West sweeps Region IV skiing team titles; Service’s Power and East’s Ireland earn Skimeister titles

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 22

South’s Mia Stiassny leans into her finish. Classic ski races opened the the Region IV cross-country ski meet on February 10, 2023. (Marc Lester / ADN)

The West High skiing teams capped off a dominant weekend at the Region IV Cross Country skiing championships, sweeping the relays Saturday to earn titles in both the boys and girls division.

West had put itself in great position by dominating Friday’s classic portion of the two-day meet at Kincaid Park.

The West boys team edged out Service 1:20:15.3 to 1:20:44.8 thanks to having an impressive six skiers finish in the top 10. They were led by Blake Hanley in third place (19:51.7) followed by Murphy Kimball in fourth (19:55.8) then Hatcher Menkens (20:12.0), Liam Chisholm (20:15.8), and Cole Flowers (20:25.1) in sixth through eighth. Ethan Eski (20:46.2) came in 10th.

The Eagles girls team beat out crosstown rival Bettye Davis East 1:40:23.7 to 1:42:19.0 even though they tied with the Thunderbirds for the most top-10 finishers with three. They were led by Samantha Legate in fourth place (24:32.4), followed by Zoe Rodgers (24:58.7) in fifth place and Piper Sears (25:23.2) in ninth.

The career arcs for the first-place finishers in the boys and girls A divisions for Friday’s classic race couldn’t have been more different.

Service senior Skimeister Aaron Power was a heavy favorite coming in and has been a key contributor to the Cougars winning the last three state titles, which includes being the reigning state individual champion in the classic and freestyle.

He added to his decorated prep career by beating out his teammate, Justin Lucas, to finish in first place with a time of 19:30.2. He also earned the Region IV Skimeister title after a strong relay performance.

“It’s definitely a big confidence booster heading into state in two weeks,” Power said. “I’ve been kind of sick on and off for the past month or so. It feels good to be back in it and have my body feeling good.”

Even though it was his fellow Cougar that came in second, Power admitted that his friend and third-place finisher, Hanley of West, was his toughest competition for most of the race.

“He was really pushing me throughout this race,” he said. “Just chasing him down the whole first half and trying to stay with him the second half was really helpful. It’s always nice to be able to work with someone so you don’t feel so alone.”

As the reigning state champion in both of this weekend’s events, he feels the pressure to perform at his best at all times.

“I definitely feel like there’s a target on my back,” Power said.

Since Service has won the state title three years running, he would love to make it four straight to close out his high school career.

“My motivation is racing for the team and getting the team as good of a score as possible,” Power said.

Even though he considers himself more of a “classic specialist,” he enjoys the skate races as well.

“I’m looking forward to the relay, those are always so fun,” Power said.

Dimond senior Emily Erickson not only finished first in the girl’s classic race, but it marked her first time winning a skiing competition at the high school level.

“Sometimes I’m up here in the top 10 but I’ve never actually gotten No. 1 so it’s really cool to have that chance before I graduate,” Erickson said.

Her time of 23:40.9 bested Marley Ireland of Bettye Davis East, who finished in second with a time of 23:59.1.

“She started right ahead of me but I caught up to her and we just kind of skied the rest and we were battling it out and at the finish she got a good line and I kept behind her,” Erickson said. “It was really nice to have her to pace off of.”

By virtue of her strong relay performance where she was sixth-fastest, Ireland earned the Skimeister title.

As a junior, Erickson came in seventh in the classic race at last year’s state championships and also believes that Friday’s result will give her a huge confidence boost heading into it this year as well.

“Every race is different because the course is different and sometimes it comes down to who has good kick and who doesn’t, different types of gear and how hilly the course is so in some ways its kind of just luck,” Erickson said.

While both skiers represented their respective schools a top the podium, it was West that came away with both team regional titles in the boys and girls in the classic.

Region IV Cross Country Skiing Meet

Friday-Saturday

At Kincaid Park

Boys team final totals

1) West 1:20:15.3 - 0:35:12.5 — 1:55:27.8

2) Service 1:20:44.8 - 0:35:33.8 — 1:56:18.6

3) South 1:28:23.6 - 0:37:01.3 — 2:05:24.9

4) Dimond 1:28:48.6 - 0:39:37.4 — 2:08:26.0

5) East 1:30:48.6 - 0:39:49.2 — 2:10:37.8

6) Chugiak 1:34:31.6 - 1:10:16.3 — 2:44:47.9

7) Eagle River 1:35:26.8 - 0:42:40.0 — 2:18:06.8

Skimeister - Aaron Power, Service - 28:10.3

Girls team final totals

1) West 1:40:23.7 - 43:47.8 — 2:24:11.5

2) East 1:42:19.0 - 46:11.5 —2:28:30.5

3) Service 1:44:49.3 - 44:40.8 — 2:29:30.1

4) Dimond 1:43:27.4 - 46:19.9 — 2:29:47.3

5) South 1:47:23.9 - 47:28.1 — 2:34:52.0

6) Chugiak 1:57:24.8 51:21.3 — 2:48:46.1

7) Eagle River 2:06:18.0 - 55:25.1 — 3:01:43.1

Skimeister: Marley Ireland, East - 34:57.3

Friday’s results

Boys A teams

1) West 1:20:15.3,

2) Service 1:20:44.8,

3) South 1:28:23.6,

4) Dimond 1:28:48.6,

5) East 1:30:48.6,

6) Chugiak 1:34:31.6,

7) Eagle River 1:35:26.8,

Boys individual, 7.3K

1) Aaron Power, Service, 19:30.2;

2) Justin Lucas, Service, 19:47.8;

3) Blake Hanley, West, 19:51.7;

4) Murphy Kimball, West, 19:55.8;

5) Ethan Howe, East, 20:11.4;

6) Hatcher Menkens, West, 20:12.0;

7) Liam Chisholm, West, 20:15.8;

8) Cole Flowers, West, 20:25.1;

9) Elias Soule, Service, 20:34.5;

10) Ethan Eski, West, 20:46.2;

11) Vebjorn Flagstad, South, 20:51.7;

12) Oskar Flora, Service, 20:52.3;

13) Skyler Amy, Service, 21:07.5;

14) Oliver Wright, West, 21:31.2;

15) Nolan Miller, South, 21:41.1;

16) Paul Hlasny, Service, 21:45.7;

17) Noa Kam-Magruder, Dimond, 21:53.0;

18) Owen Saltzman, Dimond, 21:55.6;

19) Jacob Johnson, Dimond, 22:02.4;

20) Elias Oswald, Service, 22:16.8;

21) Eli Lammers, Chugiak, 22:26.5;

22) Miles Numme-Worrell, East, 22:35.0;

23) Walker Battreall, East, 22:40.9;

24) Dean Toole, Eagle River, 22:41.9;

25) Kyle Fischer, South, 22:53.3;

26) Grayson Stanek-Alward, South, 22:57.5;

27) Alexander Glover, Dimond, 22:57.6;

28) Paul Cvancara, Dimond, 23:35.3;

29) Jack Molloy, Eagle River, 23:37.5;

30) Erik Jones, South, 23:39.3;

31) Rylan Allwright, Chugiak, 23:47.6;

32) Samuel Cryder, Chugiak, 23:56.4;

33) Scott Johnson, South, 24:01.9;

34) Owen Harth, South, 24:20.7;

35) Ryan Urbanus, Chugiak, 24:21.1;

36) Keenan Vedros, Eagle River, 24:23.1;

37) Henry Michener, Eagle River, 24:44.3;

38) Nathan Vanderlugt, Eagle River, 24:55.2;

39) Kohen Galloway, Chugiak, 25:03.5;

40) Gareth LeCrone, East, 25:21.3;

41) Owen Lovejoy, East, 25:27.1;

42) Bryce Herda, East, 25:28.2;

43) Ben Vanderlugt, Eagle River, 25:44.4;

44) Liam Cleary, East, 25:52.4;

45) Drake McGinley, Dimond, 26:02.9;

46) Nolan Cok, Chugiak, 26:04.4;

47) Matthew Yadao, Eagle River, 26:53.5;

Girls A team

1) West 1:40:23.7,

2) East 1:42:19.0,

3) Dimond 1:43:27.4,

4) Service 1:44:49.3,

5) South 1:47:23.9,

6) Chugiak 1:57:24.8,

7) Eagle River 2:06:18.0,

Girls individual, 7.3K

1) Emily Erickson, Dimond, 23:40.9;

2) Marley Ireland, East, 23:59.1;

3) Olivia Soderstrom, Service, 24:28.3;

4) Samantha Legate, West, 24:32.4;

5) Zoe Rodgers, West, 24:58.7;

6) Rosie Conway, East, 25:04.1;

7) Amaeli Kam-Magruder, Dimond, 25:06.3;

8) Meredith Schwartz, Service, 25:18.3;

9) Piper Sears, West, 25:23.2;

10) Brynn Rathert, East, 25:28.4;

11) Mia Stiassny, South, 25:29.0;

12) Merridy Littell, West, 25:29.4;

13) Anna Halsey, Dimond, 25:43.9;

14) Berit Meyers, West, 25:47.3;

15) Maya Tirpack, South, 25:52.3;

16) Kaliegh Amundson, Chugiak, 26:17.1;

17) Lauren Dorris, West, 26:21.1;

18) Robyn Miller, South, 26:26.9;

19) Heidi Schumacher, Service, 26:59.8;

20) Greta Bochenek, West, 27:22.7;

21) Svea Thomas, East, 27:47.4;

22) Talia Day, Service, 28:02.9;

23) Beatrix Brogan, East, 28:17.8;

24) Haley Finch, Service, 28:39.1;

25) Madelin Lowen, Dimond, 28:56.3;

26) Jillian Gavalya, Chugiak, 29:03.1;

27) Gwendolyn MacLean, Dimond, 29:04.5;

28) Abigail Howe, East, 29:26.5;

29) Maddie Sivils, East, 29:27.2;

30) Linnea Gray, Eagle River, 29:29.1;

31) Lilian Coy, South, 29:35.7;

32) Elise Matthews, South, 30:07.7;

33) Hannah Stepetin, Chugiak, 30:10.2;

34) Adele Matthews, South, 30:16.1;

35) Alana Lim, Service, 30:18.8;

36) Lauren Gaskill, Dimond, 30:27.5;

37) Ruthie Richardson, Service, 30:28.3;

38) Anita Walsh, Eagle River, 30:36.0;

39) Addison Capozzi, Chugiak, 31:54.4;

40) Tahlia Carroll, South, 32:12.2;

41) Sawa Miyauchi, Eagle River, 32:57.4;

42) Charlotte Toole, Eagle River, 33:15.5;

43) Addison Eldridge, Chugiak, 33:23.4;

44) Allison Macy, Chugiak, 35:04.9;

45) Moira Lathrop, Eagle River, 35:54.7;

46) Katie Christenson, Chugiak, 36:05.8;

47) Kylee Dietz, Eagle River, 37:49.9;

Saturday’s results

Relays

Boys

1. West 35:12; 2. Service 35:33; 3. South 37:01; 4. Dimond 39:37; 5. East 39:49; 6. Eagle River 42:16; 7. Chugiak 42:40.

Girls

1. West 43:47; 2. Service 44:40; 3. East 46:11; 4. Dimond 46:19; 5. South 47:28; 6. Chugiak 51:21; 7. Eagle River 55:25.