It was already known coming into Saturday’s Region III meet in Kodiak that a few of the nation’s fastest runners would be showing up, so it was no real surprise when seniors Allie Ostrander of Kenai Central and Levi Thomet of Kodiak broke the course records at Bear Valley Golf Course.
Ostrander pummeled the old girls record of 19:50 — held by Denali Foldager of Seward — by over two minutes, winning in a time of 17 minutes, 48 seconds. Thomet slashed 36 seconds off the old boys mark — held by Jake Parisien of Palmer, who still holds the boys 3,200-meter record in track — to win in 16:03.
Ostrander and Thomet were also both named Class 4A Athlete of the Year on the girls and boys side, respectively. The victory gave Ostrander a clean sweep in her high school career, while the win for Thomet was his third.
The Soldotna girls finished tied for first with Colony in the team standings with each squad holding 50 points, but the Knights were credited with the team title on the tiebreaker, which is decided between each school’s sixth varsity runner. The difference between the two tiebreaking runners was 34 seconds.
Junior Olivia Hutchings took second place — and also nearly broke the standing girls course record — with a time of 19:52. Teammates Dani McCormick finished fifth in 20:19, and Daisy Nelson took 10th in 20:55.
The Kenai girls finished third with 57 points to qualify both Kardinals teams to next week’s state championship meet in Anchorage, something that Kenai coach Teri Ostrander said was very special for her daughter, Allie.
“It’s her senior year and the entire girls team is going to state with her,” Teri said via phone from Kodiak. “Other than our two seniors, we have a young team, and they’re all really appreciating the moment.”
The Kenai boys qualified a team to state for the third-straight year.
Ostrander said the community support at the race was overwhelming. The meet was the first region meet there since 2005.
“It was nasty, windy, rainy, cold, and there were throngs of people out there cheering,” Ostrander said. “It’s a huge event for regions there.”
As far as the Kardinals competing with the likes of Soldotna and Colony for a state championship, Ostrander said it may be a bit out of reach, but anything is possible.
“We’ve got another week to work on that,” she said. “I’m not gonna write it off.”
With a course that was plagued by rain, it made for a deceptively difficult race, as the grass softened up and sapped additional energy from racers. It only made the resulting record times that much more impressive.
In the Class 3A meet, the Homer girls used a 1-2 finish to claim the team championship, scoring a low of 35 points, ahead of Seward and Grace Christian, while Seward took the boys team title with 38 points to runner-up Grace Christian’s 62.
Megan Pitzman won the girls race — and her second straight 3A girls athlete of the year award — with a winning time of 20:30, outsprinting her teammate Molly Mitchell by nine seconds.
“That was a close race between those two,” said Homer coach Bill Steyer. “They were running together for all except the last 400 meters. They were shoulder to shoulder.”
Steyer said the girls championship was the first one for the Homer girls in 24 years, before any runner on the team was born.
“It’s definitely a sense of accomplishment,” Steyer said. “We’ve been working toward this the last few years, and were so close last year with Grace. We had to take that in stride, and what was great was that nobody gave up and we went back to work.”
Steyer was also presented with the 3A coach of the year award.
Ruby Lindquist led the Seward girls with a third-place finish in 20:55.
Michael Todd won the 3A boys race with a time of 17:53, while Seward’s Hunter Kratz finished second in 17:57 and teammate Michael Marshall took third. Jared Brant led Homer with a fifth-place finish in 18:21.
Class 4A
Boy athlete of the year — Levi Thomet, Kodiak
Girl athlete of the year — Allie Ostrander, Kenai
Coach of the year — Rhonda Knopp, Colony
Boys
Team — 1. Kodiak 32; 2. Wasilla 70; 3. Kenai 78; 4. Palmer 110; 5. Colony 103; 6. Soldotna 118.
