The 8.5-megawatt Houston Solar Farm, photographed on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2023. A new solar farm planned on the Kenai Peninsula will be five times larger, with a 45-megawatt capacity. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
A renewable energy company has signed an agreement with a Homer utility that opens the door for the construction of what will become Alaska’s largest solar farm by a significant amount, people involved in the project say.
The solar farm, once it’s up and running, will also be a small step toward reducing the need in Southcentral Alaska for the Cook Inlet natural gas that could begin running short as early as next year, they say.
Jenn Miller, with Renewable IPP, says the new solar farm will be built near Puppy Dog Lake in Nikiski on the Kenai Peninsula.
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With 45 megawatts of capacity, it will nearly triple the solar energy output in Alaska, counting both rooftop solar and existing solar farms, she said.
[Texas-based company says it’s in ‘advanced discussions’ with Alaska utilities on plan to import natural gas to Southcentral]
It will provide power for about 9,000 homes on the Peninsula, and will be more than five times larger than Renewable IPP’s project in Houston. That solar farm launched last year, at 8.5 megawatts, making it the state’s largest for now.
“There will be over 60,000 solar panels and it will be across 300 acres,” she said.
The board of the Homer Electric Association unanimously agreed this week to buy the solar farm’s power, the utility announced in a statement. That sets the stage for the project to soon seek approval from the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, Miller said.
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The solar farm could begin operating in late 2027, Miller said.
It will double the renewable power produced by the utility, to 24% of its overall generation, said Keriann Baker, the utility’s chief strategy officer.
Along with new plans by the utility to replace a gas-generation unit with a more efficient turbine, the solar farm will reduce the natural gas used by Homer Electric by more than 15%, Baker said. The new gas turbine could also be up and running as early as late 2027.
The utility’s reduced dependence on natural gas will help conserve Cook Inlet natural gas needed across Southcentral Alaska, she said.
Enstar, the gas utility for the region, has warned that local supplies of gas from the aging Cook Inlet basin could begin falling short sometime next year. The looming shortfall has sent utilities scrambling to support new renewable projects. They’re also looking at importing natural gas to Alaska, a move that’s expected to sharply boost electric and heating prices.
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“Any gas that we can leave in the existing supply … is more gas for others to use,” Baker said.
Baker said the deal will allow Homer Electric to purchase solar power from the project for less than the cost of natural gas today. The price will be fixed for decades, benefiting ratepayers by reducing dependence on gas that can fluctuate in price, she said.
“For us, it’s a no-brainer,” she said of the utility.
Renewable IPP and Homer Electric have been working on the project for about three years, Miller said.
She said the project will sit on land owned by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, under a long-term lease.
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Miller declined to provide the estimated project cost, but it will be in the tens of millions of dollars, she said.
The project will be privately financed with support from CleanCapital, a New-York based company that owns solar projects across the U.S., including the solar farm in Houston, Alaska, she said.
A $2 million renewable energy grant from the Alaska Energy Authority, a state agency, will help lower project costs, she said.
“Our mission is to diversify the Alaska generation mix, and we want to do it in a way that suppresses prices,” Miller said. “These larger and larger projects are the vehicle to allow us to do that.”
(Reuters) -The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday proposed rolling back Biden-era limits on oil and gas drilling in an Alaska area that is the nation’s largest tract of undisturbed public land. The move is consistent with Trump’s goal to slash regulations for oil and gas …
Doug Burgum, Interior secretary and National Energy Dominance Council chair, speaks during an Alaska Resources Roundtable at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on Sunday, June 1, 2025. U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) are at left. (Bill Roth / ADN)
Alaska’s governor,itstwo U.S. senators and three Trump administration officials gathered Sunday in an Anchorage hotel to extol an executive order meant to boost the state’s resource development industry.
The order at the heart of the meeting was signed by President Donald Trump in January, during the first day of his second term. It laid out several provisions aimed at smoothing the path toward more drilling for oil and gas; more logging; more mining; and more hunting on federal lands.
