State cross-country produces four-peats, three-peats, repeats -- and some fast freshmen

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Briahna Gerlach, from Glennallen, cross the finish line for her fourth win in the 1-2-3A girls state cross-country championship race at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, October 1, 2016. Hanna was the sole girls runner from Mekoryuk. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)

A trio of freshmen kept things, well, fresh Saturday at the state cross-country championships at Bartlett High.

On a day of repeats, three-peats and one very big four-peat, 14-year-old Sadie Tuckwood of Juneau introduced herself to the rest of Alaska by making her state-championship debut look like a stroll through the park.

Tuckwood breezed to the Class 4A state girls championship, forging a 13-second victory in a race where the top three finishers were all freshmen.

[Complete results from Saturday's state cross-country races]

The victory puts Tuckwood in position to do something only three runners in Alaska history have done: Win four straight state titles.

Glennallen's Briahna Gerlach joined that exclusive club Saturday by once again ruling the Class 1-2-3A girls race. She joins Kristi Klinnert of Kodiak (1983-86) and Emily Ransom of Seward (1990-93) as the only runners – boys or girls – to take home wins as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior.

"My freshman year when I won state I thought, 'This is crazy,' '' Gerlach said. "Now, four years in a row, it's surreal. I'm really happy."

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Watching Gerlach cross the finish line in first place was one of the meet's many déjà vu moments:

— The Homer girls captured their third straight Class 1-2-3A title, a triumph made sweeter when the Homer boys earned their first team championship.

— For the third year in a row, a boy from Galena ran to the Class 1-2-3A individual victory – Jacob Moos, whose win followed two straight by teammate Kaleb Korta, now a college runner for UAA.

— The West Eagles, who waited more than 40 years to claim their first boys state championship, only waited one year for their second. West racked up the meet's biggest victory margin to repeat as the Class 4A team champs.

But it wasn't all deja vu. Service junior Gus Schumacher crushed the 4A boys field for his first state crown, and freshmen Kendall Kramer and Maggie Druckenmiller placed 2-3 in the 4A girls race to lead West Valley to its first team title since 2009.

Class 1-2-3A girls

Glennallen's Briahna Gerlach has made a habit out of encore performances – and not just on the running trails.

Gerlach is a talented singer who performed with a choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City last winter – a little gig she squeezed in between cross country and track seasons.

"She's blessed to have an amazing teacher, Richard Freeman-Toole," said Kelly Gerlach, Briahna's mother. "It takes the pressure off of running."

Gerlach specializes in opera and jazz, her mother said, and she also plays the violin and some piano.

Saturday marked her final aria in high school cross country. Gerlach turned the 5-kilometer race into a solo act, finishing in 18 minutes, 44 seconds, for a 32-second gap over Homer's Megan Pitzman.

Pitzman ran 19:16 to cap her own stellar career – in four years at the state meet, she placed second twice and third twice. And for the last three years, she's led the Mariners to the team title.

Homer placed three runners in the top 10, five in the top 15 and seven in the top 18 to hold off always-strong Grace Christian.

The Mariners scored 33 points – matching the West boys for the lowest score of the day – to beat Grace Christian by 19 points.

"We really wanted this three-peat," said Haley Knott, who placed 18th. "Everybody was stoked for it."

Knott and Pitzman are among four seniors on the team, along with 10th-place Lauren Evarts and 17th-place Audrey Rosencrans.

The veteran group got a nice boost from sophomore Katie Davis, who usually is the team's No. 7 runner but was the No. 5 runner on Saturday, placing 12th overall.

Those five, along with sixth-place Autumn Daigle and 15th-place Alex Moseley, all attended a running camp in Oregon over the summer as part of their commitment to the team.

"We've worked six months for this," said Moseley, who also wrestles for the Mariners. "… Being so tight-knit helps us out a lot in our races."

The close bond produced a lot of tears at the end of the race, especially from the seniors.

"I was almost crying before the race," Knott said.

Class 1-2-3A boys

It was appropriate that one of the first people to hug Jacob Moos at the finish line was Kaleb Korta.

Korta put Galena on the running map a couple of years ago. Moos is keeping it there.

"I do it for Galena," Moos said. "A lot of pride."

The Hawks don't have much in the way of running trails in their small town along the Yukon River. Two-time state champ Korta turned the local airstrip into a running venue during his days at the high school, and the standard he set is being matched now by Moos.

Moos, a junior, gave the Hawks their third straight state champion by winning Saturday's closest race.

His 15:55 put him two seconds ahead of Seward's Hunter Kratz (15:57) and seven seconds ahead of Anchorage Christian's Blake Bennett (16:02).

