Crimson Bear boys win Dimond Invite
Juneau girls finish second in new meet
The defending state champion Juneau-Douglas High School boys cross-country running team established itself as the team to beat again this year as the Crimson Bears claimed the title in the new Dimond Invitational meet held Saturday at Anchorage's Kincaid Park.
The Crimson Bear girls didn't fare too poorly, either, as they finished second behind East Anchorage in their race.
"Two big trophies are coming home with us," Juneau co-coach Merry Ellefson said as the team prepared to take a late Saturday afternoon drive to Soldotna to check out the state meet course at Skyview High School's Tsalteshi Trails. "These were great results, both for the individuals and the whole team."
The Juneau boys scored 45 points, while runner-up Dimond took second with 81 and West Anchorage was third with 114 points in the 10-team field.
In the girls race, which was rescored twice after coaches received results and teams headed home, East scored 39 points, followed by Juneau with 64 and Service with 102 points.
In the boys race, senior Tristan Knutson-Lombardo led the Crimson Bears with a third-place finish with a time of 16 minutes, 18 seconds that ranks among the all-time top-20 high school times recorded for the 5-kilometer course. Jesse Cherry of Chugiak won the boys in race in 15:55, while Colony's Peter Doner took second place in 16:17.
Junior Tyler Dinnan took fifth place in 16:37, twin brother Wesley Dinnan was seventh in 17:03, and sophomore Ray Heubschen finished ninth in 17:13 to give Juneau four runners in the top 10. Rounding out the results for Juneau were Greg Frank in 22nd place (17:37), Andrew Flansaas in 36th place (18:04) and Nils Domke in 38th (18:15).
"We were just thrilled," Knutson-Lombardo said. "A lot of us ran our best races. It was a great team effort. It was great to see a guy like Ray in the top 10 to show our team has more of a future."
As for finishing just one second behind Doner, "I wish I'd made my move earlier. He won today," Knutson-Lombardo said.
In the girls race, freshman Kirsten Jorgensen led the Crimson Bears by finishing seventh in 20:21. Minato Teraoka, a Japanese exchange student at East, won the race in 19:42 and Service's Kendra Kennedy took second place in 19:46.
"Yeah, I had no idea how I'd do," Jorgensen said when asked if she was surprised by how well she did. "I just paced off the girls I knew. We all went out really well as a team. It was great running with the girls on your own team.
"Coming into the season, I didn't even think I'd make varsity."
Senior Megan Bush was the second Juneau girl, finishing 10th in 20:23. Freshman Katie Krehlik was 13th (20:36), Jordan Harvey was 14th (20:42), Jordan Moser was 20th (21:06) and Isabel Bush was 22nd (21:08). The Crimson Bears were missing usual top runner Lexi Garvey this week and only had six runners in the varsity race.
"We pulled it off as a team," Jorgensen said, adding that Garvey will rejoin the team for future meets. "Even though running is thought of as an individual sport, we showed how much of a team sport it is."
The Juneau junior varsity team competed in a meet in Haines on Friday, but results weren't available. The Crimson Bears head to Petersburg for a meet on Saturday, Sept. 18, to close out the regular season. Juneau will host the Southeast Championships on Sept. 25.
DIMOND INVITATIONAL
Results from the Dimond Invitational cross-country running meet held Saturday at Anchorage's Kincaid Park. The course was 5 kilometers (3.1 miles).
Team standings - 1. Juneau-Douglas, 45 points; 2. Dimond, 81; 3. West Anchorage, 114; 4. Chugiak, 121; 5. East Anchorage, 122; 6. South Anchorage, 151; 7. Colony, 164 (tie broken by team's best sixth-place runner); 8. Seward, 164; 9. Lathrop, 174; 10. Service, 273.
Top 5 individuals - 1. Jesse Cherry, Chugiak, 15 minutes, 55 seconds; 2. Peter Doner, Colony, 16:17; 3. Tristan Knutson-Lombardo, Juneau-Douglas, 16:18; 4. Matt Adams, Seward, 16:25; 5. Tyler Dinnan, Juneau-Douglas, 16:37. Other Juneau finishers: 7. Wesley Dinnan, 17:03; 9. Ray Heubschen, 17:13; 22. Greg Frank, 17:37; 36. Andrew Flansaas, 18:04; 38. Nils Domke, 18:15.
GIRLS
Team standings - 1. East Anchorage, 39 points; 2. Juneau-Douglas, 64; 3. Service, 102; 4. West Anchorage, 110; 5. Dimond, 118; 6. South Anchorage, 132; 7. Chugiak, 171; 8. Lathrop, 203; 9. Colony, 236; 10. Seward, 251.
Top 5 individuals - 1. Minato Teraoka, East Anchorage, 19:42; 2. Kendra Kennedy, Service, 19:46; 3. Jackie Holt, Service, 19:55; 4. Chelsea Holmes, Dimond, 20:02; 5. Shoshana Keegan, West Anchorage, 20:05. Juneau finishers: 7. Kirsten Jorgensen, 20:21; 10. Megan Bush, 20:23; 13. Katie Krehlik, 20:36; 14. Jordan Harvey, 20:42; 20. Jordan Moser, 21:06; 22. Isabel Bush, 21:08.