Courtesy of VHS Cross-Country Coach
Once again the Valdez High School Cross-Country Team got their racing season underway with a meet at home. We have lots of new talent this season. Leading the team is Captain Senior Morgan Hamilton, Senior Romen Weber, and Senior Dalen Beck. New to Valdez we have Junior Peter Reggie Baksis challenging Junior James Humphrey to spread his wings. Sophomores Robert Taylor and Jewely Weber are starting off strong. Lastly our Freshmen Cirque Carter, Zachary Berkley, Kaden VanBuskirk, and Logan Beck are a speedy bunch that are motivated to run! The Buccaneers welcomed Cordova, Bethel, Unalaska, and the middle school cross-country team.
The preferred course on the West Dike of Mineral Creek became a slippery mud bog from all of the rain and forced us to move the race to Mineral Creek to do an out and back. The course started on the East Dike below the water tower. It began with a zigzag up a short hill to access Mineral Creek Road. An easy downhill to the bridge, then across the bouncy bridge to Mighty Mite, this is the toughest part of the course. The slog up Mighty Mite was rewarded with a slight downhill to the turnaround point where alumni Rafe Caruthers guided runners to return to the start and do the course in reverse. The clouds quickly dissipated and the mountains shone.
The boys started the races with 25 runners stepping up to the start line. Middle School boys followed the high schoolers after the start. Bethel is a strong team and dominated the race. Bethel’s Ned Peters finished first with a time of 16:32, almost a minute later came Bethel’s Jackson Iverson at 17:26 and Cole Iverson at 17:40. Finally, we saw a blue jersey as Reggie Baksis neared the finish line at 17:52 in 4th place. Junior James Humphrey started his season with a personal record of over a minute and a 7th place finish at 18:23, but with Freshman Kaden VanBuskirk hot on his heels in 8th place at 18:27. Running JV due to a shortage of practices was Senior Dalen Beck, finishing 12th overall at 19:15. Closing in on his older brother, Freshman Logan Beck also ran JV and finished 14th overall at 19:27. Next came Freshman Cirque Carter in 15th place at 19:36. Senior Romen Weber finished strong in 18th place at 20:05, shaving 30 seconds off of last year’s home meet. Freshman Zach Berkeley sprinted across the finish line in 21st place at 21:45, followed by a personal record for Sophomore Robert Taylor in 24th place at 22:30.
Next, 14 girls stepped up to run. Again Bethel dominated the first 3 places, but Valdez girls Senior Morgan Hamilton and Sophomore Jewely Weber started the season stronger and faster than last year. Sophomore Jewely Weber ran 41 seconds faster than her first race last season, finishing in 8th place at 26:59. Senior Morgan Hamilton had never finished a home meet in under 30 minutes until now, with just seconds left she hustled across the finish line in 11th place at 29:59, just a second to spare.
Most of the team committed to running and working out all summer long and it shows. We are stronger and faster than at the beginning of any other season. It’s going to be an exciting season with this dynamic group of athletes! Next stop, Interior Invite, a flat, twisty, turny course along the Chena River in North Pole and a team favorite.