In attendance in a cramped ballroom at downtown Anchorage’s Hotel Captain Cook were Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Alongside them were several dozen invited resource development industry leaders, state lawmakers and Dunleavy administration officials who were in a jovial mood as they spoke about the potential of Alaska’s resource industry under Trump’s leadership.
Sullivan, whose office organized the event, called the visit by Trump administration officials “a seminal event.” He referred to Burgum as “Alaska’s landlord.”
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Governor Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) speaks during the Alaska Resources Roundtable at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on Sunday, June 1, 2025. (Bill Roth / ADN)
The roundtable was the first of numerous events that the Trump officials planned to attend during a multiday visit to Alaska. Burgum, Wright and Zeldin were expected to travel to the North Slope early in the week to meet withresidents and oil field workers. They were also scheduled to participate in a sustainable energy conference organized by Dunleavy in Anchorage.
Sunday’s two-hour roundtable was not open to the press. But after its conclusion, journalists were ushered in to listen to closing remarks by participants.
“There’s a lot of alignment amongst Alaskans behind this executive order,” said Rebecca Logan, chief executive of the Alaska Support Industry Alliance.
Sullivan began his remarks by pulling out a pamphlet his office had designed when former President Joe Biden was in office, which listed several executive decisions taken by the Biden administration that Sullivan has said were meant to “lock up” Alaska. Sullivan proceeded to rip up the pamphlet and throw the pieces in the air.
“We got a new sheriff in town,” he said.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, (R-Alaska) ripped up and tossed a graphic illustrating the previous administration’s 70 executive orders and actions targeting Alaska during the Alaska Resources Roundtable that he hosted at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Doug Burgum, Interior secretary and National Energy Dominance Council Chair, is at middle. (Bill Roth / ADN)
Sullivan said the meeting was meant to facilitate the fast implementation of Trump’s January executive order, which as of yet has not led to the realization of new resource development in the state.
“We have the need for speed,” said Sullivan.
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Murkowski, a Republican who has spoken frequently against actions and priorities articulated by the Trump administration, thanked the Trump officials for their “unique” visit to the state but left the event before the roundtable concluded.
“To have them here in our state, to be listening to industry leaders, to be listening to Alaskans — this is a newsworthy takeaway,” said Murkowski. ”It is instructive, I think, for those of us here in Alaska to realize the partnership that we have with this administration. The Trump administration has looked at Alaska’s potential as an asset, instead of a liability.”
The comments offered by meeting attendees were replete with grand statements but sparse on details.
Both Sullivan and Murkowski said they emerged from the meeting with a renewed interest in permitting reform that would make it easier for private industry to launch new resource development projects in the state.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) speaks during an Alaska Resources Roundtable at the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage on Sunday, June 1, 2025. From left, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska). (Bill Roth / ADN)
“It shouldn’t take 20 years to permit an old mine in Alaska. That hurts people, when you delay things for so long,” said Sullivan. “The radical far left groups that do it, they don’t care about our state, they don’t care about the communities, like in Western Alaska, with their poverty that they have. They just want to shut down everything.”
“We just need the federal government to help us, and this is the team that wants to do it,” said Sullivan.
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Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said “there is nowhere more important for the three of us to be right now than right here,” referring to himself, Wright and Burgum.
“I am extraordinarily confident in knowing that once this very productive visit to Alaska is done and we head back to Washington, D.C., that this team is able to work with your governor, with your congressional delegation, to be able to work with all of you to make sure this wasn’t just some ideal on a Sunday morning of an amazing future ahead for Alaska. It’s not just a dream,” said Zeldin.
Wright, the energy secretary, said that Trump got elected on the promise to deliver “not handouts to Alaskans” — rather, “freedom to develop the underground materials and turn them into resources.”
Interior Secretary Burgum said, “Alaska has an opportunity to allow us to do one of the mandates of the Trump administration, which is to sell energy to our friends and allies, so they don’t have to buy it from our adversaries.”
