BRHS squads do well at Bartlett State Preview race

by Tommy Wells

The Bethel Regional High School cross country teams went into the weekend looking to find out how they stacked up against some of the state’s other programs. The answer they received was better than expected. The BRHS boys’ and girls’ teams were among the top Class 1A-2A-3A teams at the 2019 Bartlett State Preview Invitational.

The BRHS boys were the second-highest finishing 3A squad in the race, while the girls were fourth among 3A finishers.

The Warriors just missing qualifying for the top 10 in the race. Bethel sprinted to 11th overall with a team score of 342. Dimond edged out Chugiak for the top spot in the standings. Dimond finished with 43 points, while Chugiak tallied 46. West Anchorage was third.

Thomas Phelan and Jamin Crow paced the Bethel boys on the Bartlett trails. Phelan posted a time of 19 minutes, 9 seconds on the 3.1-mile course and finished 64th overall. Crow placed 66th with a mark of 19:22.

The Bartlett Trail is the same course that will be used for the 2019 state cross country championships.

Joshua Putikka and Alek Winkelman also did well for Bethel. Putikka was 75th overall with a time of 19:44. Winkelman was 87th, placing two spots ahead of teammate Peter Crow with a mark of 20:29.

Crow was 89th at 20:49.

Senior Klaydon Charlie and Gary Poe rounded out the Warriors’ efforts. Charlie was 101st at 21:58, while Poe was 115th at 24:51.

Dimond’s Santiago Prosser won the boys’ title, posting a record time of 15:07.

Sophomore Fiona Phelan led the Lady Warriors on the trail. She led Bethel to an 11th-place finish in the girls’ team standings with 317 points. South Anchorage won the team crown with 40 points – coming in second-place was Chugiak.

Phelan finished 73rd in the individual standings, completing the trail in a time of 24:49.

Senior Lindsey Beans-Polk was the Lady Warriors’ second-best finisher. She took 76th overall with a time of 25:05. Teammate Beth Hensley, a sophomore, was 77th at 25:19.

Cadence Cedars and Alqaq Small rounded out Bethel’s scoring runners. Cedars was 82nd in the standings with a time of 25:56. Small was 91st at 27:39.

Also running for Bethel was senior Gabrielle Fredericks and junior Kaeli Amik. Fredericks was 95th at 28:21. Amik was 98th at 30:33.