The Wrangell Wolves boys and girls cross-country running teams both took home second-place honors in the Division III state championship meet last weekend in Anchorage.
Wrangell senior and team captain Jackson Carney came in second in the boys race with a time of 17:57.6, a seasonal best.
Sophomore Jenna Meissner placed fourth in the girls race, with a time of 20:48.7, finishing one second behind Petersburg’s Arielle Tucker, who defeated Meissner for the first time in her running career.
“I had an off race,” Meissner said. “I felt pretty sick. I just got out there and tried to do what I could for our team. I think the cold kind of affected me, but other than that, it is what it is. I am going to come back next year and try to get up there.”
“Jenna is a class act and a champion at heart,” coach Mason Villarma said in a post-race interview after the Saturday event.
Overall, the Petersburg Vikings, which placed three runners in the top 10, won the girls team title with 12 points, followed by Wrangell with 23, Dillingham at 27 and Craig with 31.
In the boys race, Wrangell’s 20 points fell five points short of first-place winner Dillingham. The lowest score, which is a compilation of individual runners’ finishes, wins the team title.
“We were incredibly proud of both teams and how well they did at state,” Villarma said. “Several of the runners were battling sickness, and it was a crisp 32 degrees that morning — a little colder than our Southeast kids are used to. Even with that, they battled, and both teams walked away second in the state, which is an incredible accomplishment.”
