One week after barging his way into the lead pack at the American Birkebeiner, Patrick Johnson won the 34th annual Yellowstone Rendezvous 50-kilometer freestyle race Saturday at West Yellowstone, Mt.
Johnson, 23, a Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team racer from Anchorage, Ak. and Middlebury College, led 143 finishers on the Yellowstone long course with a time of 2.17:08.
That was four seconds better than 26-year-old Bates College alumnus Tim Whiton of Portland, Me.
On Feb. 23, Johnson placed seventh overall of 3,956 finishers in the 40th anniversary Birkebeiner 50k skate, just one second off the top pace.
At West Yellowstone, former SVSEF Gold Teamer and current Nordic team coach Nicole DeYong finished second among the 50k women and 10th overall in 2.26:10 Saturday. DeYong also had a successful Birkie in the lead pack as the fifth female overall at Hayward, Wisc.
Some 553 cross-country skiers including 49 from the Wood River Valley finished Yellowstone Rendezvous races at 50k (31 miles), 25k, 10k, 5k and 2k distances, plus a 25k classic race. The local group included a large Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation junior team.
Finishing times were generally anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes faster than last year.
Wood River racers did well at the 25k classic distance, putting five skiers in the top 10 including SVSEF alum and Montana State University skier Scott Phelan, 21, second of 105 finishers at 1.14:16.
Of the Wood River racers, 30 made the podium in their age classes including 21 class gold medalists. They were:
Sam East at 10k; Andy Andrews, Robert Disbrow, Carol Mutzel, Grace Dyck and Susan Usher in 25k skate; Nate Thomas, Chris Mallory, Bob Rosso, Mike Wolter, Craig Phelan, Kim Kawaguchi, