Homer varsity boys took the top spot in the Kenai Peninsula Borough cross-country meet hosted at Homer High School last Thursday, Sept. 19. Varsity girls finished second, behind Seward’s Seahawks. The only four schools to compete in the races were Homer, Kenai, Seward and Soldotna.

It was the first time the borough meet has taken place in Homer in about 10 years, Homer head coach Bob Ostrom said. For the meet last week, the school had to make some recent modifications to the trail due to a mud sinkhole partway through the course. About half of the race course is on pavement now because of housing developments in the Nelson Avenue area behind the high school. “The fun part is that there are still several big mud holes that runners had to go through and they like that. It’s like an adventure race hole,” Ostrom said.

Ostrom noted that the Homer varsity boys, who took first place in the meet, almost had a perfect score, which is pretty rare, he said. The scoring for running is created by calculating the athlete’s place number for the team. Homer’s score was 19 with four out of the top five places: Johannes Bynagle, Reid Rauch, Tait Ostrom and Jai Badajos. Kenai’s Chase Laker took second place, breaking up the Homer team slightly but Homer’s Landon Tinsley came in sixth place.

In the girls varsity, Seward took first place with a score of 24 followed by Homer with a score of 39. Homer’s Beatrix McDonough came in second place in the individual 5K race. Ostrom said some of the girls have been getting over some illness recently but overall competed quite strong.

The next races will be regionals in Wasilla. There will be some larger schools competing at that meet but Ostrom said that some of the boys smaller division schools are very strong this year. For example, at the Sept. 7 George Plumley Invite hosted by Palmer High School, the Homer boys varsity received second place by just a few points with 20 teams competing, Ostrom said.

“It’s good to be part of that, to show those big Anchorage schools that we can compete too. Our kids are just as good athletes as they are,” Ostrom said.

The season will end with the state meet at the Bartlett High School trails in Anchorage on Oct. 5.

Borough meet

Thursday, Sept. 19 in Homer

JUNIOR VARSITY

Individual 5-kilometer (place, grade, name, time, school)

BOYS

1. 11 Lukas Renner 19 minutes, 34 seconds, Homer; 2. 12 Alexander VanMeter, 19:47, Homer; 3. 11 Jude Rozeboom, 19:59, Homer; 4. 9 Quinn Humbert, 20:10, Seward; 5. 9 Gryffin Linder, 21:01, Homer; 6. 12 Zachary Altringer, 21:23, Homer; 7. 11 Brennan Steen, 22:08, Homer; 8. 9 Daniel Christ, 22:20, Homer; 9. 9 Laif Rothenberger, 22:24, Homer; 10. 11 Tracker Keller, 22:29, Soldotna; 11. 9 Arlo Hunter, 22:47, Homer; 12. 10 Luca Fitzpatrick; 22:48, Homer; 13. 10 Jax Nash, 23:18, Soldotna; 14. 10 Lee Downing, 23:33, Soldotna; 15. 12 Isaac Winslow, 23:44, Soldotna; 16. 10 Simeon Holt, 23:45, Soldotna; 17. 10 Elijah Kahle, 23:47, Kenai Central; 18. 11 Jace Guilliam, 23:53, Soldotna; 19. 11 Briggs Cheeseman, 23:54, Soldotna; 20. 9 Silas Hunter, 23:58, Homer; 21. 10 Dwight Brown, 24:04, Soldotna; 22. 11 William Klein, 24:44, Soldotna; 23. 12 Samuel Klein, 24:47, Soldotna; 24. 12 Jameson Hall, 24:55, Soldotna; 25. 12 Lance Sego, 25:01, Soldotna; 26. 9 Ryan Wheat, 25:20, Soldotna; 27. 12 Haedyn Horstman, 25:22, Soldotna; 28. 12 Namo Ammatariyakul, 25:24, Soldotna; 29. 10 Xiling Tanner, 25:58, Kenai Central; 30. 10 Elias Black, 27:05, Soldotna; 31. 9 Dezmond McCaughey, 27:25, Kenai Central; 32. 9 Charlie Wang, 27:40, Soldotna; 33. 9 Paxon Craytor, 30:17, Seward; 34. 10 Axel Larock, 30:20, Seward; 35. 12 Tekoa Wallace, 31:55, Seward

