Contrary to mud-caked impressions, the Capital City Invite was not an officially organized mud run, but it certainly wasn’t a fast and dry high school cross-country meet either.
Held in Juneau on Sept. 21 with teams from 10 Southeast high schools, the Capital City Invite went forward as scheduled despite the slow and muddy conditions. In speaking to the Juneau Empire, Sitka senior Marina Dill reflected on the course’s condition.
“Through my entire years of running, I’ve never run on something this muddy,” she said.
Over 200 runners competed in the Saturday meet. Wrangell placed third in the boys team standings but did not place in the girls official team scores. In their home meet, Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kale finished atop the standings for both the boys and girls teams.
Boomchain Loucks — once again — crossed the finish line as Wrangell’s quickest runner. Loucks finished with a time of 17:01.89, just 10 seconds away from a podium finish. The Wolves boasted three other top-20 finishers. Ian Nelson finished 16th while Jackson Carney and Daniel Harrison crossed the line within two seconds of each other in 19th and 20th, respectively.
Bella Ritchie was the fastest Wrangell runner on the girls side. The sophomore finished in 30th with a time of 25:40.80. Kourtney Barnes and Kailyn McCutcheon finished back-to-back in 38th and 39th.
For the boys, Jackson Powers finished in 35th, Everett Meissner finished in 38th and Lucas Stearns finished right behind his teammate with a time of 19:56.83.
Unfortunately, the rough conditions made it all but impossible for any runners to achieve new personal-best times, but for now the Wolves have their eyes on Southeast championships.
The championship meet will take place in Ketchikan this week. The Saturday, Sept. 28, race will arrive after a week of forecasted rain throughout Southeast, so runners may need to wait for the state championship in Palmer on Oct. 5 if they are hoping for clear skies and dry trails.
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