Palmer’s Rosie Whittington-Evans and Colony’s Jayden Rice each took home skimeister awards and led their teams to first-place finishes at the Region III ski championships at Tsalteshi Trails outside of Soldotna on Saturday.

For Palmer, Whittington-Evans finished her 5-kilometer classic mass start race in 20 minutes, 55 seconds Saturday. Her total time for Friday’s 5K freestyle and Saturday’s race was 38:23.

Rice finished Saturday’s 7.5K classic mass start in 26:19 in first place for Colony. His combined total time for both days of skiing, including Friday’s 5K freestyle, was 41:52.

Kenai Central was the runner-up in both the girls and boys varsity races Saturday.

The girls were led by Jayna Boonstra, who finished her 5K in 21:03 on Saturday and posted 38:23 for her two-day total. She was third overall, with Palmer’s Katey Houser taking second.

Jack Laker was at the top of the Kenai boys squad, crossing the 7.5K finish line at 26:25 on Saturday. He totaled 42:26 for his Friday and Saturday finishes and ended up at second place overall.

Kenai head coach Brad Nyquist said he always enjoys being able to compete against schools the Kards don’t often face up against.

“It’s always good to compete in the same venue with the large schools because they’ll see Colony, it will give the boys a chance to chase after Colony a little more and the girls to chase after Palmer a little more,” Nyquist said.

He said Laker was a standout on both days.

“Yesterday he was just behind, down on the bottom, and then all of a sudden made up time and then it was just a close finish again,” Nyquist said. “So he likes to make things exciting.”

Other top performers for Kenai were Emily Moss and Tyler Hippchen, he said. Moss finished in sixth place overall, and Hippchen came in ninth. Kenai’s Greg Fallon also finished in fourth place.

Laker said Friday night’s snowfall made Saturday’s race challenging.

“It was a pretty tough race, there was like 4 inches of powder,” he said. “It wasn’t the greatest of conditions.”

Laker said having a high level of stamina, even in adverse conditions, was to his benefit on Saturday.

Boonstra also cited stamina as one of the reasons she got to third place.

“It takes a lot of endurance and stamina to be able to (go) up the hills,” she said. “So I think that helped me a lot.”

Soldotna Stars head coach Isaac Erhardt said he was impressed with both the girls and boys teams.

“We started off the season back a little ways, and we had a lot of work to do,” he said. “And the team just worked hard all season long, and I was really proud of how they finished.”

Erhardt said the Stars standouts on Saturday were Jordan Ruffner, Ariana Cannava and Jordan Strausbaugh for the girls, and Quinn Cox for the boys.

Ruffner finished fourth Saturday with a time of 22:03, followed closely by Cannava in fifth place with a time of 22:25 seconds. Strausbaugh finished 11th for the girls and Cox finished fifth for the boys.

Erhardt said Cannava’s race was impressive, especially for her age.

“Ariana Cannava, ninth grader, (was) just pushing way up in that pack, so that’s pretty cool,” he said. “As a young skier (I) like to see that, that’s always really exciting.”

After her race on Saturday, Cannava said she was happy with her times.

“I accomplished my goal today and yesterday,” she said. “My goal for the end of the season was to get top 10 at regions.”

The Soldotna girls team finished third overall, and the boys finished third.

Homer’s top finisher was Seamus McDonough at eighth place for the boys varsity team. He crossed the finish line at 28:53 Saturday.

He said he decided to try to put as much kick wax on as possible to make quick time on the hills of the course.

“I was just running up them,” McDonough said. “It was definitely difficult, but I’m a runner. I’m more of a runner than a skier so I think that was to my benefit.”

Ireland Styvar led the Homer girls varsity with a seventh place finish, at 23:06.

The Homer girls came in fifth at the Region III race, and the boys came in fourth.

Racing for the Seward girls team were Katie Van Buskirk and Aly Guernsey. Trevor Guernsey and Oliver Trobaugh skied for the Seward boys squad.

Region III ski championships

at Tsalteshi Trails

GIRLS

Team times: 1. Palmer, 2 hours, 48 minutes, 52 seconds; 2. Kenai, 2:51:23; 3. Soldotna, 2:55:32; 4. Colony, 2:47:45; 5. Homer, 3:19:13; 6. Grace Christian, 3:45:36.

