Seward girls three-peat at Division II state cross-country

With the iconic Mount Marathon Race as the centerpiece and trails sprouting into the mountains everywhere, Seward is a runners’ paradise and has the long, storied history in cross-country running to match.

Saturday at the state cross-country meet at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, a group of Seahawks did something runners from the city nestled at the head of Resurrection Bay had never done before.

The Seward girls won a third straight Division II title to become the first squad from the school to three-peat.

“They are such hard-working, coachable, determined girls,” Seward head coach Rachel Dow said. “They put in the effort in practice.

“They listen to me when they’re running the race. They make eye contact and hear what I say.”

The Seward girls program has now won nine state titles. The Seahawks punctuated this one with a 4.0 grade-point average that won them the academic award as well.

Seward had to survive the one-two punch of Sitka’s Clare Mullin and Marina Dill — both seniors — for the victory. The Seahawks won with 44 points, while Sitka was right behind at 46. Homer was third with 74.

Seward freshman Olive Jordan was third, 24 seconds behind the winning time of 19:47 by Mullin.

Jordan, who won the girls junior race at Mount Marathon this year, said her goal was to keep Mullin in sight, but she knew Mullin would probably win.

The freshman thanked her team for making her first high school season a success.

“They’re just really nice and supportive, even the boys team,” she said. “Me and everyone were decked out in glitter and ribbons, and green and gold.”

The Seahawks were able to clinch the title by getting all their scoring runners in the top 13. Juniper Ingalls was ninth, Katie Van Buskirk was 11th, Sadie Haas was 12th and Maddie Haas was 13th.

“We just wanted to go out and give it our best,” Ingalls said. “We knew we had a good chance to win, but it’s still really exciting.”

Van Buskirk is the only one on the girls team who will graduate. Indigo Leslie, who was second or third on the team all season, didn’t run at state due to injury and also will return.

“Olive, she’s a freshman, but I already see her as a leader,” Dow said. “It’s pretty impressive.

“She’s just so motivated and confident. It’s really cool to see that in a freshman already.”

The Mariners would love to challenge the Seahawks for the title next season. Junior Claira Booz led Homer to the line in sixth.

Booz said she went out fast, felt great and was able to hold her position the whole time.

“I think the Seward team is amazing,” she said. “I think we’re pretty awesome too. If Seward wasn’t so great, our team would have killed it.

“But we love their team, so it’s fine.”

The Mariners lose two seniors and both scored, with Beatrix McDonough in eighth and Jaela Marchbanks in 26th. Also scoring were Etta Bynagle in 16th and Myra Kalafut in 28th.

McDonough, a strong 400-meter runner on the track, beat Ingalls in a close race to the line in a nice way to finish her prep cross-country career.

“The race was great,” she said. “I was a little intimidated by this course from freshman and sophomore year at state, but this was definitely the best race I had here.”

The Mariners had three freshmen competing at state.

“We graduated two of our senior girls, but we have some talent coming up, too,” Homer head coach Bob Ostrom said. “Our freshmen girls are just getting started. It was great to see them out there racing today.”

Teresa Fallon finished 22nd for Kenai Central.

Division II boys

Ostrom also said the future is bright for his boys.

Robbie Annett led Grace Christian to the team title with 40 points, while Homer was second with 74 and Seward was seventh with 157.

Mariners junior Johannes Bynagle finished third at 16:25, 11 seconds behind Annett and four seconds behind Grace senior Colton Merriner.

“I was really hoping to be able to beat Colton, but he was just a few seconds ahead of me,” Bynagle said.

Bynagle still stamped himself as a runner to watch next season by running faster than the Division I winner and being the only runner in the top six of the Division II race who was not a senior.

The Mariners also will be a team to watch next season, with all the runners who scored for them Saturday set to return.

Caleb Bunker was 12th, Jai Badajos was 14th, Tait Ostrom was 21st and Reid Rauch was 32nd. Jody Goodrich, who was 33rd, was the lone senior on the team.

Bunker, a junior, had not run in three weeks due to a left foot injury. He said that caused him to fade in the second of two laps, but he was still able to win a sprint to the line with Seward freshman Luke Elhard.

The race also did nothing to dim Bunker’s enthusiasm for next season.

“I’m hoping we can get three or four guys in the top 10,” he said. “We have lots of potential for a team.

“I think we could get state next year. I’m pretty confident in these guys. We run well together.”

Elhard’s 13th-place finish led the Seahawks, who were making their first appearance as a team since 2019.

The Seahawks boys will not lose any runners to graduation.

“We’ve come a long way this year,” Elhard said.

Also scoring were Ridge Conant in 24th, Sampson Antrim in 42nd, Alex Fink in 48th and Frank Antrim in 54th.

In her fourth year as head coach, Dow loves where the program is headed.

“My first year we had nine kids, total,” she said. “My fourth year coaching and we’re at 27. So it’s really grown.”

Chase Laker finished 28th for Kenai Central.

Division I girls

Soldotna head coach Krista Arthur said both the Division I girls and boys races had a nice depth of fast times.

“We’re really proud of our team,” she said. “We’re going to keep working.

“Cross-country is just coming alive in the state of Alaska again.”

Arthur said cross-country programs at the bigger schools are once again getting huge numbers and that is leading to stiff competition.

“Coming out of COVID, all these teams are building, and they all have tons of athletes on the course,” she said. “Even us, we have 74 out, right?”

Chugiak won the girls team title, while the Stars were eighth.

SoHi junior Tania Boonstra was 16th in 20:22, while Wasilla sophomore Hailee Giacobbe won at 19:04.

Boonstra said the race started fast and did not relent.

“I was there in the second pack, right behind the top girls,” she said. “I was just trying to stay with them, and they were all trying to work to catch the top pack.”

Kathryn DeBardelaben put together a fast last couple kilometers to finish 33rd. Arthur said it was a great finish after DeBardelaben battled sickness and injury this season.

Annie Burns, the lone senior for SoHi at the meet, was 37th, while the other scorers were Kathryn Cox in 49th and Sasha Brott in 62nd.

Arthur said it was nice to see Burns go out with her best finish at the state meet. The coach added that Burns is planning to do track and cross-country in college.

The Stars did not have any boys in the Division I race, though Arthur is excited by the talent that is returning.

Chugiak won that team title, with East sophomore Katahdin Staples winning in 16:30.

Petersburg swept the Division III team titles, with individual wins going to Craig’s Aulis Nelson in the boys race and Unalakleet’s Ourea Busk in the girls race.

Alaska School Activities Association state cross-country running meet

Saturday at Bartlett

GIRLS

Division III

Team scores: 1. Petersburg, 16; 2. Nenana, 23; 3. Unalakleet, 29; 4. Hoonah, 39; 5. Glennallen, 45; 6. Dillingham, 55; 7. Kake, 71; 8. Wrangell, 87; 9. Tikigaq, 100; 10. Sand Point, 100; 11. Unalaska, 110.