“The potential of this state is unbelievable,” said Burgum. “It can really become a powerhouse of a state.”
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“But we’ve got to get the federal government out of your way. That’s what the three of us are here to do” said Burgum.
LNG discussion
Chief among the resource development priorities emphasized by Trump during the first months of his second term has been a liquefied natural gas pipeline project that has been long sought by Alaska politicians. For decades, the project has remained far from realization, in large part because it is expected to cost a staggering $44 billion.
Sullivan acknowledged Sunday that “we get Alaskans who roll their eyes” at the LNG project, but he said there has been “really historic progress happening” both with interest from the private sector and with Trump’s stated commitment to the project.
“A lot of tailwinds there, exciting times. We’re not there yet, but it’s exciting,” said Sullivan.
The high-level meeting offered no new details on developments with the project.
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Dunleavy recently went on a multi-stop trip to Asian countries to promote Alaska’s LNG. Burgum said Sunday that “there are huge implications for national security for the United States to be able to export energy to our Pacific allies — South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan.”
“We just have to be able to do math in this country and understand that the impacts are so low,” said Burgum.
Sullivan said that the Trump administration would “work with us on federal loan guarantees for the Alaska LNG project,” but the officials in attendance did not offer new details on how the project would be financed.
“The Alaska pipeline, if we get off-take agreements, if we sell energy to our Pacific allies, there will be people lined up to finance it,” said Burgum. “It won’t take foreign capital to build the pipeline. There may be foreign interest in wanting to be part of it, because it’s going to be a great project, but what we really need is customers.”
Renewable energy
Even as the Trump administration has championed Alaska’s energy potential, it has taken steps that could thwart several ongoing renewable energy projects throughout the state.
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Alaska utilities in recent years have been turning increasingly to renewables as costs for fossil-fuel electricity have increased. Those projects were enabled in part through tax credits approved in Biden-era legislation. Now, the Trump administration is freezing grants for some energy projects, and with the passage of the latest tax and spending bill, Republicans in Congress are looking to undo those tax credits — with support from Alaska’s U.S. Rep. Nick Begich.
That could mean that several projects with the potential of lowering Alaskans’ energy bills will be halted.
Those impacts were not on the agenda for the public portion of Sunday’s meeting.
Murkowski is one of four Senate Republicans who have spoken in favor of preserving the tax credits that have paved the way for renewable energy projects in Alaska.
Asked Sunday about the Trump administration’s impacts on Alaska’s renewable energy projects, Sullivan was noncommittal.
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“We’re an all-of-the-above energy state,” Sullivan said Sunday. “We’re looking at the different elements of what’s in the House budget reconciliation bill … but we’re still studying the bill and trying to figure out what’s the best way to balance what’s in the budget reconciliation with the overall goals of that bill.”
Runners near the finish line in the boys’ DI 110 meter high hurdles during the Alaska State Track and Field Championships at Dimond High on Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Bob Hallinen Photo)
High School
Soccer
Girls
Thursday
South 4, Chugiak 0
Monroe Catholic 5, Grace Christian 0
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Soldotna 1, Ketchikan 0
Colony 2, Service 1
Dimond 5, West Valley 0
Kenai Central 7, Redington 0
Homer 4, Palmer 1
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Wasilla 2, Lathrop 1
Friday
Grace Christian 6, Redington 2
Service 5, West Valley 1
Chugiak 4, Lathrop 1
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Palmer 1, Ketchikan 0
Soldotna 3, Homer 1
Kenai Central 2, Monroe Catholic 1
Dimond 1, Colony 0
South 3, Wasilla 0
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Saturday
Palmer 1, Grace Christian 0
Monroe Catholic 4, Homer 3
Kenai Central 2, Soldotna 0
Colony 1, Wasilla 0
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Service 4, Chugiak 1
South 4, Dimond 0
Boys
Thursday
West 4, Wasilla 0
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Kenai Central 3, Monroe Catholic 0
Palmer 5, Homer 0
Ketchikan 5, Houston 0
West Valley 2, Dimond 1
Soldotna 3, North Pole 0
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Juneau-Douglas 2, Service 1
Colony 2, South 1
Friday
Wasilla 3, Service 1
North Pole 3, Monroe Catholic 0
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South 3, Dimond 2
Homer 4, Houston 2
Palmer 4, Ketchikan 3
Soldotna 4, Kenai Central 0
West Anchorage 3, Juneau-Douglas 2
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West Valley 2, Colony 0
Saturday
Kenai Central 2, Ketchikan 0
Homer 2, North Pole 0
Wasilla 2, South 1
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Palmer 3, Soldotna 2
Colony 5, Juneau-Douglas 0
West v. West Valley (late)
• • •
Softball
Tuesday
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Monroe Catholic 7, North Pole 4
Monroe Catholic 11, North Pole 7
Wednesday
Delta 8, Monroe Catholic 2
Delta 7, Monroe Catholic 2
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Dimond 15, Service 1
South 10, Bartlett 1
Chugiak 15, West 2
Service 14, Bartlett 13
Thursday
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East 9, Dimond 6
South 7, Chugiak 1
Dimond 10, Service 2
Chugiak 12, West 0
Friday
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Colony 11, Wasilla 0
Colony 10, Juneau-Douglas 2
East 1, South 0
Chugiak 11, Dimond 1
• • •
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Baseball
Tuesday
Dimond 13, East 3
West 12, Bartlett 1
Wednesday
South 9, West 1
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Dimond 10, Chugiak 2
Thursday
Service 10, Dimond 1
Eagle River 6, South 1
Wasilla 11, Lathrop 1
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Colony 9, West Valley 3
Juneau-Douglas 10, Ketchikan 5
Houston 7, Kenai Central 4
Palmer 13, Redington 7
Soldotna 12, Grace Christian 1
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Kodiak 2, Homer 0
Palmer 8, Houston 1
Soldotna 13, Kodiak 4
Friday
Sitka 6, Juneau-Douglas 2
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Juneau-Douglas 4, Ketchikan 3
Colony 5, Wasilla 2
West Valley 4, Lathrop 3
South 7, Dimond 4
Eagle River 4, Service 3 (10)
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Monroe Catholic 17, Delta 1
Kenai Central 7, Kodiak 3
Homer 8, Houston 3
Soldotna 10, Palmer 0
Saturday
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Wasilla 2, West Valley 1
Sitka 14, Juneau-Douglas 12
• • •
Track and field
ASAA State Track and Field Championships
Day 1
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Friday
Division I
Girls
3200 Meters Finals
1. Hannah Shaha 11:19.93, Chugiak
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2. Hailee Giacobbe 11:23.22, Wasilla
3. Rosie Conway 11:35.46, East
4. Ella Hopkins 11:46.73, Colony
Discus 1kg Finals
1. Mona Koko 119’01.00, West
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2. Layla Hays 115’09.00, Wasilla
3. Ailafo Fautanu 106’09.00, Dimond
4. Alessa Scott, 106’03.00, Dimond
High Jump Finals
1. Nevaeh Watkins 5’6.00, Dimond
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2. Autumn Larson 5’4.00, Chugiak
3. Avery Johnson 4’10.00, Palmer
4. Hallie Fischer 4’10.00, Soldotna
Triple Jump Finals
1. Izzy Kizer 37’00.25, North Pole
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2. Izabela Sullivan 36’02.50, West
3. Amelia Dempsey 34’08.75, Chugiak
4. Maya Tirpack 34’00.00, South
Boys
3200 Meters Finals
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1. Vebjorn Flagstad 9:59.04, South
