(Photo by Olivia Schmidt/KFSK)
Petersburg High School’s cross country team kicked off their season this past Saturday with the Petersburg Invitational Meet. Runners from 12 different schools gathered in Petersburg to compete on a tough, hilly course, testing their endurance and setting the stage for the rest of the season. As teams faced both successes and setbacks, Petersburg’s own athletes pushed through the pain to achieve personal records and solidify their goals for the coming races.
The first of what would be three gunshots echoed through the morning mist as dozens of runners took off in the first invitational meet of the cross country season. The girls were first, speeding up the hills and shoreline that characterize the Petersburg course. It was a 5k run, or 3.1 miles, and begins just south of Sandy Beach park, before heading up towards the airport and circling back to the park by way of the Raven’s Trail. The competitors had to complete the loop twice.
The first to cross the finish line in the girls race was Sitka’s Marina Dill, at 20:57, but she actually took second place. Her teammate Clare Mullin ran later in the boys race for pacing, and was the fastest female runner at 19:12. Petersburg’s first girl runner to finish was Maria Toth, coming in fourth with a time of 22:06. She says she’s proud of this accomplishment, and is already looking ahead to the next race.
“I’m hoping to [get a personal record], and kind of just get faster and faster throughout the season,” said Toth.
The girls’ race is followed by the boys’, where there was a slight upset. Due to the quick turnaround, the race timers were not in place when the boys assembled on the starting line, and the signal gun was shot prematurely. The boys made it about a quarter mile before they were stopped and sent back to the beginning of the course.
This time, things run smoothly, and the first male runner, Boomchain Loucks [did you get a pronouncer?] from Wrangell, crosses the finish line at 17:03. Alex Holmgrain is the first boy from Petersburg to complete the race — he came in at 18:34.
“I was just trying to push it since it’s the first race of the season,” said Holmgrain. “I wanted to set the tone for everyone else.”
Holmgrain’s goal is to push even further in the upcoming races, aiming to break the 18-minute mark.
“I’m hoping to run sub-18, maybe even below 17:30 this season,” said Holmgrain.
Petersburg’s head coach, Casey Gates, says he’s impressed by his team’s performance today. He said he’s looking forward to the season ahead.
“Today at the race, we had 13 runners competing,” said Gates. “We had five girls and eight boys, and we have more coming in — that would put us up to 17. That’s a little bit more than what we had last season, especially on the girl’s side. Last season, we barely put together four, and now we have considerably more than that. I would say what excites me the most — I think we have the chance to be very successful this season. But the best part of it is that we’ve got a really good group of kids. They’re amazing.
Gates says hosting the first meet of the season in Petersburg offered a home court advantage.
“It was really exciting to have our first race here,” said Gates. “For this meet in particular, we focused on hill training because our course has one very long hill that the kids have to run up twice. So, we focused on that this week, so the two times that they had to run it today felt like nothing for them, or less than others. Last night we had a big spaghetti feed fundraiser, which helped take the kids’ minds off the race. Sleeping in their own beds and running on a familiar course definitely gave them a bit of an edge.”
Several Petersburg runners did have strong opening performances. Waylon Jones, who achieved a personal record with 20:24, described his mindset during the race.
“The first time around, you’re really just trying to pace yourself and save enough energy to push up that first hill,” said Jones. “But the second time around… it’s just pain.”
Toth said she felt the same way.
“That second part was really rough, but I just kept motivating myself — pushing myself through,” said Toth. “I always have a song stuck in my head while running. It helps me keep going.”
For Petersburg’s Cadence Flint, who finished with a time of 24:18, the challenge of running at home proved to be a double-edged sword.
“I think we definitely have one of the harder courses, so it was not very fun,” said Flint.
Despite those obstacles, Gates highlighted some of his team members’ performances.
“Gage Ventress had an awesome run today,” said Gates. “This was his first run in a couple of years, his first run as a Viking. Last year, he had some injuries that kept him from running. I know today meant a lot to him and he set a personal record for himself. Gabrielle Whitaker — she set a personal record for herself today, which was awesome. And our freshman girls ran super well today too.”
Gates said he’s optimistic about the season ahead.
“I couldn’t be happier with how everything went today,” said Gates. “It was a tremendous race, and we’re just gonna keep working hard and cranking up the intensity and volume of our training to keep getting faster and better. So, I think we’ve got a really good trajectory from here.”
The team is now setting their sights on their next competitions, with a possible dual meet against Wrangell next weekend, followed by a confirmed trip to Craig on September 7th.
As a note of disclosure, Waylon Jones and Maria Toth are KFSK volunteers.
