Haines Glacier Bears cross-country runners swept the top two spots in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions in the opening middle school meet in Skagway on Sept. 23.
“The kids gave it their all,” said coach Alissa Henry. “A lot of them ran faster than they had in practice.”
Henry described the course as a straightforward out-and-back starting from the school, across the river and past the softball fields. The distance was three kilometers, or about 1.9 miles.
Chance Jacobson won the boys’ race in 11:02 followed by Finn McMahan six seconds later. Yoa George finished in fourth and Asher Jimenez in 10th out of 17. In the girls’ race McKenna Dryden finished in first in 13:08 and Makayla Henry in second in 13:39.
Coach Henry said the 17 kids enjoyed the ferry ride on Friday. They hiked up to Lower Reid Falls on Friday afternoon and camped out in sleeping bags on the floor of the Skagway school before the 11 a.m. meet on Saturday.
Henry said the kids were “super excited” for their first meet, which for some was the first away sports trip. To top it all off, they got to see a rainbow while boarding the ferry on their way into and out of Skagway.
Glacier Bears middle school’s next meet is on October 8 in Haines. High school runners head to regionals in Juneau on Sept. 29.