Led by winners Luke Jager and Molly Gellert, West High skiers mastered a difficult course at Kincaid Park on the first day of the Cook Inlet Conference cross-country ski championships on Friday.
Jager led four Eagles into the top 10 of the 10-kilometer boys race, half of which was held on the demanding Lekisch Trail.
Gellert and Maggie York gave West a 1-2 finish in the 7.5K girls race, which included part of the Lekisch Trail as well as the steep Stairway to Heaven trail.
The top three finishers in the boys race featured three skiers who represented the United States at international competitions earlier this winter.
Jager and second-place Gus Schumacher of Service both raced at the Nation's Cup in Norway, and third-place Hunter Wonders of South recently returned from the World Junior Championships in Utah.
"We have such a competitive high school pool (of skiers)," Schumacher said. "If you win this race, you can win Junior Nationals."
Jager's time of 28 minutes, 24.4 seconds put him nearly 15 seconds ahead of Schumacher. Wonders finished in 30:20.8, 30 seconds ahead of West's Sam York.
In the girls race, Gellert beat York by nearly 15 seconds with a time of 26:12.7. Third place went to Chugiak's Heidi Booher, who was more than a minute behind the West duo.
Competition continues Saturday with freestyle relays beginning at 11 a.m., with A team girls starting at 12:45 p.m. and the boys going at 1:30 p.m.
Among the titles at stake are the CIC Skimeister awards, which go to the boy and girl with the fastest combined times from Friday's race and their legs in Saturday's relay.
Boys
Team scores
1) West 2:03:34.8, 2) South 2:07:36.7, 3) Service 2:09:15.3, 4) Dimond 2:14:17.4, 5) Chugiak 2:17:35.1, 6) Eagle River 2:36:42.1.
10-kilometer classic
1) Luke Jager, West, 28:24.4; 2) Gus Schumacher, Service, 28:39.0; 3) Hunter Wonders, South, 30:20.8; 4) Sam York, West, 30:50.0; 5) Eli Hermenson, Service, 31:42.8; 6) Tristan Wiese, West, 31:48.8; 7) Hamish Wolfe, South, 31:57.3; 8) Andrew Hull, South, 32:31.5; 9) Noah Ravens, West, 32:31.6; 10) George Cvancara, Dimond, 32:43.3; 11) Chip Schoff, South, 32:47.1; 12) Brian Wing, Chugiak, 33:06.1; 13) Max Beiergrohslein, Chugiak, 33:11.3; 14) Bryce Pintner, Dimond, 33:13.5; 15) Zach Bassett, Service, 33:27.4; 16) Everett Cason, West, 33:44.8; 17) Jack Wright, Dimond, 33:59.2; 18) Micah Barber, Dimond, 34:21.4; 19) Kaden Denton, Dimond, 34:37.6; 20) Ben Michaelson, South, 34:38.3; 21) Miles Dennis, Chugiak, 34:54.3; 22) Kai Meyers, South, 35:01.6; 23) Torsten Renner, Eagle River, 35:03.2; 24) Kelly Martin, West, 35:12.6; 25) Fintan Nakada, Service, 35:26.1; 26) Quinton Perham, Chugiak, 36:23.4; 27) Ryan Brubaker, Service, 36:32.7; 28) Peter Hoffman, Service, 37:14.2; 29) Dylan Jones, South, 37:18.4; 30) Hyrum Nelson, Chugiak, 39:02.1; 31) Garrett Nevells, Chugiak, 39:26.8; 32) Carter Gladwill, Eagle River, 39:59.1; 33) Christian Baldridge, Eagle River, 40:28.7; 34) Curtis Bay, Eagle River, 41:11.1; 35) Brian Jensen, Chugiak, 45:01.5; 36) Camden Ensign, Eagle River, 46:19.2;
Girls
Team scores
1) West 1:49:48.4, 2) Chugiak 1:53:23.9, 3) South 1:57:16.3, 4) Service 2:00:41.7, 5) Dimond 2:12:16.6, 6) Eagle River 2:28:55.4.
7.5-kilometer classic
1) Molly Gellert, West, 26:12.7; 2) Magdalen York, West, 26:27.1; 3) Heidi Booher, Chugiak, 27:59.9; 4) Abby Amick, South, 28:04.2; 5) Maggie Meeds, South, 28:09.3; 6) Emma Nelson, Chugiak, 28:12.0; 7) Aubrey LeClair, West, 28:12.9; 8) Emma Sees, Chugiak, 28:30.2; 9) Adrianna Proffitt, Chugiak, 28:41.8; 10) Garvee Tobin, Service, 28:55.6; 11) Alejandra Legate, West, 28:55.7; 12) Ruth Cvancara, Dimond, 29:06.1; 13) Kaylee Heck, South, 29:18.6; 14) Caitlin Gohr, Service, 29:41.2; 15) Ellie Mitchell, West, 29:59.3; 16) Ivy Eski, West, 30:05.0; 17) Maya Brubaker, Service, 30:54.2; 18) Adeline Wright, Service, 31:10.7; 19) Elizabeth Mans, West, 31:28.2; 20) Savannah Ulrich, South, 31:44.2; 21) Hannah Armbrust, South, 31:50.5; 22) Jasmine Langmann, Dimond, 32:13.3; 23) Elena Eberhardt, South, 32:34.3; 24) Nadia Dworian, Service, 33:21.2; 25) Sadie Oswald, South, 33:23.7; 26) Carly Dennis, Chugiak, 33:48.4; 27) Olivia Mueller, Chugiak, 33:49.9; 28) Liesel Von Imhof, Dimond, 33:50.9; 29) Amanda Moore, Service, 34:08.0; 30) Clare Howard, Service, 35:26.4; 31) Myah Smith, Eagle River, 35:30.5; 32) Rachael Schick, East, 36:04.9; 33) Ashley Walsh, Eagle River, 36:26.5; 34) Ariana O `Harra, East, 36:57.8; 35) Madeleine Taylor, Eagle River, 36:59.1; 36) Briannah Pugh, Dimond, 37:06.3; 37) Ashlyn Johnson, East, 37:19.4; 38) Abigail Luiken, Dimond, 37:55.0; 39) Kestrel Gilliam, Eagle River, 39:59.3; 40) Laura Ripp, Eagle River, 40:33.2; 41) Tamara Brabson, Eagle River, 41:02.3.