Weather conditions were nearly ideal Saturday for the 39th running of the American Birkebeiner cross-country race from Cable to Hayward, Wisc.
Temperatures at the starting line were 11 degrees above zero, nearly 20 degrees warmer than last year's freezing Birkie. Temperatures reaching 23 warmed the later finishers.
And two dustings of snow in the days preceding the American Ski Marathon Series event added fresh snow over a hard base for the 3,738 freestyle finishers and 1,635 classic skiers.
There was a good representation of 28 Wood River Valley skiers in the field for the 50-kilometer (31 miles) skate race and the 54k classic event. In fact, the Wood River skiers boasted nine podium class finishes and three victories.
In freestyle, 23-year-old Alexa Turzian won her class and was the ninth woman overall out of 708 Birkie finishers. Del Pletcher, 68, captured his 65-69 skate class. Another class winner was EJ Harpham, 55, in the 55-59 women's group.
Second-places in freestyle went to Colin Rodgers, Jon Engen and Nicole DeYong. In classic, second-place skiers were Linda McClatchy, Bob Rosso and Muffy Ritz.
Former Ketchum resident and Sun Valley Junior Nordic skier Hilary Patzer, 32, of St. Paul, Minn. placed third among Classic Birkie women in 3.05:50. She was 51st overall.
Saturday's men's skate winner was Tad Elliott, 23, of Anchorage, Ak. (2.04:48) over recent Boulder Mountain Ski Tour men's king Matt Liebsch, 28, of Orono, Minn. (2.05:02). First place was worth $7,500 and second place $4,500.
Anchorage racer Lars Flora, 34, placed sixth in 2.05:12.
Elliott became just the second American male to win the Birkie in 22 years, succeeding Liebsch, who broke the European dominance in Hayward just three years ago.
Olympic teammates Holly Brooks, 29, of Anchorage and Caitlin Gregg, 31, of Minneapolis had a photo finish—Brooks (2.18:53.2) winning by a ski length over defending queen Gregg (2.18:53.7). They placed 76th and 77th overall.
Birkie classic winners were four-time U.S. champ David Chamberlain, 36, of Caribou, Me. 2.51:15 and Carolyn Ocariz, 23, of Hayward 3.03:10. In the coming weeks, Ocariz and her husband Santiago are planning to roller ski across the U.S. to raise money for food and health care in South America.
In all, there was a record of nearly 9,300 skiers in the field.
Skate and classic results
Wood River results in the 50k Birkie skate, starting with overall finish, name, age, time and class and/or gender placings (3,738 finishers):
12—Colin Rodgers, 30, 2.05:57 (2nd 30-34). 61—Jon Engen, 54, 2.17:43 (2nd 50-54).
117—Nicole DeYong, 29, 2.23:29 (2nd 25-29, 8th woman). 129—Alexa Turzian, 23, 2.23:58 (1st 18-24, 9th woman). 302—Kristen Monahan, 24, 2.36:57 (5th 18-24, 23rd woman).
326—Jim Santa, 51, 2.37:56 (24th 50-54). 330—Del Pletcher, 68, 2.38:09 (1st 65-69). 568—Jim McClatchy, 59, 2.50:31 (20th 55-59). 640—Bruce Rogers, 53, 2.53:00 (81st 50-54). 667—Kelly Allison, 51, 2.54:00 (7th 50-54, 57th woman). 716—Patrick Simpson, 60, 2.55:55 (17th 60-64). 748—EJ Harpham, 55, 2.57:17 (1st 55-59, 74th woman).
861—Robin Potts, 50, 3.01:38 (11th 50-54, 89th woman). 1519—Eric Huus, 41, 3.23:47 (163rd 40-44). 1804—Matt Gervase, 62, 3.33:57 (78th 60-64). 2277—Peter Maier, 71, 3.51:45 (4th 70-74). 2804—Lucy Bourret, 50, 4.18:14 (54th 50-54, 456th woman). 3060—Kelly Martin, 50, 4.35:14 (61st 50-54, 519th woman).
Local results in the 54k Birkie classic (1,635 finishers):
70—Mike Wolter, 46, 3.09:36 (10th 45-49). 132—Richard Knoebel, 58, 3.19:35 (8th 55-59). 136—Bob Rosso, 64, 3.20:09 (2nd 60-64). 180—Muffy Ritz, 54, 3.26:03 (2nd 50-54, 19th woman). 295—Michael Stevens, 43, 3.40:58 (27th 40-44).
