The high school skiing postseason officially got underway across the state Friday afternoon. In Anchorage at Kincaid Park, the Region IV championships began with a 7.5K skate race with an interval start and saw a first-time champion crowned and a successful title defense take place.
In the Girls A race, West Anchorage senior Greta Bochenek captured the first individual championship of her career with a mark of 20 minutes, 47.9 seconds, which was 17.3 seconds faster than runner-up Haley Finch of Service, who clocked in at 21:05.2.
Also among the talented skiers Bochenek beat out for the top spot on the podium was two-time defending state Skimeister award recipient Olivia Soderstrom, who still cracked the top 15 with a 12th-place time of 21:50.2.
“It’s fun to be able to continue racing good skiers that I have been since my freshman year,” Bochenek said. “I feel like the field has raised (its level) a whole lot.”
She’s looking forward to Saturday’s relay race because the Eagles’ team comprises mostly seniors. That action gets underway at 11 a.m. at Kincaid.
“It’s a really fun group that I’ve been skiing with since my freshman year, so it’s really fun to be able to continue racing with them and continue getting stronger as a whole team,” she said.
While many skiers enjoy the thrill and rush of a mass start, Bochenek prefers the interval start that was featured in Friday’s race because there’s less pressure.
“I really like to be able to pace myself, and it adds another element of being able to know how fast I really need to go,” she said.
West head coach Joey Caterinichio praised Bochenek for being a “very hard worker,” and said she’s one of a few seniors on this year’s team who have been competing with each other the past four years, or longer in some cases.
“It’s a great win for Greta,” she said. “We’ve had a couple other championship girls that have won on our team, so it’s Greta’s turn.”
This season has been especially arduous due to unseasonably warm weather leading to the cancellation of multiple high school races. Since they’ve only been able to have three, Caterinichio said her skiers were uncertain about how they measured up with “everybody in the field.”
“It’s been a little rough, but they were able to make a lot of snow so for this race, the trails were actually in pretty good condition,” Bochenek said. “Because of the lack of snow, it’s a pretty tough course with the amount of flat (terrain), so you really have to push as much as you can.”
Between the low snow and a bout of illness, the last time South Anchorage junior Vebjorn Flagstad raced was the Cross Country Skiing National Championships in the first week of January.
On Friday, he secured his second straight region title by winning the Boys A race with a mark of 17:14.4. His time was just over 30 seconds faster than runner-up Noa Kam-Magruder of Dimond, who clocked in at 17:44.8.
“I haven’t raced in a few months, so it’s just good to get back in it,” he said. “I definitely feel a little rusty. (My) body’s a little rusty but I think it’s good to have a race to get back into it.”
Flagstad didn’t compete in the Besh Cup race that took place in January, and after coming down with an illness, he couldn’t compete in the following race either.
As excited as he was to successfully defend his region title from last year with his result on Friday, he was even happier for how well his fellow Wolverines performed.
“Our team did great too,” Flagstad said. “We were stacking the results and had a bunch of guys in the top 15. Our guys are just getting me better.”
Unlike Bochenek, he loves mass start races although depending on how he is feeling, interval starts can be just as fun.
“Sometimes you’re in your own mind, kind of racing yourself, and sometimes that’s better than seeing other people where they are,” Flagstad said.
Region IV Cross Country Ski Championships
7.5K Skate Ski
Girls A
1.) Greta Bochenek, West, 20:47.9; 2. Haley Finch, Service, 21:05.2; 3.) Faith Harlamert, Service, 21:05.6; 4.) Talia Smith, Service, 21:06.0; 5. Rosie Conway, East, 21:19.5; 6. Merridy Littell, West, 21:29.3; 7. Reine Soule, Service, 21:29.4; 8. Mady Lowen, Dimond, 21:32.9; 9.) Olivia Ronzio Pico, Chugiak, 21:35.5; 10.) Talia Day, Service, 21:37.7
Boys A
1.) Vebjorn Flagstad, South, 17:14.4; 2.) Noa Kam-Magruder, 17:44.8; 3.) John Lohuis, Service, 18:11.1; 4.) Elias Oswald, Service, 18:11.3; 5.) Miles Numme-Worrel, East, 18:32.4; 6.) Zane Griffis, Service, 18:40.2; 7.) Ethan Styvar, South, 19:02.0; 8.) Aksel Flagstad, South, 19:03.4; 9. Grayson Stanek-Alward, South, 19:03.7; 10.) Braxton Thornley, South, 19:08.9