South’s Stiassny and East’s Staples win Region IV Cross Country titles

Mia Stiassny didn’t know what to expect in her first cross-country race at Kincaid Park this season.

Stiassny, a junior runner for South Anchorage, is certainly comfortable on the course with cross-country skiing as her primary sport. And while she hadn’t raced much this fall, Stiassny knew her fitness level was good enough to produce a good finish.

And that’s just what she did, racing to a win at the Region IV Cross Country Meet on Saturday.

“I believed in myself,” she said. “I knew it was possible, but there’s just so many different people, and a lot of people focus just on running, but I’m skiing, too. I’m a Nordic skier. That’s my main sport. I think there (are) other skiers like me who, like, are really, really focused on skiing, but they’re really fast runners. It’s just like a mixed bag.”

The list of skiers who have found success as runners is long, and Stiassny said the training is a big part of that.

“In Nordic skiing, we train a lot for bounding and running,” she said. “That’s a big factor. It helped me out a lot.”

While the state meet is just a week away, Stiassny said she isn’t looking ahead.

“With all races, I try to have fun,” she said. “So I don’t really think about the future. I am excited for next weekend.”

Stiassny was in a pack with defending state champ Hannah Shaha of Chugiak and East’s Rosie Conway before breaking away in the final third of the race.

She credited a good warm-up to her victory.

“I just kind of do whatever feels good,” she said. " I don’t have a set thing I do every time. If I feel tired, then I’ll do less. If I feel good, I’ll do more.”

Her time of 19 minutes, four seconds was a full 20 seconds faster than Conway, who finished runner-up. Dimond’s Ellie Stull placed third.

Chugiak continued its domination of the team competition. With 41 points, the Mustangs easily outdistanced runner-up Dimond (71) with three finishers in the top seven.

While Stiassny was still trying to feel her way through the Kincaid Park course, Bettye Davis East Anchorage runner Katahdin Staples earned his second win of the season after the sophomore took the Big 8 meet earlier this month. And while his winning time of 16:34 on Saturday was a second faster, he said the atmosphere at Kincaid was noticeably different.

“It felt just like a lot more pressure,” Staples said. “It felt like this was the race to make it happen. And it was.”

Staples was the first East male runner to win a region title in more than a decade.

“East is such a great school,” he said. “I love the red and blue so much. To represent East and show that East is still always a contender, it makes me so happy.”

He got off to a fast start and was racing from the lead for much of the race. Although he’d planned on making a move at the midway point, he got off fast and felt good, so he kept pushing.

“All my strategies went away right after the gun went off,” he said.

The battle among the next three contenders was won by Service’s Elias Oswald (16:46), who outkicked South’s Jaxon Henrie and Chugiak’s David Penfield (both 16:47).

South took the team title with 42 points, outdistancing runner-up Chugiak (66). Service and West rounded out the top four to advance to state as teams.

Region IV Cross Country Meet

At Kincaid Park

Team results

Girls

1. Chugiak 41; 2. Dimond 71; 3. South Anchorage 83; 4. East Anchorage 91; 5. Service 101; 6. West Anchorage 144; 7. Eagle River 165.

Boys

1. South Anchorage 42; 2. Chugiak 66; 3. Service 78; 4. West Anchorage 95; 5. Dimond 119; 6. Eagle River 140; 7. East Anchorage 173; 8. Bartlett 235.