421—Michael Dunham, 62, 3.58:45 (24th 60-64). 423—Joney Otteson, 51, 3.58:49 (6th 50-54, 51st woman). 451—Linda McClatchy, 63, 4.02:01 (2nd 60-64, 60th woman). 746—Liz Mitchell, 44, 4.38:12 (7th 40-44, 122nd woman). 763—Joni Cashman, 57, 4.40:16 (13th 55-59, 125th woman).
Yellowstone Rendezvous is Saturday
Local cross-country skiers head east this weekend for the 33rd annual Yellowstone Rendezvous Nordic races Saturday, March 3 on the Rendezvous Ski trails at West Yellowstone, Mt.
The American Ski Marathon Series event offers freestyle racing at 50 kilometer (31 miles), 25k, 10k, 5k and 2k distances, plus a 25k classic race that kicks off the festivities Saturday at 9:15 a.m.
Registration deadline is Thursday, March 1 at 12 noon by visiting the race Web site at rendezvousrace.com or by calling the race organizer at 406-646-7265. Bib pick-up is Friday from 5-9:30 p.m. at the West Yellowstone Holiday Inn.
The 25k and 50k skate races begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. The awards party is Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn.
Papoose Club Quigley Nordic Cup
Feb. 26, 2012 at Quigley Canyon, Hailey, hosted by the Papoose Club community service organization. There was a record 75 skiers. Results:
Ages 3-4
Classic girls: 1—Norah Davis-Jeffers 2:40. 2—Sydney Nickum 4:57. 3—Torin Vandenburgh 5:08. Classic boys: 1—Wyatt Miller 2:44. 2—Luke Quesnel 2:48. 3—Levi Renner 4:07. 4—Judas Johnson 4:47.
Ages 5
Classic girls: 1—Sarah Ewing 3:21. Classic boys: 1—Trent Baker 3:39. 2—Alexander Stelma 3:55. 3—Waylon Johnson 5:12. 4—Hayden Sisk 8:42.
Ages 6-7
Classic girls: 1—Jodie Willow Maguire 6:53. 2—Hazel Ludwig 8:02. 3—Karlee Nelson 8:35. 4—Skade Quesnel 9:27. 5—Camus Filbert 10:00. Skate girls: 1—Anja Grover 4:05. 2—Meg Keating 4:48. 3—Charlotte Davis-Jeffers 5:22. 4—Anika Vandenburgh 5:32.
Classic boys: 1—Calvin Miller 6:52. 2—Alec Wiedemann 7:40. 3—Mats Radl-Jones 7:46. Skate boys: 1—Luca Mathieu 5:07. 2—Holden Archie 5:33. 3—Max Svidgal 5:42. 4—Enzo Lutz 6:17.
Ages 8-9
Skate girls: 1—Logan Smith 5:13. 2—Kate Horowitz 5:23. 3—Lucy Ludwig 6:37. 4—Willa Laski 6:39. 5—Maddy Dunn 7:01. 6—Maddox Nickum 7:04. 7—Quinn Closser 7:17. 8—Maya Lutz 7:18. 9—Azia Mathieu 7:27. 10—Jennifer Peterson 7:41. 11—Abby Kirk 7:43. 12—Anneka Thompson 7:51.
Classic boys: 1—Audari Tamayo 9:58. Skate boys: 1—Buey Grossman 5:26. 2—Jake Gorham 5:30. 3—Alex Shafer 5:37. 4—Jack Horowitz 5:56. 5—Kai Nelson 5:59. 6—Sam Nelson 6:09. 7—Oliver Wiedemann 6:16. 8—Sebi Radl-Jones 6:26. 9—Skylar Maguire 6:30. 10—Owen Miller 6:34. 11—Nick Malkmus 6:47. 12—Kye Harned 7:07. 13—Kris Anderson 8:23.
Ages 10-11
Skate girls: 1—Lily Brunelle 7:00. 2—Jenna Nurge 8:08. 3—Chloe Tanous 8:25. 4—Raine Filbert 8:44. 5—Evi Johnson 10:16. 6—Sofia Kinney 13:06. 7—Evaline Svidgal 13:32.
Classic boys: 1—Richard Coryell-Winningham. Skate boys: 1—Johnny Hagenbuch 7:18. 2—Cash Dart 7:28. 3—Brogan Ros 8:07. 4—Luke Dean 8:13. 5—Davis Ros 9:00. 6—Zach Olenick 9:19. 7—Jack Keating 9:26.
Ages 12-13
Skate girls: 1—Emily Siegel 7:15. 2—Sophia Coplin 8:10. 3—Ellie Gorham 8:51. 4—Tess Burchmore 9:16.
Skate boys: 1—Carter Ros 6:25.
