Wolves' cross-country season concludes in K-town

The high school cross-country team wrapped up its season at Region V last weekend, running five kilometers against a dozen other schools from around the region.

The concluding meet was held in Ketchikan last Saturday, following a meet in Sitka the previous weekend. Among Division II teams, Wrangell’s girls finished up in fifth place overall with 115 points. The Lady Wolves powered through several injuries, coach Jenn Davies explained, and seven girls were able to make the meet.

Skylar Larrabee finished her race in 24th place with a time of 24:18, about eight seconds behind the sophomore’s personal best set in Sitka. Shortly behind her, freshman Mercy Mikkelson and sophomore Jing O’Brien finished in 27th and 28th places within a second of each other. The time of 24:53 was Mikkelson’s personal best, and O’Brien’s time was a season-best run.

Helen Decker came in at a time of 26:05, finishing in 37th place. Kira Torvend was the next behind at 26:12, with classmate Robyn Booker in 40th at 26:19. Adriana Larrabee concluded her last run for the year in 28:29.

“They ran their hardest, and a lot of them hit their personal records,” Davies commented.

With five of its runners taking the top five spots in the race, Petersburg finished Region V with a perfect score of 15. Scores in cross-country are tallied by adding the placements of a team’s top five athletes, making theirs the lowest possible score. Front-running Petersburg freshman Maia Cowan completed the race in 20:13, her personal best for her starting season.

Also hampered by injuries late in the season, Wrangell’s boys were two runners short of a talliable roster. Three were in Ketchikan to participate, with senior JD Barratt concluding in 36th place with a time of 19:42. Jonah Comstock finished in 46th place with a time of 20:30, a personal best. In 53rd, Kellan Eagle also finished with a personal best time of 21:23.

“They powered through it,” said Davies.

Sitka’s boys very nearly had as good a score as the Lady Vikings, with four of its runners taking top placements. Junior classman Joe Pate’s first-place time of 16:44 was a season best, coming just under four seconds short of a personal best set in Wrangell during the 2015 season.

Division leaders are set to head to the State Championships in Anchorage this weekend, held at Bartlett High School.