Ty Jordan had plenty of company Saturday on the muddy Bartlett High trails, where he had to outduel three guys to earn his third straight Cook Inlet Conference individual championship.
He'll have lots of company again next week when he returns to Bartlett for the state championships, and he's thrilled about it, because the company he'll keep won't be the breathing-down-his-neck variety. It'll be the-gang's-all-here kind of company.
For the first time in his high school career, Jordan will be joined at the state championships by both of Chugiak teams.
"It's what I wanted this year," said Jordan, who last year was the only boy to represent the Mustangs at state.
Jordan and the rest of the boys team will go to the state championships as the third-place team from the Cook Inlet Conference. The girls will enter as the CIC champions – a status they last enjoyed in 2001.
Led by third-place Emma Nelson, the Mustangs landed five girls in the top 15 to win their first region crown in 14 years and end a four-year reign by the West Eagles.
Though the West girls were unable to secure another crown, the Eagles did OK.
The boys pulled out a narrow win over South to claim their third straight region championship, with third-placed Finn Walker and ninth-place Luke Jager posting personal-bests on the 5-kilometer course. West placed all five scorers in the top 16 to beat South by three points.
The West girls placed second to Chugiak despite losing a top runner midway through the 5-kilometer race. Fiona Fick dropped out when the cold weather triggered a vocal cord dysfunction that made breathing difficult, coach Ruth Barndt said, but Molly Gellert and Lauren Corkran came through with top-six finishes.
Winning the girls race for the third straight year was South's Morgan Lash, who gave credit to a snake for her victory.
Lash, who finished in 18:52 to beat Gellert by 10 seconds, said prerace nerves bothered her all week long.
"I squirmed in my chair at school," she said.
Providing a bit of levity and distraction was little sister Reagan, a sixth-grader who used her Rainbow Loom to weave little snakes in South's school colors for Lash and her teammates.
Lash was sneaky as a snake as she ran to another CIC championship.
She said she decided to resist the urge to charge into the lead like she usually does, instead waiting until the final downhill to seize control.
"I usually go out really fast and then I get tired, so I tried something new, and it worked," Lash said.
It didn't faze her to try a new strategy at such a big race. "If not now, when are you gonna do it?" she said.
Jordan, who survived a chilly, wet day by wearing black gloves and black sleeves that went up past is elbows, said his strategy was to stick with a lead pack filled with guys shooting to beat him.
He ran a PR of 15:39 to win a race that was close and fast. Gus Schumacher of Service was second in 15:41 and Walker of West was third in 15:43. In fourth place was South's Derek Steele in 15:56.
"I knew Gus was wanting to beat me, so I just ran with him," Jordan said. "Finn was leading quite a bit of (the race) and then Gus took off after three (kilometers) and I went with him.
"It was really nice running with that pack."
Walker said he runs with a pack all of the time at practice. West is deep and competitive, and all seven of the team's runners made it into the top 20 Saturday.
"It's competitive. Everybody pushes each other," Walker said. "There's nine guys all trying to fight for varsity spots."
And they're all capable of sub-17:00 times, added Jager, who placed ninth in 16:24.
The Chugiak girls showed similar depth, with four runners placing in the top 10, five in the top 14 and all seven in the top 26.
Because of illnesses and injuries, it was the first time since the Tsalteshi Invitational last month that all seven were able to run, said senior Hannah Booher, who wasn't even in grade school the last time the Chugiak girls won a CIC championship.
"The best part is we're all super-close," she said. "Even though we want to beat each other, it's more about running as a team."
Cook Inlet Conference cross country championships
Bartlett High
Boys
Team scores
1) West 57, 2) South 60, 3) Chugiak 69, 4) Service 77, 5) Eagle River 132, 6) Bartlett 168, 7) East 191, 8) Dimond 201.
