Cross-Country
2022 Alaska State XC Championships (Anchorage)
October 8, 2022
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Bucs Cross-Country team wrapped up their 2022 season with their fifth trip to state in the last six years. Bartlett hosted the state championships again with their challenging course. The three qualifying runners were Junior Rafe Caruthers, Junior Anika Palomar, and Sophomore Morgan Hamilton.
We brought the rains with us and the Bartlett roller coaster, two lap, 5k course became a giant slip n’ slide for the runners. The rains subsided just in time for the races, but a confusing mix of warm and cool winds threw debris at the runners and stuck to their mud splattered bodies.
Sixty-one Division II girls started as the winds threatened to throw the tents around. Palomar started the race in the middle of a large pack. Hamilton settled in nicely into the back of the pack. The mud didn’t faze the girls and they kept a strong and steady pace throughout the entirety of the race. Palomar was a few seconds shy of her time last year on this same course, finishing in 46th place at 25:34. Hamilton finished over a minute slower than last year on this same course. She came in 60th at 29:28.
Next, sixty-six Division II boys faced off against each other. Caruthers held his ground amidst bigger runners and remained in 20th place during the first lap. He began to lose momentum in the second lap and finished with a strong sprint to the finish line at 19:21 in 34th place, beating last year’s time by 56 seconds.
Congratulations to Caruthers, Palomar, and Hamilton for another amazing season!
Go Bucs!
Volleyball
Grace Christian Volleyball Invitational
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Lady Buccaneers competed in their last regular season tournament this weekend. The Grace Christian Grizzly’s Invitational is the largest 3A tournament with 18 teams competing. The girls were placed in Pool A and played one against each of the other 8 teams. They played great in pool play, with their second game being their first time seeing Kenai since the State Championship last season. Valdez came out strong, beating them 25-13 and ending the set with 6 blocks. They maintained this dominance throughout the rest of pool play finishing Saturday morning, 8-0. They were seeded first in the Platinum Bracket for the rest of Saturday’s games.
Bracket play was timed for 45 minutes and best 2 out of 3. The girls played tough against Soldotna in their first match but fell short, losing 0-2. They picked it up in their second match against Homer, easily winning 2-0. Their final set of the night was a rematch against Kenai who came back with a vengeance. We fought hard but lost the match leaving us in 4th place for the tournament. Momoe Togagae had a fantastic weekend all-around and was named to the All-Tournament team. Next weekend the Lady Buccaneers travel to Hutch for their fourth weekend of Conference games.
All-Tournament
Momoe Togagae
Pool Play
VS. Barrow 25-23
VS. Kenai 25-13
VS. ACS 25-9
VS. Nikiski 25-15
VS. Sitka 25-22
VS. Su-Valley 25-16
VS. Bartlett 25-12
VS. Soldotna 25-20
Platinum Bracket
VS. Soldotna 24-26, 15-25
VS. Homer 25-15, 25-15
VS. Kenai 17-25, 24-26