Zach Hamberger of Cordova set the early pace for a five-man lead pack, but it was all Moos at the end.

"Zach led for the first two kilometers. Hunter led a little while and I took over a little because I felt the pace was getting too slow," Moos said.

"That last hill, I gave it all I had. It seemed to last forever."

The team race was all about Homer, which totaled 45 points to knock off defending champion Sitka, which was second with 63. A year ago, Sitka beat Homer 55-70.

"Last year was a pretty big blow to our team," said Jared Brant, the team's only senior. "We were going for it. I'm happy. It's satisfying to know it finally paid off my senior year."

A sixth-place finish from Jacob Davis led the Mariners, who placed their top five runners in the top 17 to take home their first boys team title.

Brant, who placed 12th, said much of Homer's success comes from Bill Steyer, who coaches the boys and girls teams.

"He's a great coach. He's patient, and he's building a community of runners here," Brant said. "I remember talking to him in the 8th grade (about running).

"He's really built something in Homer."

Class 4A girls

Sadie Tuckwood is the kind of multi-sport athlete you only get in Alaska.

She's a state champion in cross country – and in the wrist carry, one of the events contested at the Native Youth Olympics.

Tuckwood's family moved from Dillingham to Juneau this summer, giving the Crimson Bears an instant injection of talent.

Younger sister Skylar provided some background on the state's latest freshman phenom.

"In fifth grade she ran with the middle schoolers. In middle school she ran with the high schoolers," Skylar said.

And now that she's in high school, "I run with the boys," Tuckwood said.

Tuckwood turned heads with her time of 18:16, but she didn't surprise herself with her effort.

"My goal was to get into the top three," she said. "I was looking at the times of the other girls coming in, and I thought I could stick with them."

Kramer, who dominated her previous races this season, said Tuckwood was in command the whole race.

"The first two kilometers I would get on her shoulder for a few seconds at a time," Kramer said. "But she was in the lead the whole time."

Kramer finished 13 seconds behind Tuckwood and 41 seconds ahead of teammate Druckenmiller. Defending state champion Molly Gellert of West fell victim to the fast pace, dropping out of the lead pack into 20th place.

It was a day for youth. Besides three freshmen grabbing the top three spots, four freshmen led West Valley to the team title with 45 points.

Kenai Central grabbed second place with 72 points and placed two runners in the top six – fourth-place Jaycie Calvery and sixth-place Riana Boonstra. Anchorage schools Service and Chugiak dueled for third place, with Service winning the battle by three points, 109-112.

Class 4A boys

The West Eagles lived up to their mantra, which was written in giant letters on a sign hanging over their team tent: "Crush, kill, maim."

The Eagles repeated as state champs with a mere 33 points, far ahead of second-place West Valley's 89.

Led by runnerup Finn Walker, who clocked 16 minutes flat, all seven West runners broke the 16:30 mark. The Eagles placed five runners in the top 10 and all seven in the top 13 – a dominance seldom seen at the state meet.

"There was no question who was gonna win this year," said West junior Declan Dammeyer, who placed fifth. "We went in not with a cocky attitude but with a confident attitude."

Luke Jager, who placed seventh for West, started conservatively, which gave him a chance to marvel at the sight of so many orange singlets at the front of the race.
"I got to see a little wave of orange in front of me," he said.

When he picked up his pace, the view changed only slightly.

"I'd see a little orange bump up on my shoulder a couple of times," Jager said, "and it wasn't the same guys.

"We're lucky enough to have a lot of depth on our team. It keeps everyone honest."

The Eagles weren't the only ones crushing and killing it. No one could touch Gus Schumacher of Service.

Schumacher clocked 15:44 in his fourth race of the season, a deliberately conservative schedule intended to keep him sharp for the cross-country ski season.

"I'm excited to jump back into full (ski) race training," he said.

Schumacher established control early and never relinquished it. He said hearing the cheers of spectators who lined the trails helped keep him focused.

"It definitely keeps you in the zone," he said.

While Schumacher was unchallenged, his team was involved in the closest battle of the day.

South and Service tied for third place with 95 points, but South got the edge thanks to the tiebreaker – which is based on the placement of a team's No. 6 runner. Mason Keffalos, South's sixth runner, placed 31st and Dakota Rygh, Service's sixth runner, placed 47th.

Besides their third-place team finish, the Wolverines shined during their prerace preparations. Runners huddled at the start line for a cheer that showed off the team's knowledge of both history and geography.

"Who lost the Civil War?" yelled the leader.

"SOUTH!" bellowed the others.

"Which Korea isn't Communist?"

"SOUTH!"