Wrangell finishes cross-country on high note

Three of Wrangell’s best student-athletes traveled to a wet, snowy Bartlett High School in Anchorage last weekend to participate in the State of Alaska 1A-3A cross-country tournament – with Kayla Rooney (24:04) placing 59th out of 112 girls, and Jacob Marshall (18:27) taking 25th place and Bryce Gerald (18:57) coming 48th out of 122 boys.

Rooney, a four-year participant in cross-country, and competitor at the State finals each of those years, said she was satisfied with her finish as a senior.

“It was nice to make it four years on the team and to fulfill my goal of going to State each of those years,” she said. “I finished on par with each of my last three years, so I was right on my mark.”

Marshall, also a senior for the Wolves this season, ran his top-25 race as a first-year competitor in cross-country.

It’s a feat he says he is proud of.

“I’m just so happy I went to State, it’s awesome,” Marshall said. “I never knew I had the potential to go to State my first year and to have me in the top-25 feels great.”

Gerald, a freshman, made his first trip to the State competition – and said he hopes to make the trip again in his high school career.

“I definitely want to run again next year and make it to State again,” the freshman said. “I’ve always liked running and it is exciting every time. I definitely pushed myself hard and watched Jacob in order to keep my pace up.”

Head coach Monty Buness said he was proud of his team and the trio of finalists.

“It was a great season and we had some tremendous runners, including these three,” Buness said. “Hopefully next year we’ll support a team for State.”

The weather, Buness added, played a factor – though only psychologically for his athletes.

“It was wet and snowy, and frankly the sloppiest conditions that I have seen in 20 years of doing this,” he said. “It was pretty impressive that we went out in those conditions and did what we did. We had spikes, though, so we were ready to go.”