Wrangell’s pack looked every bit like contenders on one of Southeast Alaska’s stiffest cross-country tests, propelled by a freshman who never glanced over her shoulder.
Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé swept the team trophies on its home course at Sandy Beach on Saturday, while Craig junior Aulis Nelson and Wrangell freshman Jenna Meissner claimed the individual titles at the Capital City Invite — the final tuneup before the regional championships in Sitka on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Nelson covered the 5-kilometer course in 17:00 to top a boys field of 130 runners. He placed second to Wrangell’s Boomchain Loucks in the Ketchikan meet on Sept. 13 but had the Juneau course to himself. Loucks had opted to compete in a meet in Washington state.
On the girls side, Meissner clocked 20:18 to beat a field of roughly 95, with Juneau junior Kaia Mangaccat runner-up in 20:36.
Meissner turned the girls race into a front-running clinic. She grabbed control on the opening hill and never surrendered the lead, trimming 31 seconds from her 5,000-meter personal best, coach Mason Villarma said.
“My strategy was when you go up the hills, is to kick really hard and then just flow down them,” Meissner told the Juneau Independent newspaper. “Don’t go slow down the hills, keep on going. Having my team behind me means a lot. I love cross-country. It is really cool to be out here and race in high school now.”
The course’s sharp turns and rolling climbs rewarded bold moves, and Meissner leaned into both — building her margin on each ascent, floating the descents and finishing with a decisive drive to the line.
Teammates Bella Ritchie and Alana Harrison turned the win into a team statement, placing seventh and eighth two seconds apart to give Wrangell three runners in the top eight.
Wrangell’s boys answered with their own surge. Sophomore Jackson Carney punched into seventh with a time of 17:58, shaving 38 seconds from his personal best and moving the Wolves to fifth in the team standings with 131 points behind Juneau-Douglas, Sitka, Ketchikan and Petersburg, according to meet results.
Carney’s late push over the final half-mile helped pull teammates forward and, Villarma said, “has the guys team fired up.”
The Wolves’ footprint stretched beyond Juneau, too. While most of the squad battled at Sandy Beach, Loucks tested himself at the Fort Steilacoom Invitational in Lakewood, Washington, on Sept. 20, placing 26th in the Varsity Gold 5,000 in 16:20 — no small feat at a meet with more than 2,800 finishers.
With the postseason on deck, Wrangell will travel to Sitka on Thursday with momentum. “Another great weekend of Wrangell XC,” Villarma said in a community group Facebook post. “Make no mistake about it — this team is real on both sides and hungry for some titles.”

Capital City Invitational Team Scores
Boys
1. Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé 42; 2. Sitka 70; 3. Ketchikan 77; 4. Petersburg 94; 5. Wrangell 131; 6. Skagway 176; 7. Mt. Edgecumbe 198; 8. Craig 201; 9. Hoonah 238; 10. Metlakatla 310.
Girls
1. Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé 25; 2. Sitka 52; 3. Petersburg 66; 4. Ketchikan 102; 5. Mt. Edgecumbe 136; 6. Craig 138.