PHS cross country girls take 2nd at regional meet, boys finish 5th

The Petersburg High School girls cross country team took second place and the boys took fifth place in a Sitka Invitational meet over the weekend. The meet brought together runners from all over Southeast–Sitka, Mt Edgecumbe, Juneau Douglas, Thunder Mountain, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Haines, Skagway, Hydaburg, Klawock, Metlakatla, Kake, and Thorne Bay.

Maia Cowan was the top finisher for Petersburg, taking second place out of 77 runners. She finished with a time of 19 minutes and 31 seconds a little over a minute behind front runner Sadie Tuckwood of Juneau Douglas. Kendra Coonrad took fifth place, Melanie Chase took 11th place, Eva Lenhard finished in 30th place, and Lydia Martin 61st place.

For the boys, Tolin Eddy was the top Petersburg runner finishing in 9th place with a time of 17 minutes and 37 seconds. The boys’ field was large with 105 runners competing. The Vikings’ Uriah Lucas took 34th place followed by Koren Sperl in 35th. Chase Lister finished in 40th place, Michael Durkin took 54th, Julian Cumps 67th and Jack Byrer finished in 99th place.

Coach Tommy Thompson spoke with KFSK’s Angela Denning about the meet. He says there were a few Viking runners who couldn’t make the meet this early in the season but the team that went did great.

Maia Cowan, Kendra Coonrad, and Melanie Chase are currently listed in the top ten girl runners in the state for 1-A, 2-A, and 3-A.

Next up for the Viking’s cross country team is a meet in Metlakatla this weekend. It’s a very short season for cross country; the regional meet and state meet are in September.