2. Katahdin Staples 10:00.68, East
3. Owen Woodruff 10:00.85, Juneau-Douglas.
4. David Penfield 10:01.51, Chugiak
Shot Put – 12lb Finals
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1. Deuce Alailefaleula 53’01.00, Bartlett
2. Luke Miller 51’09.50, Soldotna
3. George Lane 51’03.50, East
4. Benjamin Hiestand 48’05.50, Chugiak
High Jump Varsity – Finals
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1. Trey Colbert 6’0.00, Ketchikan
2. Corbin Gerkin 6’0.00, Palmer
3. Cameron Anderson 5’8.00, Service
3. Deontae Cromer 5’8.00, West Valley
Triple Jump Varsity Finals
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1. Isaiah Douyon 43’02.75, South
2. Kenneth Motton 42’09.50, Colony
3. Johnathyn Kestel 42’00.75, Juneau-Douglas
4. Corde Bates 41’02.50, Dimond
Division II
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Girls
3200 Meters Finals
1. Clare Mullin 11:49.35, Sitka
2. Iris Haas 11:55.96, Delta Junction
3. Marina Dill 11:59.96, Sitka
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4. Claira Booz 12:08.88, Homer
Discus 1kg Finals
1. Jieaya Siatini Williams 122’00.00, Mountain City Christian
2. Alexia Pik 108’00.00, Redington
3. Emma Dohrn 95’09.00, Haines
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4. Madison Dill 93’08.00, Sitka
High Jump Finals
1. Jessie Wentworth 5’0.00, Su Valley
2. Abby Sampson 4’10.00, Hutchison
3. Emma Walsh 4’10.00, Monroe Catholic
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4. Maura McDaniel 4’8.00, Su Valley
Triple Jump Finals
1. Mia Bukala 34’02.00, Redington
2. Caroline Klebs 34’01.50, Grace Christian
3. Reilly Sue Baker 32’01.50, Homer
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4. Selah Coots 31’05.50, Kenai Central
Boys
3200 Meters Finals
1. Robbie Annett 9:47.95, Grace Christian
2. Connor Hitchcock 9:48.57, Sitka
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3. Colton Merriner 9:49.39, Grace Christian
4. Johannes Bynagle 10:02.21, Homer
Shot Put – 12lb Finals
1. Zach Martel 43’05.50, Redington
2. Kyle Petersen 41’11.25, Valdez
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3. Gage Hawes 41’04.75, Houston
4. Kaden Duke 41’03.75, Petersburg
High Jump Varsity – Finals
1. Olin Liljemark 5’10.00, Seward
2. Austin Barnard 5’10.00, Su Valley
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3. Royce Borst 5’8.00, Skagway
4. Luke Elhard 5’8.00, Seward
Triple Jump Varsity Finals
1. Gage Ivy 41’00.25, Kenai Central
2. Joshua Woko 40’02.00, Mountain City Christian
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3. Jaidhen Oyao 39’07.25, Mountain City Christian
4. Cole McLaughlin 39’02.75, Sitka
• • •
2025 Twilight 12k/6k
12K Male Overall
