The Bethel Regional High School Warriors and Lady Warriors cross country teams competed at the Alaska Student Activities Association Division II State Championship Meet on Oct. 5, held at the Bartlett High School trails in Anchorage.
The Bethel Warrior boys tied the school’s highest ever placing at state, finishing in fourth place.
Head coach Paul Saltzman said that it was an impressive set of times from his runners. “Nearly everyone ran a faster time today. You can’t do much better than that,” he said.
Those times resulted in the best team finish since 2009.
Anchorage’s Grace Christian School won the Division II Boys State Championship, with Homer placing second with 74 points and Sitka edging out Bethel by just two points for third place.
Senior Ned Peters was the top racer for the Warriors. He finished in the top 10, completing the course in eighth place with a time of 17 minutes, 18 seconds to cap his remarkable high school career.
“It feels good,” said Peters. “I’m proud of the team and everything we’ve been able to do this year.”
Peters said that among the challenges his team works though is the lack of a track to train on.
“For speed work, we don’t have one. A lot of teams in the state do. So that’s one thing we have to work with,” Peters said.
Also racing for the last time was senior Sheldon Smith. He placed 21st overall and third for the Warriors with a time of 18 minutes, 13 seconds.
“It was a fun last race, and I’m happy how we did as a team,” said Smith.
“He’s a consistently performing team leader,” said Assistant Coach Nate DeHaan about Smith.
Smith set a personal record by 8 seconds.
“He runs a nice even paced run, and he does that without fail,” said DeHann.
The Warriors also got a boost from some underclassman speedsters.
Freshman Cole Iverson had the best race of his career, beating his own personal record by almost 30 seconds to place 11th overall with a time of 17 minutes and 31 seconds.
“I was just trying to pass on one person at a time,” said Iverson. “Focusing the whole time and never thinking negative thoughts.”
Iverson’s time was the second fastest for a freshman in Division II.
Another underclassman, Aiden Crow, also had his best race ever with a time of 18 minutes and 56 seconds. In cross country a team fields seven runners, but only the top five count towards the team score.
“I’ve been trying all year to get up there and score. Never got to it,” said Crow.
That was before Oct. 5. Crow ran a personal best time and was able to score for the Warriors.
“I’m glad it came down to the final meet when I scored. It was great,” Crow said.
The Warriors also won the State Academic Award for having the highest team GPA.
Coach Salzman said that the athletes set high expectations and maintained a great team attitude.
“Everyone pushes each other in practice and gets along great,” Salzman said. “It’s been one of the most enjoyable teams to coach.”
According to Saltzman, it’s a big part of their success.
The Lady Warriors also competed at state, placing seventh in the team scoring. They were led by freshman Claire Dyment, who finished in 19th place with a time of 22 minutes, 43 seconds, and her sister, Rosemarie Dyment, who finished in 20th place less than a second behind her with a time of 22 minutes, 44 seconds.
The fastest small school Division III girls racer from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta was Ariana Tall-Lake of Hooper Bay. The senior placed 24th with a time of 24 minutes, 56 seconds.
Fellow Hooper Bay Warrior, junior Payton Nanuk, was the highest placing Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta racer in the boys Division III, placing 19th with a time of 19 minutes, 28 seconds.
Abbygail Mael of Chefornak was the highest placing Kuskokwim area racer, finishing 43rd.
Charlie Chingliak of Akiachak was the fastest Kuskokwim area small school racer in the boys race, finishing in 48th.
The top racer in all of Western Alaska proved to be Ourea Busk of Unalakleet. She won the individual State Championship title for the second year in a row.
