Runners with the Unalaska Raiders boys’ and girls’ cross country teams qualified for the state championships earlier this month. Six students competed at the event in Palmer against more than 160 other runners in the Division 3 races.
First-year Head Coach Ian Bagley led three boys and three girls into the championships. He said the runners competed individually because not enough students qualified to compete for a team title. A team needs five people, according to state regulations, and Unalaska City School District was short two people of each gender. Still, they had three top 20 placers.
“The main thing that I encouraged kids to do this year was just to pick up as many places as they could,” Bagley said. “You're running a state meet, and at this point, your times don't matter. You're competing as an individual, and just try to beat as many other kids as you can.”
Runners covered a trail that’s 3.1 miles long or a 5k.
For the girls, Lucile Bagley, daughter of Coach Bagley, finished in 15th place with a time of 24 minutes and 23 seconds. Izabella Lopez came in 17th place at 24:34. And Beatrice Bagley placed 64th with a time of 27:55.
For the boys, the lone top 20 placer for Unalaska was Franklin “RJ” Dumo, who came in 18th place with a time of 19:47. Alan Muñoz placed 55th with a time of 22:02, while Luois Amora placed 69th with a time of 23:08.
“We had a handful of kids that ran faster than anyone has in years,” Coach Bagley said. “RJ Dumo — he was running faster than anyone's ran in six or seven years. And then I noticed the other day that Izabella, Lucy and Beatrice are three of our four fastest girls to ever run at Unalaska.”
This season, Izabella Lopez beat a 20-year record in Unalaska, when she ran a 5k in just 21:08. Halidie Wilt previously held the record for two decades, with a 2003 time of 21:17 — just nine seconds longer than Lopez.
Coach Bagley said if they continue to build up the girls’ roster, they’ll be strong and ready to compete as a team at the state level next year.
“There's a common misconception that cross country is an individual sport, which it isn't. It's a team sport that individuals compete in,” he said. “So it is frustrating when we can't compete as a team. But next year, I look forward to hopefully getting enough people above our qualifying time so that we can compete as a team.”
Coach Bagley said this year’s team was unique and supported one another. He said he’s going to continue to push them to develop their love of and dedication to running.
