Colony Invite
Palmer, AK
August 30, 2025
Submitted by VHS Cross-Country coach – The Bucs cross-country team enjoyed a bouncy school bus ride to Colony High School in Palmer. After a little shaking, rattling, and rolling the athletes enjoyed a short and somewhat sleepless night. Fortunately the rain and winds subsided in time to dry out the course. Runners previewed the course of rolling grass, dirt, and roots through a sun dappled forest. Those without spikes practiced quick steps on the slick, wet dirt.
The Boys Open started our day of racing. Running in the open were Sophomores Logan Beck, Zane Caruthers, Connor Hamilton, Cody Miller, Juniors Jaymyn James and Robert Taylor. One hundred forty-fine runners took off toward the trails at the sound of the gun. Z. Caruthers was the first Buc to cross the finish line in 25th place with a personal record of almost 1 minute. Next came Beck, followed by Hamilton with a personal record of 45 seconds. Battling for 84th and 85th place were Miller and Taylor. James came cruising across the finish line with an impressive personal record of 2 ½ minutes!
The sun came out for the Boys Varsity and a preview of the state’s top 84 runners! Seniors Reggie Baksis and James Humphrey led the team along with Freshman James Sanborn. Baksis cruised through the finish line in 17th place. Humphrey and Sanborn battled it out for 23rd and 24th place, with Humphrey eeking out the lead. Sophomore Kaden VanBuskirk wasn’t far behind. Then, Senior Gabe Caruthers and Freshman Dylan Agcaoili-Smith also battled for 64th and 65th place, with Smith narrowly beating Caruthers, both earning personal records.
Lastly, 66 Varsity Girls took to the course. Freshman Bryndi Beck took off like a shot, leading the Bucs girls. Beck finished in 29th place with an outstanding 23:11 finish. Freshman Zooey Baksis came out of nowhere with a bloody nose that didn’t slow her down, earning a 1 minute personal record over last week’s race, she was all smiles and blood. Freshman Miquela Baksis wasn’t far behind and also earned a 30 second personal
record. Testing her legs on her first race, Junior Jewely Weber pushed through a painful foot injury to finish with a sprint.
These athletes work hard every practice. Out of 17 runners this weekend, 7 earned personal records on a hilly and more challenging course than last week. Next week, we head back to Palmer to the biggest race of the season with over 30 teams from across the state! We are hoping to have this mighty team of 20 together, finally! These runners are fast, strong, and determined, the Buccaneers are making waves!
Go Bucs! (Finish times and mile splits below.)
