The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cross-country running team celebrated the end of their season with a student-organized trip to the Nike Hole In The Wall XC Invitational on Saturday at Lakewood High School in Washington.

“Each year juniors and seniors like to find a meet post-season to run at and find some cross-country competition out of state,” JDHS co-coach Abby Jahn said. “We brought 20 kids with us who were interested in checking out the field outside of Alaska and wanting to strive for a personal record. Families and athletes paid their own way for this trip. In the future we could look at potential fundraising opportunities but had a short amount of time to plan for this trip. The kids ran awesome, and we had a blast. It was great team bonding and an incredible cap to many of the seniors’ high school cross-country careers.”

Over 130 high school teams participated among 14 races. Entrants had to have qualifying times for the race entered. The 5K races included Freshmen/Sophomore, JV bronze, silver and gold; Varsity bronze, silver and gold; and Elite.

Alaska had high school team representation from JDHS, Colony, Eagle River, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Sitka and West Anchorage. California had one team, Montana one, Wyoming one, Idaho five, Oregon six, British Columbia nine, and the remainder ran for schools from Washington state.

“It was fun and pretty hot, which was a bit of an obstacle,” JDHS senior Ida Meyer said. “But it was rewarding to be able to experience a race in conditions we are not used to.”

Meyer ran in the Women’s Elite among 147 entrants. Athletes had to average under 19 minutes 45 seconds to qualify. Ballard High School junior Cassidy Armstrong won in 16:43. Colony senior Ella Hopkins placed 23rd in 18:41 and Meyer placed 39th in 19:00.

“The meet was ginormous with many different teams and a huge field of runners to compete against,” Meyer said. “Overall, it was a unique experience and our coach Abby did an amazing job coordinating it along with some of my teammates.”

Seniors Sage Janes, Ferguson Wheeler, Nick Iverson and Owen Woodruff, junior Elias Schane, and sophomores Logan Fellman and Erik Thompson ran in the Men’s Varsity Gold among 314 entrants. Qualifying time averages were 16:30 to 17:59. JDHS placed seventh among 44 teams in this race.

Glacier Peak sophomore Blake Roberts won in 15:37, Sitka senior Connor Hitchcock placed 11th in 16:05, Thompson 19th in 16:15, Iverson 50th in 16:46, Woodruff 72nd in 16:59, S. Janes 81st in 17:06, Sitka senior Trey Demmert 100th in 17:14, Wheeler 135th in 17:27, Ketchikan junior Carter Phillips 161st in 17:39, Fellman 187th in 17:48, Kodiak senior Miles Grimes 225th in 18:05, and Schane 243rd in 18:15.

“A lot of pushing and shoving but we made it through,” Thompson said.

Seniors Finley Hightower, Corder Janes and Finn Lamb ran in the Men’s Varsity Silver among 247 entrants. Qualifying times were 18:00 to 19:29.

Bellingham sophomore Baynes Machinski won in 16:00, West Anchorage senior Marcus Walsted placed 11th in 16:51, C. Janes 55th in 17:56, Hightower 60th in 17:59, Lamb 71st in 18:04, West sophomore Louis Dugal 117th in 18:32, Eagle River junior Simon Van Arsdale 209th in 19:35 and West senior Henry Chmielowski 225th in 19:59.

“Yeah, I’d say the course was a lot easier than ones in Alaska,” C. Janes said. “It was really hot which made it really hard but the competition was really good which carried us into some good times. It was really cool to watch the elite races and the atmosphere was great.”

Added Hightower, “The course was great, but the temperature wasn’t. It was like there was an oven open right in front of me the whole time.”

Senior Talia Aparezuk-Schlosser, juniors Della Mearig, Siena Farr and Lua Mangaccat, and sophomore Kaia Mangaccat ran in the Women’s Varsity Gold among 136 entrants. Qualifying average was 19:45 to 20:59.

Chief Sealth junior Federica Dilley won in 18:45, K. Mangaccat placed 57th in 20:40, Farr 93rd in 21:17, Mearig 103rd in 21:37, L. Mangaccat 106th in 21:44 and Aparezuk-Schlosser 129th in 22:35.

“It was super cool, definitely one of the most memorable races I’ve ever run in,” said senior Bailey Roguska. “It was amazing to run with people from so many different states and to connect with people from Anchorage just because we’re all from Alaska. It was also super cool to have that much energy surround race day since a meet with 3,000 runners is unheard of in Alaska.”

Roguska and classmate Acey Wall and juniors Grace Gazdig and Zoe Lessard ran in the Women’s JV Silver among 203 entrants. Qualifying averages were 24:00 to 25:29.

Corvallis junior Lillie Epps won in 21:09, Ketchikan sophomore Sarah Kleeman placed 10th in 22:23, Wall 108th in 24:52, Gazdig 148th in 25:45, Roguska 154th in 26:04 and Lessard 161st in 26:23.

“I was definitely intimidated at first,” Wall said. “Especially when we got on the line with over 200 runners, but everyone was so friendly. It was so fun to build community with all the states we don’t normally get to compete with.”

Coach Jahn noted that most of the JDHS cross-country athletes are resting or transitioning to other sports such as skiing, basketball, dancing or pep band.

“I think you’ll see a few running some road races this fall but my hope is that they take the next couple of weeks and give their minds and their bodies some much deserved rest and recovery,” she said.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.

Members of the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé cross-country team pose for a photo while attending the Nike Hole In The Wall XC Invitational at Lakewood High School in Washington. (Photo courtesy JDHS Cross-Country)