Friday’s 5K freestytle interval start: 1. Rosie Whittington-Evans, Pal, 17:28; 2. Katey Houser, Pal, 17:56; 3. Jayna Boonstra, Ken, 18:05; 4. Jordan Ruffner, Sol, 19:08; 5. Ireland Styvar, Hom, 19:11; 6. Emily Moss, Ken, 19:24; 7. Ariana Cannava, Sol, 19:26; 8. Anna Bell, Col, 19:32; 9. Jordan Strausbaugh, Sol, 19:59; 10. Summer Foster, Ken, 20:17; 11. Leah Fallon, Ken, 20:18; 12. Lucy Shea, Col, 20:40; 13. Ellie Henneman, Pal, 20:40; 14. Rachel Danz, Col, 21:01; 15. Georgia Thatcher, Gra, 21:01; 16. Kaija Backus, Col, 21:35; 17. Emersyn LaRousse, Pal, 21:45; 18. Abby Novak, Col, 21:49; 19. Noelle Davidson, Col, 22:16; 20. Gabriella Tews, Ken, 22:19; 21. Madison McDonald, Ken, 22:24; 22. Josie Peace, Pal, 22:46; 23. Eryn Field, Hom, 22:47; 24. Ashley Dahlman, Sol, 22:47; 25. Aly Guernsey, Sew, 22:58; 26. Sienna Hardyman, Hom, 23:03; 27. Julia Watkins, Pal, 23:15; 28. Emmy Reese, Sol, 23:18; 29. Katie Van Buskirk, Sew, 23:33; 30. Avery Ciufo, Sol, 23:35; 31. Leanne Gordon, Sol, 23:52; 32. Marah Lane, Gra, 24:50; 33. Mykennan Rinella, Pal, 24:50; 34. Elena Badajos, Hom, 25:12; 35. Jaela Marchbanks, Hom, 25:45; 36. Leah Dunn, Hom, 26:48; 37. Brook Lentfer, Gra, 28:04; 38. Maya Carlson, Gra, 28.12.

Saturday’s 5K classic mass start: 1. Whittington-Evans, Pal, 20:55; 2. Houser, Pal, 21:03; 3. Booonstra, Ken, 21:32; 4. Ruffner, Sol, 22:03; 5. Cannava, Sol, 22:25; 6. Moss, Ken, 23:01; 7. Styvar, Hom, 23:06; 8. Danz, Col, 23:35; 9. Bell, Col, 23:39; 10. Novak, Col, 23:42; 11. Strausbaugh, Sol, 23:42; 12. Henneman, Pal, 23:45; 13. Fallon, Ken, 23:51; 14. Shea, Col, 23:57; 15. Backus, Col, 24:02; 16. Foster, Ken, 24:51; 17. Peace, Pal, 25:16; 18. Davidson, Col, 25:33; 19. Field, Hom, 25:34; 20. Tews, Ken, 25:52; 21. LaRousse, Pal, 25:54; 22. McDonald, Ken, 25:57; 23. Dahlman, Sol, 25:57; 24. Thatcher, Gra, 25:58; 25. Ciufo, Sol, 25:58; 26. Reese, Sol, 26:09; 27. Watkins, Pal, 26:54; 28. Gordon, Sol, 26:58; 29. Van Buskirk, Sew, 28:40; 30. Guernsey, Sew, 28:43; 31. Rinella, Pal, 29:12; 32. Hardyman, Hom, 29:56; 33. Lane, Gra, 30:10; 34. Badajos, Hom, 30:22; 35. Marchbanks, Hom, 32:09; 36. Lentfer, Gra, 32:15; 37. Dunn, Hom, 33:55; 38. Carlson, Gra, 35:01.

Top 10 2-day individual totals: 1. Whittington-Evans, Pal, 38:23; 2. Houser, Pal, 38:59; 3. Boonstra, Ken, 39:37; 4. Ruffner, Sol, 41:11; 5. Styvar, Hom, 42:17; 6. Moss, Ken, 42:25; 7. Cannava, Sol, 41:52; 8. Bell, Col, 43:12; 9. Strausbaugh, Sol, 43:42; 10. Foster, Ken, 45:09.

BOYS

Team times: 1. Colony, 3:10:44; 2. Kenai, 3:01:14; 3. Soldotna, 3:08:47; 4. Homer, 3:19:35; 5. Palmer, 3:25:00; 6. Grace Christian, 3:47:07.

