South High's Ava Earl grabbed a two-second victory over Eagle River's Emily Walsh in the final race before next Saturday's Cook Inlet Conference cross-country championships at Kincaid Park.
Earl won the 5-kilometer girls race at Saturday's Big 8 meet in 18 minutes, 52 seconds. Walsh was close behind in 18:54.
Daniel Bausch of Chugiak breezed to the boys win in 15:31. He was 23 seconds ahead of Service's Alexander Maurer.
Bausch's victory helped the Mustangs edge Dimond by a single point for the boys team title. Things were tight on the girls side too, with West taking a four-point win over South.
Runners got a surprise at the post-race awards ceremony, where East High alumni and Olympic gold medalist Kikkan Randall delivered an emotional speech. Randall, the CIC champion in 2000, was diagnosed with breast cancer shortly after winning gold in cross-country skiing at February's Winter Olympics.
[Kikkan Randall inspires cheers, tears when she shows up at Anchorage high school running race]
Girls team scores — 1) West 52, 2) South 56, 3) Chugiak 70, 4) Dimond 92, 5) Eagle River 95.
Boys team scores — 1) Chugiak 48, 2) Dimond 49, 3) West 67, 4) South 92, 5) Service 109, 6) Eagle River 172, 7) East 199.
Girls
1. Ava Earl, South, 18:52; 2. Emily Walsh, Eagle River, 18:54; 3. Adrianna Proffitt, Chugiak, 19:01; 4. Tatum Witter, Service, 19:27; 5. Aubrey LeClair, West, 19:34; 6. Kylie Judd, Dimond, 20:01; 7. Breanna Day, Chugiak, 20:01; 8. Ivy Eski, West, 20:12; 9. Payton Smith, West, 20:16; 10. Natalie Hood, West, 20:18; 11. Zoey Chang, Service 20:25; 12. Elizabeth Novakovich, South, 20:25; 13. Sophia Dedmore, Chugiak, 20:25; 14. Nowelle Spencer, Service, 20:26; 15. Lucy Young, South, 20:27; 16. Abigail Robinson, South, 20:33; 17. Hannah Yi, West, 20:33; 18. Leola Atkinson, Bartlett, 20:40; 19. Ryann Dorris, West, 20:42; 20. Frida Vargas, West, 20:43; 21. Quincy Donley, West, 20:43; 22. Kelsey Johannes, West, 20:52; 23. Mary Reinbold, Dimond 20:52; 24. Lindsey Gerlach, Chugiak, 20:53; 25. Maria Cvancara, Dimond, 21:11; 26. Lindsey Western, South, 21:17; 27. Laura Ripp, Eagle River, 21:20; 28. Delainey Zock, Dimond, 21:30; 29. Mary Goodwin, Eagle River, 21:37; 30. Skye Brabson, Eagle River, 21:40; 31. Annika Colberg, West, 21:47; 32. Courtney Jones-Brunner, Eagle River 21:50; 33. Myah Smith, Eagle River, 21:51; 34. Nataya Lee, South, 21:55; 35. Julia Thomas, South, 21:57; 36. Kaley Fleming, Dimond, 21:59; 37. Lucille Longhurst, Eagle River, 22:04; 38. Annika Ostberg, Dimond, 22:06; 39. Nancy Biegel, South, 22:09; 40. Brooklynn Gould, Chugiak, 22:11; 41. Sophia Cvancara, Dimond, 22:18; 42. Amanda Michener, Eagle River, 22:23; 43. Dayl Tieszen, South, 22:24; 44. Riley Wilson, Eagle River, 22:28; 45. Grace Dunn, Chugiak, 22:30; 46. Maggie Keffalos, South, 22:38; 47. Avi Sorich, Service, 22:50; 48. Julia Szerszenski, Eagle River, 22:54; 49. Hannah Cryder, Chugiak 23:01; 50. Sydney Tusten, Chugiak, 23:20; 51. Kali Smedley, Chugiak 23:28; 52. Elissa Gruszynski, Chugiak, 23:31; 53. Hannah Farr, Eagle River, 24:01; 54. Paige Nelson, Chugiak, 24:25; 55. Amei Gove, East, 24:27; 56. Qaiana Fishel, East, 27:25; 57. Emily Parks, East, 27:39.