Individual
1. Levi Thomet, Kod, 16 minutes, 03 seconds; 2. Jonah Theisen, Ken, 16:48; 3. Jordan Theisen, Ken, 17:32; 4. Keith Osowski, Kod, 17:37; 5. Michael Parnell, Kod, 17:39; 6. Quincy Fuller, Was, 17:41; 7. Aaron Swedberg, Sol, 17:46; 8. Travis Cooper, Ken 17:49; 9. Justin Gentz, Was, 17:49; 10. Jack Hannah, Kod, 17:49; 11. Tracen Knopp, Col, 17:52; 12. Levi Fried, Kod, 17:56; 13. Richie McKinney, Kod, 17:57; 14. Colton Pulver, Was, 17:58; 15. Dakota Peterson-Thompson, Col, 17:58; 16. Hadyen Foster, Pal, 18:06; 17. Ryan Kavalok, Pal, 18:06; 18. Lane Reed, Was, 18:08; 19. Tyler Daniel, Col, 18:14; 20. Cameron Jensen, Pal, 18:18; 21. Dawson Knopp, Col, 18:19; 22. Daniel Shuler, Sol, 18:23; 23. Sam Loyer, Was, 18:27; 24. Isaak Bell, Was, 18:27; 25. Anthony Rubina, Kod, 18:30; 26. Karl Greathouse, Was, 18:44; 27. Levi Michael, Sol, 18:45; 28. Johnie Burton, Pal, 18:46; 29. Josiah Alverts, Pal, 18:56; 30. Koby Vinson, Sol, 19:17; 31. Ian Ashley, Ken, 19:18; 32. Brenner Musgrave, Sol, 19:32; 33. Shane Larrow, Sol, 19:36; 34. Karl Danielson, Ken, 19:36; 35. James Butler, Ken, 19:46; 36. Josh Shuler, Sol, 19:55; 37. Robert Haan, Col, 19:58; 38. Tristan Landry, Ken, 20:03; 39. Kamber Lucas, Col, 20:28; 40. Zach Zmuda, Col, 20:34; 41. Levi Natwick, Pal, 20:36; 42. Josh Klina, Pal, 20:38
Girls
Team — 1. Colony 50; 2. Soldotna 50; 3. Kenai 57; 4. Kodiak 99; 5. Palmer 109; 6. Wasilla 130.
Individual
1. Allie Ostrander, Ken, 17:48; 2. Olivia Hutchings, Sol, 19:52; 3. Jill Bowker, Col, 20:04; 4. Alex Mathis, Col, 20:14; 5. Dani McCormick, Sol, 20:19; 6. Riana Boonstra, Ken, 20:26; 7. Ruby Woodings, Pal, 20:40; 8. Riley Burroughs, Was, 20:45; 9. Ithaca Ann Bergholtz, Ken, 20:47; 10. Daisy Nelson, Sol, 20:55; 11. Zoe Bigley, Kod, 20:56; 12. Melissa De Guzman, Kod, 21:22; 13. Cathelyne Powers, Col, 21:23; 14. Elisabeth Bowker, Col, 21:31; 15. Sadie Fox, Sol, 21:32; 16. Coleen Geraghty, Col, 21:35; 17. Addison Gibson, Ken, 21:38; 18. Molly Erickson, Sol, 21:48; 19. M.E. Meyerhofer, Col, 22:05; 20. Halaia Barnett, Kod, 22:23; 21. Samantha Contreras, Pal, 22:27; 22. Mallory Arnold, Kod, 22:36; 23. Emily Werner, Sol, 22:39; 24. Alex Bergholtz, Ken, 22:46; 25. Jordan Burroughs, Was, 22:55; 26. Rya Berrigan, Pal, 22:58; 27. Elliese Wright, Pal, 22:58; 28. Allison Qualls, Pal, 23:04; 29. Riley McLellan, Was, 23:19; 30. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 23:22; 31. Jocelyn Kopsack, Col, 23:29; 32. Amber Pell, Was, 24:07; 33. Eva Bingham, Pal, 24:17; 34. Honey Rose Macatuno, Kod, 24:24; 35. Raen Barcelon, Kod, 24:24; 36. Kayla Munday, Was, 24:26; 37. Emily Wright, Pal, 24:32; 38. Mackenzie Lindeman, Ken, 24:44; 39. Katie Cooper, Ken, 24:47; 40. Arielle Himelbloom, Kod, 26:41.
