The inaugural Douglas Island Mini-Meet on Saturday offered runners and spectators a small sampling of what to expect in five weeks when the Region V cross country meet comes to Juneau.
The mini-meet featured just four teams on the Treadwell Historic Mine Trails, but still brought out the best in Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain, Sitka and Skagway. JDHS senior Arne Ellefson-Carnes ran a winning (and personal best) time of 16 minutes, 26 seconds, while JDHS junior Sadie Tuckwood clocked an 18:40 in the 5-kilometer event.
JDHS was by far the deepest team at the meet with over 40 runners, which included almost 20 freshmen, some of whom already showed they deserve a spot on varsity.
“The girls just brought it, that was so fun to see, to see Trinity (Jackson) and McKenna (McNutt) step into our very strong already varsity,” JDHS co-coach Merry Ellefson said.
TMHS fielded 12 runners and were led by junior Tucker Kelly and Hannah Deer. TMHS coach Sandi Pahlke said her team is similarly deep in underclassmen and the meet helped some get a feel for high school meets.
“It gives them a little more experience on their home course on a non-threatening way. It’s run like a meet so it’s that real experience versus when we come here to run the course,” Pahlke said.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
Juneau-Douglas’ McKenna McNutt, left, and Sosan Monsef run in the Douglas Island Mini-Meet on the Treadwell Mine Historic Trails on Saturday. (Nolin Ainsworth | Juneau Empire)
