The Grace Christian girls and boys cross-country teams swept the Colony Invitational on Saturday in the Matanuska-Susitna valleys.

The Grace girls won with 40 points, while Homer was third with 79 and Soldotna was fifth with 91. The Grace boys won with 34 points, while Homer was fifth with 117 points and Soldotna was seventh with 128 points.

Palmer’s Katey Houser won the girls varsity race at 19 minutes, 47 seconds. Soldotna’s Jordan Strausbaugh led the peninsula by taking fourth at 20:56.

Also for the Stars, Jordan Ruffner was 17th in 22:38, Kaytlin McAnelly was 22nd in 23:08; Kaidence Shaeffer was 32nd in 24:15, Sonia Montague was 33rd in 24:17, Megan Whittom was 36th in 24:24 and Ashley Dalhman was 43rd in 26:38.

For Homer, Frida Renner was eighth at 21:48, Eryn Field was 16th at 22:36, Elena Badajos was 19th at 22:47, Daisy Walker was 25th at 23:35, Adelyn McCorison was 26th at 23:41, Bea McDonough was 27th at 23:41 and Mariah McGuire was 42nd at 25:57.

Grace’s David Sliwinski ran 16:39 to take the boys race. Homer’s Seamus McDonough led the peninsula with eighth at 17:16. Also for Homer, Lance Seneff was 20th in 18:27, Adams Veldstra was 22nd in 18:37, Jordy Goodrich was 34th in 19:21, Brock Barth was 40th in 20:03, Garrett Briscoe was 48th in 20:33 and Jonah Mershon was 49th in 20:35.

For Soldotna, Nathanael Johnson was 18th in 18:03, Jonathan Gordon was 23rd in 18:43, Quinn Cox was 28th in 19:07, Jacob Strausbaugh was 31st in 19:12, Levi Mickelson was 35th in 19:30, Avery Willets was 37th in 19:38 and Tusstin Keller was 51st in 21:25.

Justin Trail also finished 26th in the boys varsity race with a time of 18:52.

Seamus McDonough sprints toward the finish during the Colony Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, at Colony High School. McDonough placed eighth. (Photo by Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman)