Homer, Kodiak split team titles at Nikiski Class Races

The Kodiak and Homer cross-country teams split the team titles at the Nikiski Class Races on Monday at Nikiski High School.

The Mariners won the freshmen-sophomore boys and junior-senior girls crowns. Kodiak made off with the junior-senior boys and freshmen-sophomore girls championships.

Kodiak also won two of the individual titles, with senior Keith Osowski taking the junior-senior boys race and senior Honey Rose Macatuno nabbing the junior-senior girls race.

Homer sophomore Dexter Lowe won the freshmen-sophomore boys race, while Kenai Central sophomore Jaycie Calvert crossed the line first in the freshmen-sophomore girls race.

The Homer girls have two-straight Class 1-2-3A state titles to defend, while the Homer boys are looking for a 1-2-3A state title after a runner-up finish to Sitka last season.

The Nikiski course, with its unrelenting ups and downs, typically tells who has done summer training and who hasn’t, and the Mariners’ summer miles showed.

Lowe, who covered five kilometers in 19 minutes, 26 seconds, to top teammate and runner-up Luca Fasulo by 13 seconds, was Homer’s seventh runner last year.

“We’ve been training all summer,” Lowe said. “We’ve been running six days a week and getting our miles in.”

Soldotna sophomore Jeremy Kupferschmid led for about the first half of the race before Lowe and Fasulo took over.

“Coach told us to wait about 2K,” Lowe said. “Don’t go out and lead. Just reel them in and then keep going.”

The Homer boys also got a second from Jacob Davis and a fourth from Jared Brant in the junior-senior race.

The Mariners girls put five runners in the top 10 en route to the junior-senior team title — Alex Moseley in second, Megan Pitzman in fourth, Lauren Evarts in fifth, Audrey Rosencrans in ninth and Haley Knott in 10th.

Moseley, a junior, defeated Pitzman, a senior who was third at Class 1-2-3A state last season, for the first time. Thanks to a summer of training, Moseley said she is better at the beginning of this season than at the end of last season.

“I’ve had a mental block in the past, but this year I think there will be more competition between us,” Moseley said of Pitzman.

Katie Davis also picked up a runner-up finish for the Mariners in the freshmen-sophomore race.

For Kodiak, Osowski, a senior, was dominant in topping Davis by 46 seconds. Osowski also won the Nikiski Class Races as a sophomore before skipping the event last year.

“I was having flashbacks to all the hills,” he said. “They just keep coming.

“But hills are my speciality, so I just kept surging when I got to the top.”

Osowski was coming off a runner-up finish at the Colony Invitational on Saturday, but that was because he took a wrong turn and had to he shouted back on the course by eventual winner Hunter Kratz of Seward.

Osowski put in regular weeks of 55 to 60 miles, and even did 90 miles at a camp, in hopes of becoming the latest state champ from Kodiak. He also would like to help the Kodiak boys win regions for the 15th-straight year and claim an individual region title for the ninth-straight year. That region individual title would follow in the footsteps of his brother, James.

Kodiak is starting its season with a 10-day trip to Southcentral where the Bears did the Colony Invite, Nikiski Class Races and will do the Tsalteshi Invitational on Saturday.

They are doing plenty of running and biking in between, but that didn’t stop Osowski or Macatuno.

Macatuno was actually in eighth place early in the race, but made major moves on two big hills to take control and win in 22:10, while Moseley was next at 22:30.

The Kodiak senior is looking to make a big leap up the standings after not qualifying for state as a junior.

“I’ve been training all summer,” she said. “I just hope to be up there with all these girls for my senior year.”

While many of the top runners for the Kenai Central girls, who won Class 4A state last year, were in the community race, the Kardinals did make a statement in the freshmen-sophomore girls race.

Calvert won at 22:21, while Homer’s Davis was second at 23:32 and Kenai sophomore Brooke Satathite was third at 23:33.

“We’re continuing to work really, really hard,” Calvert said of the girls squad. “We’re going to keep doing that and see where it takes us.”

Addison Gibson also finished sixth in the junior-senior race for Kenai.

In addition to Kupferschmid, SoHi also got a fifth from Josh Shuler in the junior-senior race and a fourth from Lance Chilton in the freshmen-sophomore race.

Nikiski was led by Gavin Wallis at 22nd in the junior-senior race.

Nikiski Class Races

Monday at Nikiski

Five kilometers

BOYS

Junior-senior team title: Kodiak.

