Top runners for the Haines High School cross-country teams had some familiar company at their Wrangell meet last weekend.
“We’ve been working on tightening up the pack a bit more,” said coach Tara Bicknell.
In the girls’ race, less than half a minute separated sophomore Tulsi Zahnow (24:47), senior Jenae Larson (24:52) and sophomore Brittney Bradford (25:13) as the fastest Glacier Bear finishers.
“It was like a good, long chain,” Larson said.
Senior Casey Bradford crossed the finish line in 18:47, and senior teammate Trevor Cox followed only two seconds later for the Haines boys.
Overall, the Glacier Bear boys placed 10th out of a dozen schools, with Sitka, Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain holding the top three spots. Runners endured a downpour during the competition.
Bradford finished 33rd, Cox, 35th; junior Jacob Stigen, 69th in 20:20; senior Kai Hays, 73rd in 20:33; and senior Zane Durr, 74th in 20:36.
Cox was slowed by cramping at the team’s Haines meet, but had more success in Wrangell on a course that concluded with a long, steady hill.
“When I walked the course, I thought it was hard,” but it seemed a lot shorter when running, he said.
For the girls, Zahnow placed 42nd; Larson, 43rd; Brittney Bradford, 45th; sophomore Makayla Crager, 69th in 27:28; and senior Destinee Cowart, 71st in 27:46. Overall, the Glacier Bears were eighth of nine teams.
Larson said she’s been running with Zahnow at practice and they encourage each other. Extra willpower was needed on the Wrangell course, where “we saw the finish line twice” before finally crossing it, she said.
Other runners for the Glacier Bears in Wrangell included senior Matthew Green, junior Madeline Andriesen, sophomores Hudson Sage, Dalton Klinger and Marty Fowler, and freshman Patrick Cunningham.
Assistant coach Alixanne Goodman said “everyone has improved” during the short season. “It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in just six weeks’ time.” The Bears run this weekend in Ketchikan.