squad. But even with his competitive future in doubt, Ripley continued to train after his senior year of high school.

“I kept running 40 miles a week,” Ripley said.

Throughout high school, Ripley said his goal was to earn the chance to run at the next level.

“Self-improvement has always been pretty huge to me,” Ripley said. “It is kind of a dream come true deal to get the chance to run.”

Ripley established himself as one of the top cross-country runners in his region as a prep athlete. He finished eighth in the Region III Championships as a junior and fourth as a senior. Ripley capped his senior season with a 23rd-place finish at the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships at Bartlett High last October.

Wasilla head coach Gary Howell said he never had any doubt about Ripley’s potential to run at the next level.

“I totally thought he could,” Howell said.

A key for Ripley, Howell said, is Ripley has learned how to properly prepare himself.

“Noah came into every season fairly fit, but he’s just starting to figure out how to train,” Howell said.

Plus, Ripley possesses a tireless work ethic, Howell said, and didn’t miss a practice during his high school career.

Ripley said he’s now learning how to transition from training for the high school level to training for the college level.

“I’m going from 40 to 65 miles with the workout,” Ripley said.

Ripley is a redshirt this year, but hopes to work his way into the varsity lineup by about his junior season.

“If I stick with the program, by my junior year I can become more of a major contributor on the team,” Ripley said.

Ripley said he also expects to compete on the Vikings Division II track and field team in the spring.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com, follow him @matsu_sports and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.