Fog hampers Musk Ox Classic XC race

Thick fog Saturday morning led to weather delays for the annual Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic cross country run meet, held on trails behind the Nome-Beltz campus.
The first race of the day was the Nome Elementary Running Club race, delayed by around one hour from a 10 a.m. start. Later, the middle schoolers would compete, followed by the high school girls and then the high school boys.
 A thick fog lay damp over the playground behind Nome-Beltz as kids clad in the blue running club shirts played on the equipment and parents watched. Just inside the school next to the gymnasium, was a situation room. Nome-Beltz Athletics Director Pat Callahan, Running Club coach Rachel Ventress and Nome-Beltz Cross Country Running Coach Tobin Hobbs gathered around a table, debating start times. Ventress wanted to hold off starting the kids in case the Teller Aklaqs brought any elementary school aged kids to race. Was Teller coming? No one was sure – someone had texted the group that the Teller team had left for Nome at 8:30 a.m. that morning, but no one knew if there were elementary schoolers with them.
Even if more elementary school aged kids were on their way, the middle and high school races were delayed. The Barrow Whalers and Kotzebue Huskies were ready, but Galena’s plane had not yet landed. Shishmaref, White Mountain and Unalakleet had also planned to attend, but couldn’t make it to Nome.
Everyone took events in stride and hunkered down to wait for the action to start. Finally, at around 11 a.m., the preschoolers through fifth graders took off, heading out into the fog, some with parents running alongside. Only a few minutes later, the first preschoolers began to trickle across the finish line, greeted by a cheering crowd of friends and family.
Annie Blandford, there to watch her grandkids, said events like this are a community affair. “You don’t just come to watch your kids, you come to watch everyone’s kids because we’re all connected,” she said.
Back inside the school, Callahan was coordinating timing for the middle and high school races. He distributed stopwatches and instructions to volunteers. For timing, they were to “go old school” with pen and paper to mark names and places. On his laptop, he tracked the progress of the plane carrying athletes from Galena, watching as it came in for a landing at Nome’s airport.
The middle and high school races got pushed back an hour. At 12:30 p.m., the middle schoolers took off. The five-kilometer course headed out towards Moonlight Springs before hooking a right on a steep climb up Anvil Mountain towards the Old Glacier Creek Road. Racers followed the road down the mountain back towards the school, before heading out to the west and then looping towards the teacher apartments before finishing at the back of Nome-Beltz by the gymnasium. The high school girls followed with a start at 1:15 p.m. and the boys started at 2 p.m. 
“We got a way flatter course than they did at Bartlett,” said Hobbs, the new head coach of Nome-Beltz’s cross country team. Last weekend, the team headed to Bartlett High School in Anchorage for the state course preview meet. Many of the athletes laid down their fastest time yet there, and Hobbs was hopeful they would net new personal records this weekend.
Hobbs said he wants to build a culture of running in Nome. Just a few years ago, Hobbs was a standout Nome-Beltz athlete himself, graduating in 2021. “I always saw myself becoming a coach at some point, and that was always kind of a dream that I had. I didn’t think it was going to be this soon,” he said, grinning.
He took the team to Bartlett to give them a taste of the state course and some action from big and fast schools.  “All the kids – both the boys and the girls– they loved the intensity. They loved the shoulder-to-shoulder action, the busy trails, the fast pace,” he said. “They’re like, ‘We want more.’” I was like, “Okay, we’ll get you more.’ I have a goal for them this weekend to just get after it.” 
Get after it they did. The top four finishers in the boys’ high school race were Nome-Beltz athletes with Granite Peacock, winning in a time of 17:28.
Nanook Max Pardee took home first place in the middle school race.
All three Nome-Beltz girls placed in the top 11 of the girls’ high school race.
Noel Pardee took home second place and was the top finisher for the Nome-Beltz girls’ team. She said the meet at Bartlett, with a lot of bigger schools gave her a good base to build her mindset this season. “It’s really helped this race and the rest of the season,” she said. Pardee achieved another PR last weekend.
While there was only one major hill on the course this past weekend, it was a steep one. Boys winner and NBHS senior Granite Peacock said his speed dropped once he started the climb. “I was like, ‘This sucks,’ and my legs started to give out, and my lungs,” he said. “Compared to any other course we’ve ran, it’s just one huge hill, and it sucks. 
After the hill, the course was mostly downhill and flat. The last third of the race, Peacock just used up all the gas he had left in the tank. “Obviously I gotta practice hills a lot more too,” he said.
Pardee said the hill was the crux of the race for her, too. “That hill is always a battle, but definitely when you get to the top it’s quite rewarding,” she said. 
On the climb, Pardee overtook Zaylin Barr of Galena and started to chase down the leader, Adele Thomas of Barrow. What was going through her mind? “Just thinking, ‘I gotta catch them, I gotta catch them,’” she said, a big smile on her face.
By the end of the boys’ race, the fog had lifted just enough to see the winners coming into the finish line, cheered on by crowds of friends and family.
For those hoping to catch more cross country running action, Nome will be the host to the Big West Regional Cross Country Meet on September 26. The state championships will be held at Bartlett High School in Anchorage, on Oct. 3.

