Rain, fog and wind didn’t hamper runners in the Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic

By Ariana Crockett O’Harra |

Competitors and spectators from six communities gathered in wet and windy conditions on Saturday for the annual Nome-Beltz Musk Ox Classic cross-country running race. High school athletes traveled from Shaktoolik, Unalakleet, Teller, Kotzebue and Galena to compete with Nome runners. 
The day started at 11 a.m. with the Nome Elementary Run Club race. The preschoolers raced a half mile, the kindergartners through second graders raced a mile, and the third through fifth grader raced two miles
The head of the Nome Elementary Run Club, Anvil Science Academy teacher Rachel Ventress, says “We’re just trying to teach them what it means to be a team. You come to practice, you show up, you run.” The rain was pouring down and fog covered the top of Anvil Mountain, but the little racers powered through. Forty-six young competitors completed the race, which was not timed and followed by an awards ceremony in the gymnasium before the older age groups started their runs. After the middle and high school races and their respective award ceremonies, the day was capped off with a community run.

Middle School 
The middle school and high school course was a 5K loop that started to the east of the school building, heading out towards Anvil Creek and then up the shoulder of Anvil Mountain, a hefty climb that was hampered by gusts of wind exceeding 20 mph. Racers came back towards the school via Glacier Creek Road and headed the finish chute. 
By 12:30 p.m., the rain had started back up and the wind was kicking in. Athletes from Galena competed with the local Nome runners in the mixed-gender middle school race. Nome-Beltz swept the overall podium, with seventh-grader Ella Hubert taking overall first place, seventh-grader Max Pardee taking overall second and first in the boys race and eight-grader Michael Koelsch taking second in the boys race and third overall. Sixth-grader Demi Pantellis took second in the girls race and seventh-grader Sophia Piscoya took third, both from Nome.

Varsity
The girls varsity race started at 1:15 p.m. to lessened rain and clearer skies. By around the four-kilometer mark, Turi Busk and Alexandria Ivanoff of Unalakleet were in the lead, and blue skies were poking through.  Busk ended up taking first, Ivanoff second, and Noel Pardee of Nome took third. 
The clear skies didn’t stick around for long. By 2 p.m., the rain was back, accompanied by fog and wind. Visibility was low, but spectators could still just make out athletes cresting the left shoulder of Anvil Mountain. 
Seth Paniptchuck of Shaktoolik took first in the boys’ division with a time of 18:34, Ben Marcus of Kotzebue took second and Granite Peacock of Nome took third. 
Kotzebue coach Saagiluk Hensley says that she’s proud of her athletes for getting out there in the tough conditions. “It’s a vulnerable, vulnerable position to be in to get on a starting line, right? Yeah. So the fact that they’re on the starting line, and every single one of them finished strong,” she said.

Coming up
Nome XC running Head Coach Emmet Foster says that next week, the Nome-Beltz team will split up, with some heading to the Kotzebue Invitational and some to Seward.
“Part of our varsity high school team will go to Kotz, really just to kind of scope out competition and scope out the course, because that’s where Regions is going to take place this year. And then I’m taking a small group of also varsity high school runners to Seward in order to see some of the competition from the road system that’s in our division statewide,” he said. 
Kotzebue Coach Hensley said her team is excited to host the meet next weekend. “We set up a pretty great course. We think it’ll be a little different than it’s been in the past, and we think it’ll be a lot of fun,” she said.
The carrying-on of tradition is important to the athletes. “Cross-country is a thing that Inupiaq people have been doing for 10,000 years,” Hensley said. “We know we’re part of a huge legacy of people who’ve been doing that for all that time before us, and then, of course, people will be doing that for 10,000 years to come. So, it’s pretty great to train and just be part of that legacy on the Inupiaq homelands.”
While many Nome athletes are still able to travel to races next weekend, the Nanooks XC team has come up against budget troubles. The travel budget for the school was slashed by more than half in a tight budget that was approved in July.
Foster said that the travel budget cuts are particularly hard because they affect the team dynamics. “You can only afford to take four runners, so good luck telling your 30-member team that only four of them get to travel. And that causes so many problems internally, emotionally, team-wise socially,” he said.
Nome-Beltz Middle High School Activities Director Patrick Callahan says that the budget cuts have introduced a tough challenge for teams. “We’re down to, maybe, 25 percent of travel is funded. So, yes, it’s certainly a huge hurdle for every team,” he said.
Despite the tough reality of travel budget cuts, Foster said that the community is really stepping up in a big way to help fundraise for the team’s season. “We’ve got amazing parents, amazing community members that have come together and are carrying the bulk of those cuts. And I’m so grateful for them, because they’re allowing me to be present with the team and to coach them.”
The community aspect of cross-country is really the backbone of the team. “Nome, thank you guys so much for supporting this team and supporting me and supporting these athletes and supporting your Nanooks. You hear it all the time, but we can’t do it without you,” he said.
The Nanooks race next at Kotzebue Invitational on Sept. 12 and at the Dieckgraff Invitational in Seward on Sept. 12.

For complete results see https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/259885/info