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NW ranked Service boys, West Valley girls win 4A
123A: Grace Christian sweeps team titles, Wilson & Kirk finish first again
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| Dylan Anthony (550) ensured the boys 4A individual title stayed in Kodiak, but the NW#9 Service boys claimed the team title with 40 pts.
Photos by Phil Walgren
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| Team Champs:
- 4A - Service boys 40 over Juneau-Douglas 73; West Valley girls 63 over South 74
- 123A - Grace Christian boys 27 over Seward 84; Grace Christian girls 36 over Sitka 96
| Highlights
- Dylan Anthony (Kodiak sr) took the torch from three-time state champ, former teammate Trevor Dunbar Saturday, winning the 4A title in 15:41 to beat out Silas Talbot (Service) who took second in a 20-second PR of 15:48.4
- West Valley junior Courtney Kisner surprised a few people, including herself with the 4A win by managing to hold off runner-up Ivy O'Guinn (Skyview) 19:00 on the final stretch; The win was an upset over Juneau-Douglas' three-time defending state champion, Leah Francis who sat out last week's region meet due to illness and took a fall in the second half of the race and later needed medical help
- The Service boys earned their first team title in 37 years by placing four of their seven runners in the top 15, including Silas Talbot second in 15:48, Robert Walgren third in 16:02, Jani Lane 11th in 16:41 and Dane Goodman 14th in 16:48.
- NW bubble team West Valley girls conquered all of the top teams a few weeks ago at the Palmer Invitational, so their team win over another NW bubble team South was not a complete shock; WV scoring 63 points over South's 74
- Jacob Kirk (Grace Christian jr) claimed his second 123A state title in two years in a solo effort, running 15:43 and finishing a minute ahead of teammate Andrew Arnold who finished second (16:43)
- Kenny Lake sophomore Kailey Wilson claimed first place with her 18:56 finish, 50 seconds ahead of the next runner, Monae Boyles, to defend her 123A title
- Grace Christian boys repeat 123A win over Seward, placing four in the top fifteen for a final score of 27 to 84
- Grace Christian freshman Monae Boyles finished second in 19:48 to help her team capture the back-to-back 123A team title distinction, the sixth team victory in the last decade for the Grace Christian girls
Preview
The top high school runners and teams in Alaska will line up at the Mike Janecek trails again this year. Three of the teams competing are ranked in the NW region, giving the Alaska state cross country meet the potential to shake things up and continue to put Alaska running in the national spotlight.
On the 123A girls’ side, Kailey Wilson (Kenny Lake so) is the defending champion. Wilson has a very strong chance to repeat, qualifying with the fastest time from any region (18:47). Expect Katie Strong (Port Lions jr) to be in the hunt. With the individual favorites on the girls side running without their teams, there will be a split focus for spectators. Grace Christian girls are the returning champs with team front-runners Monae Boyles and Mariah Applegate finishing 1-2 to lead their team to the region title over Seward. Seward and Dillingham pose the greatest threats to the Grace Christian girls.
Jacob Kirk (Grace Christian) won his region by over 1 min with the Grace Christian boys team beating Seward convincingly (17-52), placing both Kirk and GC as favorites from the line for the boys 123A titles. Chevak senior Harold Paniyak and Bethel senior Randy Hanson have both run in the mid-16’s this season and should be in the battle for a medal. Grace Christian boys could be looking at their fourth straight title, but Bethel, Sitka and, Seward will do there best to upset the streak.
Leah Francis has been the top 4A female for her entire high school career with a record of wins in both regional and state competition until this year. The Juneau-Douglas senior missed out on her chance to capture a fourth region title last week when she was sidelined due to sickness. Francis is hoping to compete for her fourth straight state title. A few new-comers including Wasilla freshman Jenna Ford and Dimond freshman Amelia Hennessy, as well as South sophomore Emma Minge will most likely join Francis in the front of the race. The strongest 4A girls team coming into the race may be NW bubble team West Valley who easily won the Palmer Invitational a few weeks ago by beating all of the teams in medal contention. The West Anchorage girls fell at the region meet to strong gold medal contender NW bubble team South girls, but this West team will be looking to earn their third straight title. And, even without Francis Juneau-Douglas won their region with ease. Although not the favorite, Juneau-Douglas may find themselves in the team race with NW bubble teams West Valley and South, West and Colony.
Kodiak managed to top Service last year, but without Trevor Dunbar (now at University of Portland) and Service ranked NW #9 that feat may be more challenging. Kodiak won the last three team titles while led by individual champion Dunbar. Jani Lane (Service jr) finished first at region in 16:07, with teammates Silas Talbot (16:20) and Robert Walgren (16:26) rounding out the top three places. Each of these boys could be expected in the top 5 or so, along with Sage Thibodeau (Juneau-Douglas) who won the 4A race in 16:37, Isaac Updike (Ketchikan) second in 16:39, Wylie Mangelsdorf (Palmer) and of course Kodiak’s number one Dylan Anthony who claimed the win at Palmer Invitational.
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