The Nome varsity and junior high cross-country teams headed to Kotzebue this past Saturday. This meet was one of the final competitions before the Nanooks potentially get a chance to race at state.

The varsity Nanook girls found success, taking first as a team with top runner Mallory Conger finishing fourth overall.

On the boys’ side, the varsity team finished third as a whole. Tobin Hobbs lead the way for Nome, finishing second overall. According to cross country coach Jeff Collins, Micah Moore came from behind to take twelfth after being passed by four Kotzebue runners in the last tenth of a mile.

“And he took that as a challenge and he went by every single one of them, not only getting a minute twenty-seven PR from the previous year, he passed four other runners along the way. That was one of the greatest shows of heart, courage that I’ve seen in a long time from runners.”

For the junior high runners, Nome’s Orson Hoogendorn won the boys race and Awaluk Nichols came in second for the girls. On the junior high side, however, not all of the outstanding performances took place in Kotzebue.

“We also had some runners go to Teller. Deacon Callahan ended up winning that race in Teller with Ethan Moore taking third, and I believe John Smith was fifth.”

At the same time in Koyuk, Bering Strait School District teams competed at the Koyuk Invite over the weekend. Derek Hadley of Koyuk won the varsity boys race and Margo Daniels of Unalakleet finished first for the girls varsity.

With multiple Nome-Beltz runners setting personal bests, the Nanooks’ sights now turn to this Saturday’s Big West meet, to be held in Nome. This meet could result in the Nanooks qualifying for the state competition.

Races will start with elementary/junior high at 11:00am, and girls varsity at 11:45am. Boys varsity will follow at 12:30pm and the community race will round things out at 1:00pm.

Image at top: Stock photo of a high school running track. Photo used through public domain, Pixabay.