Cross-Country Running is Back
September 10, 2020
After a successful 2019 season, Seward High School cross-country running is back. Last year, the boys team placed 2nd at the state meet, and the girls team qualified for state in the tough Southcentral conference. Can the Seahawks repeat their success from last year?
Assistant coach Sol said, “It’s too early to tell with such a small sample size, but my gut says we’ll be in the running again this year.”
Friday, August 21 Seward hosted the first meet of the season. Because of the recent Covid-19 outbreak in the central peninsula, the race was a duel with Homer. Some might think that a sunny day would be good for a cross-country meet, but freshman runner John VanBuskirk said, “It was way too hot.” His teammates saw him dumping his water bottle on his head after the race. Despite the scalding 70 degree heat, there were several Seahawk standouts.
The girls varsity started first; then JV girls chased them, a minute behind. Freshman Hailey Ingalls started with the JV runners and impressively passed all the varsity racers for a first place finish. Seniors Maranatha Bruekner and Hana Cooney finished 2nd and 5th, overall, respectively. On the boys side, seniors Max Pfeiffenberger finished 1st, Trey Ingalls came in 3rd and Levi DeBoard was right behind Trey in 4th. Freshman Aloshia Cross was close on their heels with a 5th place finish. The seniors on the team showed their experience, and the freshmen showed that Seward’s cross-country team has a bright future ahead.
This past weekend, the team had another duel with Homer, this time at Homer’s course. Homer’s course is very hilly and has uneven footing for most of it, making for slower times than the previous week. Although the times were a bit slower for most of the runners this race, the results were very similar, as the Seahawks were racing against the same people.
Because of Covid-19, the rest of the season is uncertain, and any race could be cancelled or moved at any time. There have already been several meets changed this season, including the Kenny Lake Invitational hosted by Seward High alum and Kenny Lake coach Jacob Marshall.
On Friday the 4th, the team traveled to Nikiski for the Class Races. The other schools on the Peninsula competed this time, which made things more interesting.
In the freshman/sophomo
re girls race, Hailey Ingalls placed 2nd, and Lena Jagielski finished 6th. In the junior/senior race, Maranatha Brueckner came in 3rd, and Hana Cooney placed 6th.
On the boys side, Aloshia Cross finished 4th. Max Pfeiffenberger came in 2nd. Trey Ingalls edged out Levi DeBoard and came in 5th with Levi in 6th. Sam Koster and Clay Petersen rounded out the junior/senior race and helped the Seward boys secure the 1st place as a team.
