Glacier Bears take regional championship

Kyle Clayton
REGIONAL CHAMP: Sophomore MacKenzy Dryden finished first in the Region 5 cross-country tournament. Dryden also set a new school record for the 5K.

Both the girls and boys Haines Glacier Bears cross-country teams are this year’s Region 5 champions and sophomore MacKenzy Dryden is the regional champion. Four Haines girls placed in the top five spots. Luke Davis placed third and Carson Crager placed fourth.

Dryden also set a school record last set by Stoli Lynch. Grace Long set the third fastest school time.

The Glacier Bears ran their final race of the season at the Valley of the Eagles Golf Links on Saturday as hundreds of residents came to cheer on the teams that also won last year’s state championship. The student athletes competed virtually against racers on a course in Petersburg.

Haines’ course had wet, swampy sections but was mostly flat, a feature Dryden appreciated.

“It was nice to run on a flat course for one of our races,” Dryden said. “There were the marshy areas and the muddy areas. We had our spikes and it was easier to run.”

Dryden ran the 5K race in 19:57, a new personal record.

“It’s a good feeling to know that you’re the regional champ,” Dryden said. “After they told me my time, I was really happy with it because at the beginning of the season we all set goals for ourselves and mine was to break 20 minutes.”

For seniors like Brennan Palmieri, boys team captain, the regional championship was the last of his high school career, notable for the memories it inspired, and the challenge of participating in activities amid a pandemic.

“It feels pretty surreal. It feels like last week we were freshmen running for the first time,” Palmieri said. “Somehow four years went by. It feels like we’re going to go to practice on Monday and then go up to Anchorage. This is a great team and everyone pushed so hard in this last race. It was everything I could have hoped for.”

The Haines runners were unable to qualify for the state championship after the regional board of the Alaska School Activities Association voted on Sept. 25, a week before the race, that only runners participating in the in-person race were eligible.

The Haines Borough school board voted in September to limit out of town activities to same-day travel and the district administration was unable to schedule travel arrangements in time, said superintendent Roy Getchell.

Glacier Bears runners didn’t let that setback, or other pandemic mitigation measures, change how they competed.

“I don’t think we faltered in our path to victory,” girls team captain Hannah Boron said. “Whether it’s state or regionals or even just a community race, we strived to do our best and that’s where it counts. I think there were lots of mitigation that took some getting used to. After a while, it was just us and the outdoors. I think they didn’t stop us from being our best.”

Boron placed third in the regional meet behind Grace Long.

Senior Carson Crager, who finished fourth overall with a time of 18:14, spoke to the camaraderie and cohesion of the team.

“It was a great, great year,” Crager said. “It’s definitely sad that it’s the last year but all four years was amazing. It was a blast.”

Coach Jordan Baumgartner commended the runners for slogging through tough course during a tough year.

“They did awesome,” Baumgartner said. “We had over an inch of rain. They’re running through swamps and they ran really fast. These guys ran their heart out.”

Getchell held one end of the pink ribbon as Haines top runners crossed the finish line. Getchell said he had to deliver the disappointing news to the team that they wouldn’t be able to compete in the state competition, and that the athletes handled it with a level of maturity the community should be proud of.

“I don’t think anybody left any gas in the tank,” Getchell said of Saturday’s race. “It was inspiring. The kids continue to give me hope especially when there’s a lot of difficult things going on in our country. They are great examples of our best selves.”

Race Results:

Girls:

1: MacKenzy Dryden; 19:57

2: Grace Long; 20:41

3: Hannah Boron; 21:13

5: Lydia Andrieson; 21:59