Junior-senior individuals: 1. Keith Osowski, Kod, 17 minutes, 15 seconds; 2. Jacob Davis, Hom, 18:01; 3. Jack Hannah, Kod, 18:08; 4. Jared Brant, Hom, 18:31; 5. Josh Shuler, Sol, 18:36; 6. Braden Olsen, Ken, 18:38; 7. Charlie Menke, Hom, 19:04; 8. Karl Danielson, Ken, 19:04; 9. Anthony Maghupoy, Kod, 19:12; 10. Brenden Thompson, Kod, 19:16; 11. John-Mark Pothast, Sol, 19:38; 12. Gabe Nummer, Kod, 20:00; 13. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 20:31; 14. Bechler Metcalf, Sol, 20:36; 15. Camrin Yturbe, Kod, 20:43; 16. Sean Verg-in, Sol, 21:26; 17. Cory Thompson, Kod, 22:32; 18. Jaycob Goff, Ken, 22:35; 19. Eli Griffin, Kod, 23:24; 20. Cy Dull, Ken, 23:29; 21. Brian Dusek, Sol, 23:41; 22. Gavin Wallis, Nik, 24:11; 23. Aaron McCollum, Nik, 24:51; 24. Ben Wilson, Sol, 26:44; 25. Henry Heft, Nik, 28:21; 26. Peter Hilbish, Sol, 28:36.

Freshmen-sophomore team title: Homer.

Freshmen-sophomore individuals: 1. Dexter Lowe, Hom, 19:26; 2. Luca Fasulo, Hom, 19:39; 3. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Sol, 19:45; 4. Lance Chilton, Sol, 19:56; 5. Seth Burnett, Kod, 20:09; 6. Michael Bersin, Kod, 20:19; 7. Riley Birbilas, Kod, 20:42; 8. Bradley Walters, Sol, 20:52; 9. Rafael Bitanga, Kod, 21:16; 10. Caleb Rauch, Hom, 21:18; 11. Paul Winegeart, Kod, 21:27; 12. Bill Rich, Hom, 21:53; 13. Rice Miller, Kod, 22:03; 14. Corbin Mattingly, Hom, 22:22; 15. Chance Reynolds, Sol, 22:27; 16. Youji Seto, Kod, 22:38; 17. Alden Bookey, Ken, 23:42; 18. Ethan Anderson, Hom, 23:42; 19. Camron Presley, Sol, 24:20; 20. Mose Hayes, Hom, 25:28; 21. Andy Super, Hom, 25:49; 22. Josiah Overbeek, Kod, 25:54; 23. Bradley Mitchell, Kod, 25:57; 24. Tim Cashman, Sol, 26:13; 25. Brock Kant, Sol, 26:39; 26. Bryan McCollum, Nik, 27:57; 27. Travis Coffee, Hom, 27:58; 28. Kyler Pritchett, Sol, 28:07; 29. Cole Scott, Kod, 30:14; 30. Matthew Wald, Kod, 30:31; 31. Rio Shemet Pitcher, Hom, 30:32; 32. Elbren Montoya, Kod, 30:32; 33. Solomon Himelbloom, Kod, 31:45; 34. Caleb Griffin, Kod, 33:42.

GIRLS

Junior-senior team title: Homer.

Junior-senior individuals: 1. Honey Rose Macatuno, Kod, 22:10; 2. Alex Moseley, Hom, 22:30; 3. Arielle Himelbloom, Kod, 22:35; 4. Megan Pitzman, Hom, 22:48; 5. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 22:49; 6. Addison Gibson, Ken, 22:49; 7. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 23:04; 8. Molly Erickson, Sol, 23:43; 9. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 24:01; 10. Haley Knott, Hom, 24:19; 11. Mackenzie Lindeman, Ken, 25:37; 12. Fiona Boze, Sol, 27:36; 13. Kasey Paxton, Ken, 27:55; 14. Breanna McConnell, Ken, 27:58; 15. Dareena Doyle, Ken, 28:25; 16. Elizabeth Lisenby, Sol, 31:56; 17. Ashleigh Herr, Ken, 32:10; 18. Kallie Kenner, Sol, 38:11.

Freshmen-sophomore team title: Kodiak.

Freshmen-sophomore individuals: 1. Jaycie Calvert, Ken, 22:21; 2. Katie Davis, Hom, 23:32; 3. Brooke Satathite, Ken, 23:33; 4. Carly Glover, Kod, 24:00; 5. Maddie Christiansen, Kod, 24:22; 6. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 25:14; 7. Ali McCarron, Hom, 25:43; 8. Katie Parnell, Kod, 27:30; 9. Shalom Neff, Kod, 28:04; 10. Sophie Thomas, Sol, 29:51; 11. Brenna McCarron, Hom, 30:14; 12. Naomi Daniher, Kod, 34:22; 13. Anahi Ochoa, Hom, 37:01; 14. Victoria Giles, Sol, 37:59; 15. Kayla Sanchez, Kod, 38:28; 16. Ellie Syth, Hom, 43:16.