Juneau dominates Invite

Last weekend, the Juneau-Douglas High School cross country team opened Region V competition with a dominating performance on a flat, gentle course in Sitka.

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On Saturday, in their only home meet of the season, many Juneau runners matched or bettered their Sitka times on a difficult, hilly Treadwell Mine Trail course as the Crimson Bear boys and girls ran away with the Juneau Invitational titles.

"I was really amazed that they could run the same times as they ran last week," Crimson Bear coach Guy Thibodeau said. "These hills come at you out here. It's tough conditions. ... I expected everyone to be about 30 seconds slower (than the Sitka race) on this course."

With dozens of spectators cheering the Crimson Bears on in the intermittent rain, Juneau's Molly Krehlik opened a huge lead over the 5-kilometer course to win the girls individual title in 19 minutes, 45 seconds. Krehlik finished 42 seconds ahead of teammate Jaci Hayden, who claimed second place in 20:27. Juneau's Heidi Denton finished third in 20:37.

Anjuli Haydu of Craig finished fourth - and first among small schools - in 20:39, followed by the Crimson Bear trio of Jordan Moser (20:43), Janelle Smith (21:00) and Jordan Harvey (21:16).

In the boys race, Juneau's Tristan Knutson-Lombardo won in 17:15, followed by Crimson Bear runners Gabe Hayden in second (17:26), Wesley Dinnan in third (17:41) and Tyler Dinnan in fourth (17:50).

Kyle Mulvihill of Skagway took fifth place in 17:53 - the top small-schools finisher - followed by a pair of Sitka runners, Amadeo Linke (17:55) and George Howard (17:59). Philip Dierking of Juneau finished eighth, in 18:05, followed by teammate Chris Frank in 18:29.

The Crimson Bears won the girls team title with a perfect 15 points, followed by Ketchikan (76), Wrangell (79), Sitka (82) and Skagway (115). Juneau won the boys crown with 18 points, trailed by a strong 47-point performance from Sitka. Ketchikan took third with 104 points, followed by Skagway (126), Kake (156), Petersburg (163), Wrangell (178) and Metlakatla (182).

Krehlik said she was pleased to win - but even happier to improve on her time at the Sitka Invite.

"It was a couple seconds faster than Sitka, and this was a hillier course," she said. "And it's fun to be in Juneau."

Harvey had an exciting finish, outsprinting Sitka's Megan Lehmann to the finish down the first-base line of a Savikko Park ballfield to claim seventh place by the closest of margins.

"I picked it up at the end and (when I saw her) out of the corner of my eye I went all-out," Harvey said.

Knutson-Lombardo said his winning time was near a personal record. He said his goal was to break 17:24, which he did by nine seconds.

While the Juneau runners know every twist, turn and hill of the Treadwell course from weeks of practice, Knutson-Lombardo said the complexion changes for a meet.

"The competition is a really good challenge," he said. "It's the toughest course in Southeast, and one of the toughest in the state."

While the runners might notice a noise or the view during practice on the Treadwell Trails, Dierking said that during competition "you're just looking at the next person in front of you and thinking about them. When you're racing, you don't notice the little things as much."

Harvey said the team benefited from running in Juneau.

"It's our home course, we know it very well and we knew that our community is out here supporting us," she said. "Everyone got a good rush."

Rounding out Juneau's finishers in the girls race were Phoebe Rohrbacher (10th place, 21:25); Carly Craig (11th, 22:00); Gretchen Dierking (13th, 22:20) and Mikaela Rodriguez (16th, 22:24).

The rest of Juneau's finishers in the boys race were Tim Davin (12th, 18:39); Quincy Judson (13th, 18:45); Eric Gullefson (23rd, 19:08); Matt Fosket (24th, 19:09); William Horton (36th, 20:07); Brian Smith (38th, 20:09); Buckley Svinicki (39th, 20:17); Grant Zwingelberg (44th, 20:38); Gregory Frank (54th, 21:26); Robert Vicario (70th, 22:17) and Nathan Woodring (78th, 23:53).

The Crimson Bears will split up next weekend, with the varsity team going north to the Palmer Invitational and the junior varsity participating in the Haines Invitational.