1: Riley Howard, Anchorage, AK 37:21; 2: William McGovern, Anchorage, AK 37:28; 3: Noah Laughlin-Hall, Anchorage, AK 39:46; 4: Scott Patterson, Anchorage, AK 40:22; 5: Conor Deal, Anchorage, AK 41:30; 6: Andy Peters, Anchorage, AK 42:17; 7: Brian Sweeney, Anchorage, AK 42:26; 8: Connor Marth, Anchorage, AK 42:42; 9: Allan Spangler, Anchorage, AK 42:49; 10: Michael Rabe, Anchorage, AK 42:56; 11: Chad Trammell, Anchorage, AK 43:57; 12: Ryan Beckett, Anchorage, AK 44:11; 13: Dash Dicang, Anchorage, AK 44:18; 14: Eric Mortensen, Anchorage, AK 44:28; 15: Isaac Landecker, Anchorage, AK 44:39; 16: Nick Mendolia, Anchorage, AK 44:44; 17: Andrew Pounds, Anchorage, AK 44:52; 18: Trygve Solomonson, Eagle River, AK 44:58; 19: Mike Garvey, Anchorage, AK 45:08; 20: John Cosgrave, Anchorage, AK 45:25
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12k Female Overall
1: Anna Dalton, Anchorage, AK 43:57; 2: Julianne Dickerson, Anchorage, AK 47:24; 3: Molly Walli, Anchorage, AK 47:38; 4: Breanna Day, Eagle River, AK 48:21; 5: Sam Longacre, Anchorage, AK 49:32; 6: Hannah Souders, Anchorage, AK 50:33; 7: Sarah Cosgrave, Anchorage, AK 51:00; 8: Kyra Walter, Eagle River, AK 53:10; 9: Carolyn Stwertka, Anchorage, AK 53:11; 10: Rylee Ruggles, Eagle River, AK 53:11; 11: Allison Macy, Chugiak, AK 53:25; 12: Trophe Brandt, Anchorage, AK 53:47; 13: Anna Smith, Anchorage, AK 54:00; 14: Jillian Gavalya, Chugiak, AK 54:09; 15: Haley Gilman, Anchorage, AK 54:11; 16: Brooke Gottmeier, Anchorage, AK 54:26; 17: Iris Samuels, Anchorage, AK 54:54; 18: Annika Dollick, Levelock, AK 55:06; 19: Sofija Spaic, Palmer, AK 55:07; 20: Lia Slemons, Anchorage, AK 55:31
6K Male Overall
1: Eduardo Orozco, Anchorage, AK 19:31; 2: Hoka Ben, Kent, WA 20:15; 3: Amadeus Semo, Anchorage, AK 21:36; 4: Pedro Ochoa, Homer, AK 21:48; 5: Malachi Stamoolis, Wasilla, AK 22:49; 6: Will Graham, Anchorage, AK 22:57; 7: Mark Fineman, Anchorage, AK 23:48; 8: Cyrus Rader, Wasilla, AK 23:58; 9: Emerson Michaud, WasillaWasilla, AK 24:00; 10: Miles King, Anchorage, AK 24:07; 11: Tyler Berliner, Anchorage, AK 24:37; 12: Reyce Lee, Anchorage, AK 24:45; 13: Kaden Brown, Anchorage, AK 25:00; 14: Joel Stamoolis, Wasilla, AK 25:02; 15: Dylan Chalifour, Anchorage, AK 25:16; 16: Parker Hadley, Eagle River, AK 25:56; 17: Ashley Schultze, Chugiak, AK 26:11; 18: Ed Leonetti, Anchorage, AK 26:12; 19: Zane Hopewell, Anchorage, AK 26:13; 20: Jonathan Moran, Anchorage, AK 26:45
6K Female Overall
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1: Emily Moore, Eagle River, AK 23:22; 2: Karina Packer, Anchorage, AK 24:13; 3: Liv Kullberg, Anchorage, AK 25:00; 4: Holly Martinson, Anchorage, AK 25:58; 5: Gigi Leonetti, Anchorage, AK 26:06; 6: Jennifer McGrath, Anchorage, AK 26:31; 7: Nicole Kimball, Anchorage, AK 26:37; 8: Heather Poe, Anchorage, AK 26:41; 9: Meghan Saramak, Anchorage, AK 27:34; 10: Hailee Stepetin, Eagle River, AK 27:37; 11: Estelle Johnson, Eagle River, AK 28:07; 12: Ashley Shaw, Eagle River, AK 28:10; 13: Jane Jackson, Provo, UT 28:39; 14: Alexandra Miller, Anchorage, AK 28:56; 15: Elsa Sternicki, Anchorage, AK 29:05; 16: Cameron Otte, Eagle River, AK 29:33; 17: Amanda Peters, Anchorage, AK 29:35; 18: Akari Kawamura, Komaki, AK 29:50; 19: Brittany Cross, Palmer, AK 30:31; 20: Suzanne Ward, Anchorage, AK 30:44
