The Seward girls and Homer boys defended their Kenai Peninsula Borough cross-country titles Thursday in Seward.
The Mariners boys were dominant, putting six in the top eight and seven in the top 10 for 21 points and a win for the fourth straight season. Also, Soldotna had 58, Seward had 82 and Kenai Central had 86.
Senior Johannes Bynagle ran 3 kilometers in 10 minutes, 2.0 seconds, to defeat fellow Homer senior Caleb Bunker by four-tenths of a second. Bynagle also won boroughs last season.
The Seahawks girls nipped Soldotna, 40-39. Seward has now won three of the last four borough titles, losing to the Stars by a point in 2023. Homer was third at 52, while Kenai Central was fourth at 90.
Soldotna senior Sophia Jedlicki won her first borough crown, finishing at 11:43 to the 11:55 of Homer sophomore Etta Bynagle.
The Homer boys, who also took the top five spots in the junior varsity race, also had Tait Ostrom in fifth, Landon Tinsley in sixth, Jude Rozeboom in seventh, Jai Badajos in eighth and Rio Waltenbaugh in 10th.
Ollie Dahl was third for SoHi at 10:20, while Luke Elhard was fourth for the Seahawks at 10:35. Chase Laker led Kenai Central in ninth place.
Juniper Ingalls led the scoring Seward runners by taking third in 12:07. Also, Tirzah Brueckner was sixth, Blakeley Norvell was ninth, Selah Brueckner was 10th and Lucy Bamford was 11th.
Homer also put Claira Booz in the top 10 at fifth.
For Soldotna, Katie DeBardelaben was fourth and Naomi Keller was seventh.
Caprina Rump paced the Kardinals by taking eighth.
Next up for the borough cross-country teams is the Region 3 meet at Kincaid Park in Anchorage on Friday, Sept. 26.
Soldotna is the lone Division I team from the peninsula. To qualify as a team, the Stars will have to finish in the top three. The top 15 individual finishers also all qualify for state.
Homer, Kenai and Seward race Division II. There, the top four teams make state, as well as the top 15 individual finishers.
The Seahawks girls will seek a third straight region crown and a fourth straight trip to state. Seward also has a string of three champions in the individual race alive.
The Homer girls could go to state for a 13th straight time. That doesn’t count 2020, when teams didn’t qualify for state due to the pandemic.
The Homer boys have been to state four straight seasons, while the Seward boys went last year.
At Division I, SoHi’s girls have gone to state six straight seasons.
Kenai Peninsula Borough Meet
Thursday, Sept. 18
At Seward High School
BOYS
Team scores: 1. Homer, 21; 2. Soldotna, 58; 3. Seward, 82; 4. Kenai Central, 86.
Individual 3-kilometer results
1. Johannes Bynagle, Hom, 10 minutes, 2.0 seconds; 2. Caleb Bunker, Hom, 10:02.4; 3. Ollie Dahl, Sol, 10:20; 4. Luke Elhard, Sew, 10:35; 5. Tait Ostrom, Hom, 10:37; 6. Landon Tinsley, Hom, 10:38; 7. Jude Rozeboom, Hom, 10:43; 8. Jai Badajos, Hom, 10:43; 9. Chase Laker, Ken, 10:49; 10. Rio Waltenbaugh, Hom, 10:52; 11. Paul Wertanen, Sol, 10:52; 12. Sampson Antrim, Sew, 11:01; 13. Paxton Roach, Sol, 11:04; 14. Levi Strong, Ken, 11:07; 15. John Holt, Sol, 11:16; 16. Tom Schwartz, Sol, 11:27; 17. JJ Abel, Sol, 11:27; 18. Banyan Joachim, Sol, 11:28; 19. Noah Flowers, Sew, 11:32; 20. Corbyn Crisp, Ken, 11:46; 21. Brock Cooper, Ken, 11:56; 22. Noah Pancoast, Ken, 12:04; 23. Olin Liljemark, Sew, 12:05; 24. Alejandro Sanchez, Sew, 12:07; 25. Alex Fink, Sew, 12:16; 26. Luke Karpik, Ken, 12:16; 27. Daniel Herrera, Sew, 12:25; 28. Leif Laker, Ken, 12:30.
GIRLS
Team scores: 1. Seward, 39; 2. Soldotna, 40; 3. Homer, 52; 4. Kenai Central, 90.
Individual 3-kilometer results
1. Sophia Jedlicki, Sol, 11:43; 2. Etta Bynagle, Hom, 11:55; 3. Juniper Ingalls, Sew, 12:07; 4. Katie DeBardelaben, Sol, 12:21; 5. Claira Booz, Hom, 12:22; 6. Tirzah Brueckner, Sew, 12:38; 7. Naomi Keller, Sol, 12:39; 8. Caprina Rump, Ken, 12:51; 9. Blakeley Norvell, Sew, 12:53; 10. Selah Brueckner, Sew, 12:55; 11. Lucy Bamford, Sew, 12:57; 12. Morgan Harness, Hom, 13:02; 13. Afton Luck, Sol, 13:08; 14. Teresa Fallon, Ken, 13:08; 15. Shiloh Zichko, Sol, 13:09; 16. Myra Kalafut, Hom, 13:13; 17. Ahnali Cook, Hom, 13:20; 18. Abigail Ostrom, Hom, 13:27; 19. Ruby Davis, Ken, 13:28; 20. Maddie Haas, Sew, 13:31; 21. Kiriakia Basargin, Hom, 14:10; 22. Delanie Wagers, Sol, 14:14; 23. Emma Seavey, Sew, 14:21; 24. Sofia Tews, Ken, 15:01; 25. Emily Taylor, Ken, 15:17; 26. Caroline Karpik, Ken, 17:24.