Individual results

Girls

1. Mia Stiassny, South Anchorage 19:04; 2. Rosie Conway, East Anchorage 19:24; 3. Ellie Stull, Dimond 19:30; 4. Alliyah Fields, Chugiak 19:31; 5. Avrey Campbell, Dimond 19:32; 6. Hannah Bodkin, Chugiak 19:38; 7. Petra Knox, Chugiak 19:43; 8. Miyana Kam-Magruder, Service 19:59; 9. Talia Smith, Service 20:02; 10. Fiona Selvik, Service 20:10; 11. Hannah Shaha, Chugiak 20:19; 12. Meadow Bailly, South Anchorage 20:28; 13. Charlotte Knox, Chugiak 20:31; 14. Madeleine Lojewski, East Anchorage 20:36; 15. Elsa Henderson, Eagle River 20:45; 16. Ryleigh Ervin, Chugiak 21:02; 17. Molly McBride, Dimond 21:06; 18. Madeline Lowen, Dimond 21:12; 19. Finn Rigby, East Anchorage 21:13; 20. Lilah Klieforth, West Anchorage 21:18; 21. Zoe Rodgers, West Anchorage 21:23; 22. Adele Matthews, South Anchorage 21:25; 23. Alise Elliott, South Anchorage 21:32; 24. Eva Marley-Jester, East Anchorage 21:38; 25. Addysen Gasser, South Anchorage 21:41; 26. Kyra Walter, Chugiak 21:44; 27. Kendall Barnett, West Anchorage 21:48; 28. Maryjane Baxter, Dimond 21:50; 29. Rylee Winn, Eagle River 21:59; 30. Shayla Lee, South Anchorage 22:05; 31. Lilian Coy, South Anchorage 22:11; 32. Abi Howe, East Anchorage 22:14; 33. Katie Mackin, Bartlett 22:14; 34. Eden Johnsen, Dimond 22:16; 35. Neve Hagenstein, West Anchorage 22:16; 36. Delia Neroda, Service 22:17; 37. Cierra Norris, Dimond 22:28; 38. Clara Robinson, East Anchorage 22:38; 39. Ashley Mann, Eagle River 22:46; 40. Livia Bond, Service 22:53; 41. Isabelle Limauro, Eagle River 22:55; 42. Emiko Wilson, Service 22:56; 43. Grace Post, West Anchorage 22:56; 44. Aunika Lane, Eagle River 22:57; 45. Siera Chadwick, East Anchorage 23:12; 46. Charlotte Toole, Eagle River 23:30; 47. Madison Davignon, Eagle River 23:30; 48. Rienzi Witmer, West Anchorage 23:35; 49. Jase Emerson, Service 23:45; 50. Whitney Walsted, West Anchorage 23:57; 51. Emma Webb, Bartlett 26:44; 52. Eiley Reid, Bartlett 27:17.

Boys Top 10

1. Katahdin Staples, East Anchorage 16:34; 2. Elias Oswald, Service 16:46; 3. Jaxon Henrie, South Anchorage 16:47; 4. David Penfield, Chugiak 16:47; 5. Vebjorn Flagstad, South Anchorage 16:51; 6. Springer Moore, Service 16:54; 7. Thomas Ringsmuth, Chugiak 16:55; 8. Owen Harth, South Anchorage 16:57; 9. Noa Kam-Magruder, Dimond 17:09; 10. Luke Shaw, Eagle River 17:10; 11. Bradley Otis-Goodman, South Anchorage 17:14; 12. Kohen Galloway, Chugiak 17:19; 13. Arlo Jespersen, West Anchorage 17:21; 14. Jarrett Jackson, Dimond 17:22; 15. Gus Olson, South Anchorage 17:24; 16. Maximilian Erickson, West Anchorage 17:26; 17. Zane Gerlach, South Anchorage 17:28; 18. Marcus Walsted, West Anchorage 17:29; 19. Logan Cuddy, Service 17:31; 20. Dausen Loughman, Chugiak 17:34; 21. Braxton Thornley, South Anchorage 17:35; 22. Atlin Frederick, West Anchorage 17:37; 23. Parker Larson, Chugiak 17:41; 24. Levi Knickerbocker, Service 17:44; 25. Andrew Krellner, Eagle River 17:46; 26. Elias Williams, West Anchorage 17:47; 27. Oliver Casurella, Service 18:00; 28. Barret Malouf, Service 18:02; 29. Avery Seeman, Dimond 18:06; 30. Jaxson Cook, Chugiak 18:11; 31. Micah Redfearn, Dimond 18:12; 32. Nathan Momblow, Eagle River 18:12; 33. Liam Dudley, West Anchorage 18:13; 34. Elliott Drake, Bartlett 18:15; 35. Trygve Solomonson, Eagle River 18:27; 36. Jacob Bell, Dimond 18:40; 37. Cameron Posey, Dimond 18:44; 38. Josean Olivieri, Eagle River 18:46; 39. Holden Aquino, East Anchorage 18:46; 40. Micah Remick, East Anchorage 18:52; 41. Haro Ross, Service 18:58; 42. Tucker Nakken, Eagle River 19:00; 43. Finn Dudley, West Anchorage 19:13; 44. Elliott Jennings, Eagle River 19:19; 45. Soren Briggs, East Anchorage 19:27; 46. Silas Hartlieb, Dimond 19:31; 47. Aidan Dewey, Bartlett 19:57; 48. Jonathan Greenway, East Anchorage 19:59; 49. Tyler Drake, Bartlett 20:26; 50. Liam Cleary, East Anchorage 20:27; 51. Antonio Winnett, East Anchorage 20:35; 52. Kai Finch, Bartlett 21:52; 53. Lance Halog, Bartlett 23:31.