Galena ranked highly this weekend in a varsity cross-country meet in Wasilla, where runners from Nome-Beltz were among hundreds of competitors from throughout the state.

Galena’s Carlee Merriner placed seventh in the girls’ varsity event at the Wasilla Invite, with a time of 21 minutes and 53 seconds (21:53). Bethany Daniel was the top finisher for the Nome girls, taking 18^th place with a time of 23:01; Daniel finished between Pearle Green and Vivian Condello, both of Galena. 69 girls ran altogether, with Allison VanPelt of Wasilla placing first at 19:14. Starr Erikson of Nome finished 28^th, and Mallory Conger placed 41^st.

In the boys’ varsity race, Lucas Echenique of Galena placed second out of 122 runners, with a finish time of 17:20. Nome’s Tobin Hobbs placed 15^th with 18:41. Ben Cross and David Miller of Nome finished in 44^th and 51^st, respectively. The Nanooks are next off to Bethel, where they will run in the Big West Conference on Saturday.

Also in weekend sports, the NBHS Volleyball team competed at the West High “Spiketacular” Tourney and played 2-5 in pool play. On Saturday, they were defeated in the bracket by West Anchorage and Colony. The Lady Nanooks will be hosting Bethel and Monroe Catholic Varsity this weekend. Monroe is currently in first place in the Aurora Conference.

Image at top: file photo: public domain, via Pixabay.