GIRLS

1. 12 Daisy Walker 24 minutes, 0 seconds, Homer; 2. 11 Cassidy Hardyman, 27:28, Homer; 3. 11 Emily Anger, 27:35, Seward; 4. 9 Alta Liljemark, 28:46, Seward; 5. 10 Amara Ransom, 28:49, Seward; 6. 12 Inga Smith, 28:51, Soldotna; 7. 10 Aislyn Downum, 29:58, Soldotna; 8. 12 Rachel Matthews, 30:03, Soldotna; 9. 11 Caitlin Miller, 30:08, Soldotna; 10. 11 Kylie Saltzgiver, 31:41, Soldotna; 11. 12 Ainsley Boss-Harmon, 32:14, Homer; 12. 10 Amanda Redman, 32:39, Soldotna; 13. 9 Olivia Tews, 32:53, Kenai Central; 14. 10 Rachel Lewis, 33:25, Soldotna; 15. So Esme Wilder, 34:39, Seward; 16. 11 Shayla Smith, 35:15, Soldotna; 17. 10 Naomi Zichko, 35:39, Soldotna; 18. 10 Afton Roberts, 43:21, Kenai Central; 19. 11 Nathaly Rizo-Hernandez, 51:32, Soldotna

VARSITY

BOYS

Team scores: 1. Homer, 19; 2. Seward, 57; 3. Soldotna, 84; 4. Kenai Central, 86.

Individual 5-kilometer

1. 11 Johannes Bynagle, 17 minutes, 41 seconds, Homer; 2. 11 Chase Laker, 18:18, Kenai Central; 3. 10 Reid Rauch, 18:23, Homer; 4. 11 Tait Ostrom, 18:39, Homer; 5. 11 Jai Badajos 18:43, Homer; 6. 11 Landon Tinsley, 19:07, Homer; 7. 9 Charlie Rustand, 19:09, Homer; 8. 9 Noah Crabtree, 19:13, Soldotna; 9. 9 Luke Elhard, 19:17, Seward; 10. 10 Ridge Conant 19:17, Seward; 11. 11 Mason Elhard, 19:19, Seward; 12. 12 Jody Goodrich, 19:34, Homer; 13. 11 Sampson Antrim, 19:55, Seward; 14. 10 Alex Fink, 20:11, Seward; 15. 10 Gage Ivy, 20:26, Kenai Central; 16. 11 Isaiah Dickson, 20:30, Soldotna; 17. 11 Frank Antrim, 20:33, Seward; 18. 10 Riley Wagers, 21:02, Soldotna; 19. 11 Olin Liljemark, 21:10, Seward; 20. 9 Banyan Joachim, 21:14, Soldotna; 21. 9 Corbin Crisp, 21:54, Kenai Central; 22. 10 Braze Cassidy, 22:06, Soldotna; 23. 11 Levi Strong, 22:25, Kenai Central; 24. 10 Owen Bell, 22:31, Soldotna; 25. 12 Benjamin Roberts, 22:41, Kenai Central; 26. 12 Elliot Hanson, 22:51, Kenai Central; 27. 11 Silvan Krieg, 23:13 Kenai Central

GIRLS

Team scores: 1. Seward, 24; 2. Homer, 39; 3. Kenai Central, 70; 4. Soldotna, 98.

Individual 5-kilometer

1. 9 Olive Jordan 21 minutes, 36 seconds, Seward; 2. 12 Beatrix McDonough, 22:22, Homer; 3. 11 Juniper Ingalls, 22:31, Seward; 4. 9 Sadie Haas, 22:35, Seward; 5. 10 Teresa Fallon, 22:36, Kenai Central; 6. 11 Claira Booz 22:37, Homer; 7. 12 Katie Van Buskirk, 22:51, Seward; 8. 9 Etta Bynagle, 23:00, Homer; 9. 10 Selah Brueckner 23:23, Seward; 10. 10 Ruby Davis, 23:30, Kenai Central; 11. 11 Jaela Marchbanks 23:49, Homer; 12. 9 Myra Kalafut, 23:55, Homer; 13. 11 Lucy Bamford, 24:03, Seward; 14. 11 Kiriakia Basargin, 24:15, Homer; 15. 9 Eva Abel, 24:27, Soldotna; 16. 12 Mya Taylor, 24:30, Kenai Central; 17. 10 Kylie Dickson, 26:05, Soldotna; 18. 9 Abby Ostrom, 26:44, Homer; 19. 12 Fox Coyle, 26:49, Kenai Central; 20. 10 Dianna Wright, 27:03, Kenai Central; 21. 10 Jimena Rodriguez, 27:36, Soldotna; 22. 9 Taylen Moore, 27:56, Soldotna; 23. 12 Elizabeth Holt 27:58, Soldotna; 24. 9 Shelby Huffer, 28:32, Soldotna; 25. 10 Caroline Karpik, 30:02, Kenai Central