5-K
1) Ty Jordan, Chugiak 15:39; 2) Gus Schumacher, Service 15:41; 3) Finn Walker, West 15:43; 4) Derek Steele, South 15:56 5) Hamish Wolfe, South 16:19; 6) Max Hartke, Chugiak 16:22; 7) Roan Hall, Chugiak 16:23; 8) Riley Howard, Service 16:24; 9) Luke Jager, West 16:24; 10) Jacob Walsh, Eagle River 16:29; 11) Luke Meiwes, South 16:44; 12) Isaac Larson, Bartlett 16:45; 13) Nick Carl, Eagle River 16:47; 14) Brycen Lynch, West 16:49; 15) Joaquin Monterrosa, West 16:52; 16) Brian Britt, West 16:55; 17) Hunter Wonders, South 17:00; 18) Tristan Wiese, West 17:03; 19) Hunter Thompson, Service 17:03; 20) Foster Birnbaum, West 17:06 21) Zephan Ozturgut, East 17:08; 22) Brennan Baumgartner, Service 17:12; 23) Lyle Chamberlain, South 17:15; 24) Mason Keffalos, South 17:15; 25) Jack Ginter, Chugiak 17:17; 26) Fintan Nakada, Service 17:26 27) Justin Carpenter, Service 17:31; 28) Jacob Obrigewitch, Bartlett 17:32; 29) Bailey Milani, Service 17:33; 30) Charlie Latimer, Chugiak 17:38; 31) Jack Divelbiss, Dimond 17:41; 32) Declan Reid, Bartlett 17:42; 33) Alex Schuerch, East 17:42; 34) Adam Blackley, Eagle River 17:46 35) Kaden Denton, Dimond 17:47; 36) Carter Gladwill, Eagle River 17:47; 37) Aden Haywood, East 17:48; 38) Will Balcao, South 17:50; 39) Mike Maddox, Eagle River 17:54; 40) Ryan Dearborn, Chugiak 18:00; 41) Liam Baez-Terry, Chugiak 18:02; 42) Ryan Reid, Bartlett 18:07; 43) Mason Wadsworth, Eagle River 18:14; 44) Dax Cvancara, Dimond 18:17; 45) Derek Stone, Dimond 18:36 46) Alek Heil, Dimond 18:51; 47) Joshua Johnson, Eagle River 18:52; 48) Brian Sweeney, Dimond 18:55; 49) Kellen Tyrrell, East 19:03; 50) Joe Divelbiss, Dimond 19:09.
Girls
Team scores
1) Chugiak 38, 2) West 69, 3) Service 77, 4) Eagle River 81, 5) South 99, 6) Dimond 164, 7) East 193.
5-K
1) Morgan Lash, South 18:52; 2) Molly Gellert, West 19:02; 3) Emma Nelson, Chugiak 19:36 4) Paige McManus, Eagle River 19:43; 5) Carolynn Pype, Bartlett 19:45; 6) Lauren Corkran, West 19:48; 7) KayLee Manwaring, Chugiak 19:51; 8) Hannah Booher, Chugiak 20:07; 9) Maggie Meeds, South 20:07; 10) Emma Sees, Chugiak 20:12; 11) Sarah Souders, Service 20:13; 12) Kylie Judd, Dimond 20:18; 13) Nichole Blake, Service 20:22; 14) Brynn Kruchoski, Chugiak 20:23; 15) Abbie Johnson, Eagle River 20:26 16) Bryn Waite, Service 20:26 17) Cinnamon Monterrosa, West 20:27; 18) Peyton Young, Eagle River 20:28; 19) Grace Trimborn, Service 20:33; 20) Gwendolyn Mueller, Chugiak 20:34; 21) Helen Wilson, Eagle River 20:38; 22) Mimi Allen, West 20:38; 23) Aislinn Waite, Service 20:42; 24) Margeaux Bailey, East 20:42; 25) Clare Cook, Chugiak 20:46 26) Jania Tumey, West 20:55; 27) Myah Smith, Eagle River 20:59; 28) Kate Paskievitch, Eagle River 21:00; 29) Summer Frazier, Eagle River 21:02; 30) Kaitlyn Bailly, South 21:08; 31) Theresa Fernette, South 21:11; 32) Allie Monrean, South 21:16 33) Naomi Kiekintveld, South 21:16 34) Tatiana Harris, West 21:24; 35) Ruth Cvancara, Dimond 21:33; 36) Hannah Brown, South 21:36 37) Sage Romey, Service 21:36 38) Mary Burr, East 22:04; 39) Erica Heil, Dimond 22:06 40) Clare Howard, Service 22:09; 41) Ally Carney, Dimond 22:21; 42) Liesel Von Imhof, Dimond 22:37; 43) Darby Judd, Dimond 22:56 44) Brynn Morse, East 23:12; 45) Grace Lilly, Bartlett 23:26 46) Brianna Levy, East 23:27; 47) Allie Epke, Dimond 24:01; 48) Emily Ellis, East 32:02.