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Boys ninth, girls seventh at state championship meet
By Aaron Selbig
Staff Writer
The hard-charging Homer High cross country ski team, a well-coached and well-conditioned group of Energizer bunnies who have been surprising opponents all year long, wrapped up their season last weekend with top 10 performances from both the girls' and boys' teams at the 2009 ASAA Nordic Ski Championships, held at Birch Hill in Fairbanks.
Photographer Quinten Arndt
Homer's Emma Laukitis (left) and Katie Miller (right) stick close together during the 7.5-kilometer freestyle race at last weekend's ASAA Nordic Ski State Championships in Fairbanks.
Finishing seventh and ninth respectively, the Mariner girls and boys beat out several much larger schools, including Wasilla, Dimond, Bartlett and every Kenai Peninsula team save Soldotna.
It was the best state championship result for Homer in at least seven years, said Assistant Coach Megan Corazza.
"Wow. We were so happy with how both the boys' and girls' teams both did," she said. "As far as the records I can find, they haven't been in the top 12 in the past five years. The interesting thing about our teams is that there aren't any individuals who stand out in a superstar way. Instead, they are skiing pretty tight as a group and that is giving them a high team ranking."
Although both teams usually do finish races together in clumps, Will Anderson, the only Mariner to crack the top 25 in individual standings, stood out Saturday for his 22nd place individual finish on the boys' 10-kilometer track.
"I'm not sure if Will expected to come in 22nd, but he was pretty happy when he did," said Corazza. "He skied with intent and purpose and it was exciting to watch."
Anderson's secret to success, added Corazza, is a race day diet of Gatorade and Wheat Thins, a concoction that must be doing something for him. In addition to his strong individual finish, Anderson anchored the Mariner boys' relay team, turning in the fourth fastest anchor leg at state.
It's Homer's junior Nordic ski program that feeds the Mariner team with so many talented and motivated young athletes, said Corazza, and next year should be no different.
"If we can convince these skiers to maintain a summer training program, our results will be just as high or higher," she said. "Our junior varsity group on both the boys' and the girls' sides is so ridiculously strong that I hope it translates into the varsity races.
"It was a great winter. It's just too bad that skiing is over just when the sun comes out."
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