Friday’s 5K freestyle interval start: 1. Jayden Rice, Col, 15:33; 2. Jack Laker, Ken, 16:01; 3. Tobias Buchanan, Col, 16:18; 4. Tyler Hippchen, Ken, 16:19; 5. Quinn Cox, Sol, 16:21; 6. Coby Marvin, Col, 16:49; 7. Ben Thatcher, Gra, 17:01, 8. Greg Fallon, Ken, 17:07; 9. Andrew Cox, Sol, 17:14; 10. Layne Buchanan, Col, 17:17; 11. Jody Goodrich, Hom, 17:22; 12. Clayton, Steer, Col, 17:28; 13. Levi Mickelson, Sol, 17:30; 14. Jonathan Gordon, Sol, 17:40; 15. Ben Boersma, Ken, 17:50; 16. Seamus McDonough, Hom, 17:52; 17. Garrett Briscoe, Hom, 18:02; 18. Zane Tews, Ken, 18:04; 19. Remi Venema, Pal, 18:14; 20. Carter Cannava, Sol, 18:23; 21. Benjamin Abel, Sol, 18:24; 22. Trevor Guernsey, Sew, 18:32; 23. Colton Merriner, Gra, 18:35; 24. Trenton Boots, Sol, 18:37; 25. Ziven Witczak, Pal, 18:47; 26. George Wright, Ken, 19:16; 27. Andrew Pounds, Gra, 19:26; 28 London Lee, Pal, 19:29; 29. Max Wallace, Gra, 20:12; 30. Alex Adams, Pal, 20:27; 31. Carson Deans, Pal, 20:31; 32. Leif Jaworski, Hom, 20:36; 33. Ryan Owens, Pal, 20:36; 34. Oliver Trobaugh, Sew, 21:08; 35. Caleb Spence, Gra, 21:37; 36. Dylan Kodama, Gra, 23:58; 37. Joseph Foutz, Pal, 24:38.

Saturday’s 7.5K classic mass start: 1. Rice, Col, 26:19; 2. Laker, Ken, 26:24; 3. Marvin, Col, 27:03; 4. Fallon, Ken, 27:44; 5. Cox, Sol, 27:57; 6. Buchanan, Col, 28:00; 7. Buchanan, Col, 28:28; 8. McDonough, Hom, 28:53; 9. Hippchen, Ken, 28:56; 10. Thatcher, Gra, 29:35; 11. Venema, Pal, 29:57; 12. Cox, Sol, 30:03; 13. Steer, Col, 30:27; 14. Goodrich, Hom, 30:31; 15. Tews, Ken, 30:49; 16. Mickelson, Sol, 30:55; 17. Briscoe, Hom, 31:01; 18. Boots, Sol, 31:03; 19. Abel, Sol, 31:07; 20. Guernsey, Sew, 31:17; 21. Gordon, Sol, 31:47; 22. Witczak, Pal, 31:52; 23. Boersma, Ken, 31:55; 24. Pounds, Gra, 32:40; 25. Lee, Pal, 32:46; 26. Cannava, Sol, 32:52; 27. Adams, Pal, 33:24; 28. Owens, Pal, 33:28; 29. Deans, Pal, 33:43; 30. Wright, Ken, 34:03; 31. Merriner, Gra, 34:12; 32. Jaworski, Hom, 35:15; 33. Wallace, Gra, 38:53; 34. Foutz, Pal, 39:17; 35. Trobaugh, Sew, 39:55; 36. Spence, Gra, 40:21; 37. Kodama, Gra, 43:00

Top 10 2-day individual totals: 1. Rice, Col, 41:52; 2. Laker, Ken, 42:26; 3. Buchanan, Col, 44:46; 4. Hippchen, Ken, 45:15; 5. Cox, Sol, 44:19; 6. Marvin, Col, 43:53; 7. Thatcher, Gra, 46:37; 8. Fallon, Ken, 44:52; 9. Cox, Sol, 47:17; 10. Buchanan, Col, 45:17.

Photos by Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion Kenai Central’s Jack Laker and Colony’s Jayden Rice race in the 7.5-kilometer classic mass start at the Region III ski championships Saturday at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna.

Photo by Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion Homer’s Jody Goodrich finishes the boys 7.5-kilometer classic mass start Saturday, Feb. 12, at the Region III ski championshps at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna.

Soldotna’s Quinn Cox finishes the boys 7.5-kilometer class mass start Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, at the Region III ski championships at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai’s Jayna Boonstra finishes the girls 5-kilometer mass start classic race Saturday at the Region III ski championships at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna.

Kenai’s Jayna Boonstra finishes the girls 5-kilometer mass start classic race Saturday at the Region III ski championships at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna.