A pair of reigning state champions and a 2017 state champ captured individual victories and Anchorage schools grabbed all four of the team titles Saturday at the Palmer Invitational cross-country meet, where a record number of runners and team participated.
West Valley’s Kendall Kramer won the Division I girls race, Anchorage Christian’s Tristian Merchant won the Division II boys race and Homer’s Autumn Daigler won the Division II girls race. Kramer is a two-time state champion in DI, Merchant is the defending boys champ in DII and Daigle won the DII girls title two years ago.
Saturday’s other win went to Chugiak’s Hyrum Nelson, who clocked the fastest 5-kilometer time of the day to win the Division I boys race.
A total of 49 teams and 1,244 athletes competed in the annual meet.
Grace Christian swept the Division II team titles, and the Dimond boys and South girls claimed the Division I team titles.
South landed three girls in the top 10 — third-place Ava Earl, seventh-place Robyn Miller and 10th-place Lucy Young — to edge Kramer and the Wolfpack by two points.
The battle for first place in the Division II girls team standings was even closer. Grace Christian and Kenai Central both totaled 48 points, but Grace Christian won the tiebreaker, which is decided by the placement of each team’s No. 6 runner. Grace Christian’s No. 6 runner placed 22nd, and Kenai’s finished 62nd.
Palmer Invitational 5K
Division I boys
Team scores — 1) Dimond 62, 2) Chugiak 72, 3) Service 87, 4) West Valley 101, 5) Juneau 142, 6) West 155, 7) South 215, 8) Colony 243, 9) Kodiak 245, 10) Palmer 281, 11) Lathrop 295, 12) East 299, 13) Soldotna 309, 14) Wasilla 309, 15) North Pole 431.
Top 15 — 1) Nelson, Chugiak 15:18.96; 2) Maurer, Service 15:36.28; 3) Beloy, South 16:23.48; 4) Hoefer, Dimond 16:24.43; 5) Gardiner, Dimond 16:32.29; 6) Morley, Juneau- 16:35.90; 7) Abramowicz, West Valley 16:36.38; 8) Dammeyer, West 16:36.85; 9) Lestina, Chugiak 16:39.10; 10) Earnhart, Chugiak 16:39.39; 11) Swezda Mittelstadt, Service 16:39.76; 12) Rygh, Dimond 16:45.89; 13) Gruner, Kodiak 16:51.94; 14) Hinds, Dimond 16:52.68; 15) Maves, West 16:56.07.
Division II boys
Team scores — 1) Grace Christian 30; 2) Kenai Central 77; 3) Anchorage Christian 78; 4) Seward 93; 5) Homer 121; 6) Hutchison 190; 7) Bethel 197; 8) Galena 229; 9) Monroe Catholic 252; 10) Houston 279; 11) Barrow 281; 12) Cordova 293.
Top 15 — 1) Merchant, Anchorage Christian 16:11.99; 2) Fritzel, Grace Christian 16:49.35; 3) Coverdell, Grace Christian 16:52.29; 4) Smith, Anchorage Christian 16:55.31; 5) Wethington, Grace Christian 16:59.92; 6) Dunham, Kenai Central 17:04.28; 7) Knapp, Homer 17:09.19; 8) Davis, Anchorage Christian 17:09.46; 9) Sliwinski, Grace Christian 17:10.02; 10) Hamilton, Kenai Central 17:19.56; 11) Kniegge, Grace Christian 17:25.09; 12) Kopp, Grace Christian 17:28.59; 13) Haakenson, Kenai Central 17:44.95; 14) Pfeiffenberger, Seward 17:52.17; 15) Ingalls, Seward 17:54.71.
Division I girls
Team scores — 1) South 52; 2) West Valley 54; 3) Juneau 83; 4) Eagle River 151; 5) Palmer 161; 6) West 185; 7) Chugiak 188; 8) Colony 199; 9) Dimond 223; 10) Kodiak 257; 11) Soldotna 264; 12) Lathrop 303; 13) North Pole 328; 14) Wasilla 363.
Top 15 — 1) Kramer, West Valley 17:32.99; 2) Sadie Tuckwood, Juneau 17:43.29; 3) Earl, South 17:57.52; 4) Walsh, Eagle River 18:15.77; 5) Houser, Palmer 18:33.73; 6) Bailey, West Valley 18:40.52; 7) Miller, South 18:49.55; 8) Day, Chugiak 19:09.90; 9) Witter, Service 19:10.65; 10) Young, South 19:10.87; 11) Skylar Tuckwood, Juneau 19:18.09; 12) Iverson, Juneau 19:28.98; 13) Druckenmiller, West Valley 19:37.91; 14) Smith, West 19:38.10; 15) Biegel, South 19:45.57.
Division II girls
Team scores — 1) Grace Christian 48; 2) Kenai Central 48; 3) Monroe Catholic 50; 4) Homer 91; 5) Anchorage Christian 135; 6) Galena 138; 7) Bethel 173; 8) Barrow 193.
Top 15 — 1) Daigle, Homer 19:29.10; 2) Bast, Monroe Catholic 20:11.44; 3) Satathite, Kenai Central 20:12.96; 4) Boonstra, Kenai Central 20:25.39; 5) Metzger, Grace Christian 20:38.11; 6) Annett, Grace Christian 20:43.88; 7) Coverdell, Grace Christian 20:54.48; 8) Gerlach, Glennallen 21:00.31; 9) White, Monroe Catholic 21:02.02; 10) Fallon, Kenai Central 21:05.25; 11) Cook, Monroe Catholic 21:18.63; 12) Hodges, Monroe Catholic 21:29.86; 13) Foster, Kenai Central 21:30.36; 14) Lash, Grace Christian 21:31.55; 15) Bodfish, Meade River 21:45.60.