Andrew Krueger can be reached at akrueger@juneauempire.com.

JUNEAU INVITATIONAL

Results from the Juneau Invitational cross-country event, held Saturday on a 5-kilometer course (3.1 miles) along the Treadwell Mine trails, starting and ending at Savikko Park. The top five runners for each school count toward the team total, with first place earning one point, second place two points and so on. The lowest team total wins.

Teams - 1. Juneau-Douglas, 18 points; 2. Sitka, 47; 3. Ketchikan, 104; 4. Skagway, 126; 5. Kake, 156; 6. Petersburg 163; 7. Wrangell, 178; 8. Metlakatla, 182. Incomplete teams: Haines, Craig.

Individuals - 1. Tristan Knutson-Lombardo (JD), 17 minutes, 15 seconds; 2. Gabe Hayden (JD), 17:26; 3. Wesley Dinnan (JD), 17:41; 4. Tyler Dinnan (JD), 17:50; 5. Kyle Mulvihill (Skagway), 17:53; 6. Amadeo Linke (Sitka), 17:55; 7. George Howard (Sit), 17:59; 8. Philip Dierking (JD), 18:05; 9. Chris Frank (JD), 18:29; 10. Scott Totten (Sit), 18:33; 11. Logan Wild (Sit), 18:35; 12. Tim Davin (JD), 18:39; 13. Quincy Judson (JD), 18:45; 14. Jesse Remund (Sit), 18:47; 15. Greg Wilson (Wrangell), 18:55; 16. Flint Allred (Haines), 18:56; 17. Keith Reeves (Sit), 18:58; 18. Houston Laws (Ket), 19:00; 19. Glenn Chong (Ket), 19:03; 20. Thomas Montgomery (Ket), 19:04; 21. Dan Biggers (Petersburg), 19:05; 22. Stefan Hovik (Ket), 19:07; 23. Eric Gullefson (JD), 19:08; 24. Matt Fosket (JD), 19:09; 25. Brian Taro (Ket), 19:09; 26. Zac Drillevich (Pet), 19:13; 27. Kyle Anderson (Kake), 19:21; 28. Mickey Howell (Wra), 19:22; 29. Kevin Conway (Sit), 19:22; 30. Darrick Gaube (Metlakatla), 19:27; 31. Gilmore White (Met), 19:29; 32. Kelly Huff (Hns), 19:31; 33. Jeremy Kilburn (Skg), 19:42; 34. Jordan Kasler (Skg), 19:59; 35. Lane Davis (Ket), 20:06; 36. William Horton (JD), 20:07; 37. Phillip Pierce (Craig), 20:08; 39. Buckley Svinicki (JD), 20:17; 40. John McCluskey (Skg), 20:25; 41. Martin Pate (Kake), 20:26; 42. Francois Denirud (Hns), 20:33; 43. Marcus Robecker (Ket), 20:38; 44. Grant Zwingelberg (JD), 20:38; 45. Shane Padgett (Kake), 20:42; 46. Richard Stein (Sit), 20:48; 47. Larry Jackson (Kake), 20:49; 48. Timothy Demmert (Kake), 20:50; 49. Isaac Reynolds (Sit), 21:07; 50. Lucas Hegen (Skg), 21:11; 51. Aaron Billy (Kake), 21:12; 52. Spenser Beckman (Craig), 21:25; 53. Bryan Westfall (Craig), 21:26; 54. Gregory Frank (JD), 21:26; 55. Alan Cushing (Pet), 21:28; 56. Cyrus Mills (Kake), 21:29; 57. Tyler Essen (Hns), 21:33; 58. Chris Owens (Pet), 21:38; 59. Earl Ginter (Ket), 21:44; 60. Arlan McCluskey (Skg), 21:44; 61. Roy Nathan (Met), 21:45; 62. Tyler Woodell (Ket), 21:46; 63. Nathan Moran (Met), 21:46; 64. Layte Hudson (Met), 21:48; 65. Fred Yip (Pet), 22:09; 66. Justin Odom (Wra), 22:12; 67. Sean Maynard (Ket), 22:13; 68. Calin Buness (Wra), 22:15; 69. Max Jewell (Skg), 22:15; 70. Robert Vicario (JD), 22:17; 71. Chris Bryant (Met), 22:32; 72. Matt Tally (Sit), 22:37; 73. Matthew Russell (Met), 22:47; 74. Mark Peterman (Wra), 22:49; 75. Jim Jurxzak (Sit), 22:49; 76. Kyle Ellis (Skg), 22:56; 77. Sean Thrush (Ket), 23:09; 78. Nathan Woodring (JD), 23:53; 79. Will Newlin (Ket), 23:54; 80. David Graham (Ket), 23:56; 81. Chris Nathan (Met), 23:56; 82. Tony Marriott (Wra), 24:20; 83. Derek Knudson (Kake), 24:55; 84. Bryan Hayward (Met), 25:10; 85. Aaron Brendible (Met), 25:20; 86. Geoffrey Waterman (Craig), 25:31; 87. Creighton Boyd (Met), 27:42; 88. Matthew Ashenfelter (Kake), 31:11; 89. David Fawcett (Met), 38:00; 90. Garen Blandov (Met), 42:22.

GIRLS

Teams - 1. Juneau-Douglas, 15; 2. Ketchikan, 76; 3. Wrangell, 79; 4. Sitka, 82; 5. Skagway, 115. Incomplete teams: Kake, Petersburg, Craig, Haines, Metlakatla.

Individuals - 1. Molly Krehlik (JD), 19:45; 2. Jaci Hayden (JD), 20:27; 3. Heidi Denton (JD), 20:37; 4. Anjuli Haydu (Craig), 20:39; 5. Jordan Moser (JD), 20:43; 6. Janelle Smith (JD), 21:00; 7. Jordan Harvey (JD), 21:16; 8. Megan Lehmann (Sit), 21:16; 9. Erin Nugent (Ket), 21:19; 10. Phoebe Rohrbacher (JD), 21:25; 11. Carly Craig (JD), 22:00; 12. Chrissy Morris (Kake), 22:08; 13. Gretchen Dierking (JD), 22:20; 14. Amanda Hammermeister (Ket), 22:21; 15. Emily Haydu (Craig), 22:22; 16. Mikaela Rodriguez (JD), 22:24; 17. Laurie Brown (Wra), 22:23; 18. Autumn Streuli (Pet), 22:52; 19. Anne Karvinen (Pet), 22:55; 20. Stefanie Claus (Craig), 23:17; 21. Misty Leccese (Sit), 23:40; 22. Kristy Brown (Wra), 23:47; 23. Katarina Raitta (Sit), 24:10; 24. Brook Williams (Wra), 24:23; 25. Candi Ketterman (Skg), 24:26; 26. Anne Hansen (Hns), 24:41; 27. Allison Neterer (Ket), 25:28; 28. K.C. Greenup (Ket), 24:55; 29. Tasha Peterman (Wra), 24:59; 30. Megan Gregory (Kake), 25:09; 31. Clea Will (Sit), 25:10; 32. Lauren Mackie (Craig), 25:11; 33. Margaret Hunter (Pet), 25:18; 34. Savannah Ames (Skg), 25:24; 35. Jennifer McKay (Pet), 25:25; 36. Sarah Helgeson (Wra), 25:29; 37. Leah Moore (Skg), 25:37; 38. Tiffanie Potter (Skg), 25:43; 39. Kamille Laws (Ket), 25:52; 40. Samantha Clark-Smith (Ket), 26:31; 41. Juliet Agne (Sit), 26:48; 42. Nicola Trainor (Sit), 27:04; 43. Kirsten Padgett (Sit), 27:11; 44. Elizabeth Harpold (Ket), 27:13; 45. Sarah Brandt-Erichsen (Ket), 27:39; 46. Danann Blandov (Met), 27:48; 47. Natalia Dyakanoff (Ket), 27:56; 48. Desiree Boswell, 28:20; 49. Samantha Cox (Sit), 30:11; 50. Madeline Nyhagen (Skg), 31:10; 51. Michelle Harris (Skg), 31:56; 52. Falen Mills (Kake), 32:16; 53. Tessa Cavanaugh (Kake), 34:58.