Boys
1. Daniel Bausch, Chugiak, 15:31; 2. Alexander Maurer, Service, 15:54; 3. Ethan Davis, West, 16:16; 4. Niko Latva-Kiskola, Dimond 16:21; 5. Hyrum Nelson, Chugiak 16:24; 6. Everett Cason, West, 16:24; 7. Michael Earnhart, Chugiak, 16:49; 8. Dallin Gardiner, Dimond 16:53; 9. Kaleb Beloy, South, 16:54; 10. Fred Rygh, Dimond 16:58; 11. George Cvancara, Dimond, 17:02; 12. Carter Gladwill, Eagle River 17:04; 13. Kai Meyers, South, 17:04; 14. Seth Chamberlain, South, 17:07; 15. Miles Dennis, Chugiak, 17:09; 16. Noah Hoefer, Dimond 17:11; 17. Eli Mckenzie, West, 17:12; 18. Isaac Dammeyer, West, 17:14; 19. Cameron Sheldon, Dimond, 17:21; 20. Jacob Lestina, Chugiak 17:23; 21. Max Beiergrohslein, Chugiak 17:24; 22. Mitchell Guyer, Service, 17:26; 23. Sebastian Reed, West, 17:35; 24. Spencer Putnam, South, 17:35; 25. Marty Rygh, Dimond 17:36; 26. Alvaro Gonzalez, Service 17:37; 27. Ben Post, West, 17:40; 28. Harrison Sturm, West, 17:43; 29. Dylan Kearns, Service, 17:45; 30. Skyler Parks, West, 17:46; 31. Kurtis Brumbaugh, Dimond, 17:46; 32. Jason Hlasny, Service, 17:46; 33. Will Gerlach, Chugiak 17:50; 34. Simon Keffalos, South, 17:58; 35. Matthew Ross, Service, 18:00; 36. Kai Caldwell, Service, 18:02; 37. Ahmed Salih, East, 18:03; 38. Noah Rygh, Dimond, 18:04; 39. Dastzeni Tibbits, Dimond, 18:07; 40. Beck Haywood, East, 18:08; 41. Quinn Smith, West, 18:12; 42. Jacob Belanger, Service, 18:12; 43. Porter Blei, Chugiak, 18:12; 44. Eli Seaver, West, 18:16; 45. Sebastian Gridley, Service, 18:19; 46. Joseph Curry, East, 18:20; 47. Jacob Kosinski, Chugiak, 18:21; 48. Alex Carl, Eagle River 18:22; 49. Michael Belmear, Chugiak, 18:26; 50. Nick Carl, Eagle River, 18:27; 51. Gunnar Sackerson, Eagle River, 18:31; 52. Isaac Lee, South, 18:41; 53. Torsten Renner, Chugiak, 18:44; 54. Grant Goodman, South, 18:45; 55. Jacob Heavener, Eagle River 18:50; 56. Aiden Schubert, South, 18:51; 57. Ben Fischer, South, 18:54; 58. Calvin Brady, Chugiak 18:54; 59. Luke Howe, East, 18:55; 60. Jaime Rush, South, 19:03; 61. Jack Debrecht-mowry, South, 19:07; 62. Mark Shepherd, Eagle River, 19:08; 63. Colby Teller, Eagle River, 19:27; 64. Caleb Gladwill, Eagle River, 19:27; 65. Curtis Bay, Eagle River, 19:31; 66. Tommy King, East, 19:36; 67. James Salter, Eagle River, 19:42; 68. Tayson McKenzie, Dimond 19:44; 69. Dylan West, Eagle River, 19:45; 70. Joshua Baker, Eagle River, 19:59; 71. Will Sanchez, East, 20:18; 72. Maxim Unruh, East, 21:24.