Thunder Mountain High School senior Naomi Welling showed she was more than the athlete that sprints, hurdles and jumps to state track championships, placing fourth in Saturday’s 4A girls state cross country championship on the Bartlett High School trails in Anchorage.
Welling ran the 5k course in a time of 19 minutes, 30 seconds, which came out to a 6:17 pace per mile.
“I knew that I put in the training and I had a lot of support from my coaches and my family,” Welling said. “I was just ready to go out and see what I could do.”
That “to do” list included challenging the states fastest girls harriers out of the gate.
“I started out a little too fast so I was neck and neck with the winner for the first mile and then they passed me,” Welling said. “I got a little tired and I settled into my own pace. They are just phenomenal runners.”
Welling kept the first two runners in sight the first two miles but then just noticed the third place finisher the rest of the way.
“I think the course has a lot higher difficulty than any of the ones we have raced throughout the season,” Welling said. “You kind of just have to go into it knowing that it is going to be tough. A lot more hills.”
When Welling did cross the finish line, her first thought was not relief or celebration, but determination.
“After cross country I kind of just get excited for track,” Welling said. “When I actually cross the line I was, ‘All right, I am ready for track season.’ Cross country is my mental toughness training.”
West Anchorage’s Molly Gellert won the championship in 18:58 with a average pace of 6:06, Kenai’s Riana Boonstra was second in (19:04), South’s Morgan Lash finished third (19:15), Kenai’s Jaycie Calvert fifth (19:35), Kenai’s Ithaca Bergholtz sixth (19:37), Colony’s Jill Bowker seventh (19:47), West Valley’s Jenna Difolco eighth (19:54), Bartlett’s Carolynn Pype ninth (19:58) and Palmer’s Ruby Woodings rounded out the top 10 (20:20).
“Naomi and Erin (Wallace) were first and second through the first 2K,” TMHS coach Scott May said. “Both were feeling rested and great. They went out based on how they felt, which is good. In hindsight, they might have distributed a little differently. I am proud of them for trying and experimenting and you really need to have these kinds of races in order to really learn how to run. Our third girl (Dunya Hermann) had the race of her life, finishing ahead of competitors that she usually follows and achieving a lifetime personal best time of 22:08. I am proud of our runners this weekend.”
JDHS senior Alize Arthur led southeast 4A runners with a time of 17 minutes for 25th place and a pace of 5:29 per mile.
Chugiak’s Ty Jordan won the 4A boys title in 15:48 with a pace of 5:06. Service’s Gus Schumacher was second (15:52), West’s Finn Walker third (16:10), Kodiak’s Michael Parnell fourth (16:24), Kodiak’s Keith Osowski fifth (16:25), South’s Derek Steele sixth (16:29), Wasilla’s Quincy Fuller seventh (16:34), Soldotna’s Aaron Swedberg eighth (16:35), South’s Hamish Wolfe ninth (16:37) and Service’s Riley Howard 10th (16:39).
The Sitka boys used a strong team performance to win the 1A/2A/3A state title as Colin Baciocco placed fourth (16:48), David Wilcox sixth (16:51), Joseph Pate 12th (17:25), Jordan Zellhuber 15th (17:30), Triston Rosas 23rd (17:49), Neil Little 27th (18:06) and Connor Buxton 36th (18:16).
Wrangell’s Matthew Gerald broke into the top rankings with an eighth place finish of 17:16.
Southeast 4A girl finishers included Ketchikan’s Erika Rodanhisler 16th (20:15, TMHS’ Erin Wallace 22nd (20:33), JDHS’ Katline Barrows 56th (21:32), KTN’s Sarah Cool 59th (21:38), KTN’s Elizabeth Knight 65th (21:58), TMHS’ Dunya Hermann 68th (22:08), JDHS’ Malia Miller 69th (22:18), JDHS’ Maddy Handley 70th (22:18), JDHS’ Kyra Barrows 71st (22:44), JDHS’ Gillian Smith 72nd (23:11), JDHS’ Nicole Mannix 77th (23:54) and JDHS’ Toma Kimlinger 79th (24:44).
Southeast 4A boy finishers included JDHS’ Ethan Goebel 41st (17:24), JDHS’ Arne Ellefson-Carnes 46th (17:29), KTN’s Sylvan Blankenship 49th (17:34), TMHS’ Jonah Penrose 50th (17:36), TMHS’ Obadiah Dawson 57th (17:50), KTN’s Trent Rodanhisler 62nd (18:07), TMHS’ Justin Sleepy 72nd (18:21), KTN’s Leif Stephens 73rd (18:22), KTN’s Leif Svenson 74th (18:22), JDHS’ Ryan Moritz 79th (18:44), JDHS’ Tim McKenna 80th (18:50), JDHS’ Clem Taylor-Roth 81st (19:02) and JDHS’ John White 84th (19:39).
The top 10 1A/2A/3A boy runners were Galena’s Kaleb Korta 1st (16:00), Seward’s Hunter Kratz second (16:10), Galena’s Jacob Moos third (16:21), Sitka’s Colin Baciocco fourth (16:48), Unalaska’s Ross Enlow fifth (16:50, 5:26), Sitka’s David Wilcox sixth (16:51), Anchorage Christian’s Blake Bennett seventh (16:56), Wrangell’s Matthew Gerald eighth (17:16), Homer’s Jordan Beachy ninth (17:18) and Grace Christian’s Cameron Sheldon 10th (17:19).
The top 10 1A/2A/3A girl runners were Glennallen’s Briahna Gerlach first (19:04), ACS’ Elizabeth Balsan second (19:38), Homer’s Megan Pitzman third (19:40), Seward’s Ruby Lindquist fourth (19:49), Barrow’s Alaina Wolgemuth fifth (20:11), Barrow’s Melissa Nicely sixth (20:35), Homer’s Alex Moseley seventh (20:40), Homer’s Audrey Rosencrans eighth (20:41), Grace Christian’s Maddy Morgan ninth (20:47) and Anchorage Christian’s Tanner Ealum 10th (20:49). Petersburg’s Kayleigh Eddy was the top small school southeast finisher, crossing the line in 26th place (22:10).
