Petersburg’s high school cross country girls are Division III state champions

Members of Petersburg’s high school cross country girls team pose for a photo after winning state on Oct. 3, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Kayleigh Lenhard)

Petersburg’s high school cross country girls are Division III state champions. The team took home the title last Saturday, Oct. 3, in Anchorage.

Fresh off the plane at Petersburg’s airport on Sunday, senior Maria Toth said the state meet was one to remember.

“State actually probably was one of the best states, honestly,” said Toth. “I’ve never felt so proud before, and I feel like everyone really pushed themselves.”

Petersburg’s girls were powerhouses throughout the season and entered the state meet ranked first. Toth said she tried not to put too much pressure on their ranking heading into the meet.

“I knew that I was still gonna be proud of being on this team and being with all my teammates, and that winning state would just be like an extra great thing,” she said.

Junior Zia Hulebak (far left) and Senior Maria Toth (far right) run during the state meet in Anchorage on Oct. 3, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Shane Iverson)

The course at Bartlett High School in Anchorage is notoriously hard, with lots of hills and elevation gain. But, that didn’t stop Petersburg’s girls. Half of the girls placed in the top 10 individually, and multiple runners ran times that were a personal best or a season best. Junior Arielle Tucker was the fastest girl on the team, and took third with a time of 20:47.5.

Head Coach Kayleigh Lenhard said the girls didn’t realize how well they were doing until they finished the race.

“When Arielle Tucker finished, she had passed Wrangell’s top runner Jenna Meissner, and she just had this look of surprise on her face. Her mouth was all open, and had the biggest smile on her face,” Lenhard said. “She wasn’t expecting to beat her, and she did. So I think once she passed and beat Jenna, we knew, okay, we have it.”

Sophomore Andi Mihai was the only boy on the team who qualified for state. It’s been a season of big growth for him.

“As a freshman, I ran one race and I ran a 21:11, and I ended [this] season out with an 18:08,” Mihai said. “So I shaved over three minutes off my time. So I was pretty happy about that.”

Sophomore Andi Mihai (left) runs the course at Bartlett High School in Anchorage during the state championship on Oct. 3, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Shane Iverson)

That 18-minute time brought him in at fourth place individually. He says it was nice having the girls team to help support him on an unfamiliar course.

“It kind of did take some of the pressure off, and it was nice to spend time with people and not just get in my head,” Mihai said.

Lenhard said the team did a great job building strong connections throughout the season, and it showed.

“There’s a lot of really hard workouts that come with cross country practice, and it’s impossible to get through them if you don’t have a good team bond,” she said. “So, just pushing each other every day and pushing each other on the hard workouts, I think, really was their strength.”

After touching down in Petersburg Sunday, the entire cross country team piled into the school bus, blasting loud pop music from a speaker. In true Petersburg fashion, the team drove around town with fire trucks and honking cars to celebrate their victory with a noise parade.