Results
High School Boys
1. Granite Peacock, Nome, 17:28
2. Gabriel Tran, Nome, 19:31
3. Rowan Moore, Nome, 19:54
4.  Dade Ellanna, Nome, 20:16
5. Joshua Barron, Kotzebue 20:17
6.  Joshua Funk, Kotzebue  20:27;

7.Gerald Malabon, Galena, 21:02;

8.Foxlee Miller, Teller, 21:09;

9.Tyler Ellanna, Nome, 21:18;
10. Ronan Howey, Galena 21:45;

11. Hanuman Seyrek, Galena, 21:46;

12. Keegan Musich, Nome, 22:30;
13.Michael Koelsch, Nome 22:53;
14. David McConnell, Kotzebue  22:54;
15. Karver Otton, Nome 23:05;
16. Alex Topkok, Teller 23:18;
17. Carson Thomas, Nome 23:35;

18. Rowan Davis, Kotzebue  23:54;
19. Wilhelm Garnie, Teller 24:26;

20. Matthew Thomas, Teller 24:29;

21. Rico Sallison, Galena 24:38;
22. Kenai Hughes, Nome  24:41;
23. Alex Walker, Kotzebue  24:53;
24. Sean Swanson, Kotzebue  25:05;
25. Chad Esmailka, Galena 25:38;

26. Trevor Donovan Barrow 25:44;

27.William Biesemeier  Kotzebue  26:16;
28. Jack James, Nome 29:07;
29. Richard Gallahorn, Kotzebue  30:35;
30. Ryan Michaels, Nome 49:48

High School Girls
1. Adele Thomas Barrow 23:48
2. Noel Pardee Nome 24:44
3. Zenae Billings Galena 25:05
4 Camille Huntington Galena 25:08;
5. Zaylan Barr Galena 26:33;
6. Danica Billings Galena 26:38;
7. Hazel Nanouk Kotzebue 26:39;
8. Tiffany Nanouk Kotzebue 27:36;
9. Agnes Okbaok Teller 27:38
10. Piper Lewis Nome 27:51
11. Audrey Bruner-Alvanna Nome 28:16
12. Jessa Kaleak Barrow 28:49
13. Evelyn Hansen Kotzebue 29:59
14. Flossie Olemaun Barrow 30:29
15. Rylie Boyscout Galena 31:10
16. Martha Garoutte Kotzebue 58:57
 
Middle School (Co-Ed)
1.   Max Pardee, Nome   22:53;
2. Coulter Scotton,  Galena 22:54;
3. Andrew Stringer, Galena 23:23;
4. Ella Hubert, Nome, 23:59;
5. Rouven Honefisher, Galena 24:42;
6. Ryder Pardee, Nome 24:47;

7.Andrew Bernard, Nome, 25:52;
8. Demi Pantellis, Nome, 25:59;

9. Lexi Blandford, Nome, 27:08;
10. McCade Ablowaluk, Teller, 27:23;
11. Sophia Piscoya, Nome, 27:28;

12. Josiah Billings, Galena 27:54;

13. Mia Green, Galena, 28:49;
14. Gabriella Hughes, Nome, 30:49;
15. Kinley Krift, Nome, 31:32
16. Calvin Hornfischer, Galena 31:43;
17. Weston Sinnok, Nome 32:58;
18. Daniel Sobie, Nome 33:10;

19. Joetta Hubert Nome   33:41
20. Mia Weyanna Teller   33:59
21. Ethan Piscoya  Nome   35:18
22. Ari Blandford  Nome   35:20
23. Kaimana Vacek Nome   40:01
24. Paige Lewis Nome   40:15
25. Zachary Slingsby Nome   43:18