Class 3A
Boy athlete of the year — Michael Todd, Anchorage Christian
Girl athlete of the year — Megan Pitzman, Homer
Coach of the year — Bill Steyer, Homer
Boys
Team — 1. Seward 38; 2. Grace Christian 62; 3. Homer 72; 4. Anchorage Christian 84; 5. Houston 130.
Individual
1. Michael Todd, ACS, 17:53; 2. Hunter Kratz, Sew, 17:57; 3. Michael Marshall, Sew, 18:11; 4. Andrew Spencer, Hou, 18:20; 5. Jared Brant, Hom, 18:21; 6. Trent Fritzel, Grace, 18:25; 7. Zach Hamberger, Cordova, 18:35; 8. Jordan Beachy, Hom, 18:36; 9. Daniel VanderWeide, Grace, 18:45; 10. Seth Brewi, Sew, 18:57; 11. Thomas Zweifel, Sew, 18:59; 12. Paxson Berry, Sew, 19:04; 13. Josh Miller, ACS, 19:04; 14. Nick Snow, Grace, 19:06; 15. Jacob Davis, Hom, 19:09; 16. Ethan Isaacson, Grace, 19:10; 17. Wyatt Brown, Grace, 19:21; 18. Brandon Moore, Sew, 19:23; 19. Blake Bennett, ACS, 19:24; 20. Brandon Beachy, Hom, 19:25; 21. Dylan Gillespie, Sew, 19:34; 22. Tobin Karlberg, Grace, 19:34; 23. Ben Sobek, ACS, 19:37; 24. Jaime Rios, Hom, 19:38; 25. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 19:39; 26. John Cosgrave, Grace, 19:42; 27. Jens Knutson, Hou, 19:49; 28. Timothy Stoorza, ACS, 19:54; 29. Etienne Kinne, Hou, 19:58; 30. Shaun Quinn, ACS, 20:10; 31. Luke Coverdell, ACS, 20:11; 32. Austin Brandt, Cordova, 20:17; 33. Elan Carroll, Hom, 20:49; 34. Kade Taylor, Hou, 21:01; 35. Cody Greene, Valdez, 21:53; 36. Dillon Newell, Hou, 22:02; 37. Ferdinand Sison, Cordova, 22:21; 38. Gavin Wallis, Nikiski, 22:29; 39. Wesley Colapietro, Valdez, 23:19; 40. James Hancock, Valdez, 23:52; 41. Joshua Hartman, Hou, 24:14; 42. Aaron McCollum, Nikiski, 24:35; 43. Ben Wray, Cordova, 24:39.
Girls
Team — 1. Homer 35; 2. Seward 50; 3. Grace Christian 70; 4. Anchorage Christian 92
Individual
1. Megan Pitzman, Hom, 20:30; 2. Molly Mitchell, Hom, 20:39; 3. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 20:55; 4. Sara Hamberger, Cordova, 20:58; 5. Brook Wedin, Sew, 20:59; 6. Tessa O’Hara, ACS, 21:22; 7. Alex Mosley, Hom, 21:24; 8. Cheyenne Applegate, Grace, 21:27; 9. Alice Pfeiffenberger, Sew, 21:37; 10. Amy Hatter, Grace, 21:47; 11. Tanner Ealum, ACS, 21:56; 12. Aurora Waclawski, Hom, 22:00; 13. Ziza Shemet Pitcher, Hom, 22:01; 14. Harmony Wayner, Grace, 22:04; 15. Lauren Evarts, Hom, 22:19; 16. Ashley Guernsey, Sew, 23:08; 17. EmmaLee Moore, Sew, 23:23; 18. Allie Jarvis, Grace, 23:32; 19. Audrey Rosencrans, Hom, 23:49; 20. Katrina Wood, Grace, 23:58; 21. Josephine Braun, Sew, 24:14; 22. Elizabeth Balsan, ACS, 24:25; 23. Anna Jarvis, Grace, 24:34; 24. Iris Anderson, Sew, 24:48; 25. Courtney Mitchell, ACS, 24:57; 26. Alex Durazo, Grace, 24:58; 27. Katy Merioles, Valdez, 25:13; 28. Becca Land, ACS, 26:24; 29. Cori Pegau, Cordova, 27:39; 30. Mickey Connor, ACS, 29:22; 31. Lynelle Jones, ACS, 29:47.
