Petersburg Pilot -

Sitka hosted the Region V Cross-Country Championship meet last weekend and the Vikings girls team took first over all other small schools in the 1A/2A/3A divisions, with Mt. Edgecumbe as runner up.

Ten years have passed since Petersburg cross country last brought home a Regional Championship.

This big win follows an impressive, undefeated season for the girls squad.

The Vikings all went into the meet determined to run their best race, according to Petersburg Head Coach Jo Ann Day.

“They deserve this win.  Every runner had a great race,” said Day.

Grace Weller led the girls with a finishing time of 20.40 and a second place finish over all.

“Robyn Schwartz ran her best race by almost a minute,” said Day. Schwartz finished in 5th place.

Diane Murph was the next fastest runner for the girls, beating her previous personal record by ten seconds for an 8th place 21.31 finish.

Fran Abbot bested her PR by 30 seconds.

“Nicole Peterson had an incredible race beating her time by almost 2 minutes,” said Day.

“It is a great combination of hard working, goal oriented athletes.  We started the season with some very determined runners, they worked hard in practice, and supported each other,” said Coach Day.

As a team they qualify for the state meet in Anchorage and will be competing there on Saturday.

The boys team ended their season with a very competitive performance too, finishing 5th in the region.

The top finisher for the Vikings was Tucker Hagerman whose time of 18.17 earned him tenth place in the region and qualified him to compete at state. He along with Cole Somerville and Nathaniel Lenhard ran their all time fastest races at the championship.

“Great team, great season, Mr. Thompson and I are really looking forward to taking eight runners to state in Anchorage,” said Coach Day.

Complete results are:

Girls:

1st place 39, Mt. Edgecombe 2nd place 63, Craig 3rd place 69

Grace Weller 2nd place 20.40

Robyn Schwartz 5th place 21.19

Diane Murph 8th place 21.31

Fran Abbott 15th place 22.29

Nicole Peterson 16th place 22.40

Submitted Photo

The starting gunshot of the girls of 1A/2A/3A championship race. The Petersburg girls, seen in the middle in blue, took first place.

Kayleigh Eddy 19th place 23.05

Hannah Pfundt 22nd place 23.13

Boys:

5th place 127, just behind Skagway at 125

Tucker Hagerman 10th place 18.17

Cole Somerville 19th place 19.15

Nathaniel Lenhard 29th place 19.45

River Quitslund 37th place 20.12

Kyle Hagerman 42nd place 20.41

Chauncy Sandhofer 71st place 26.50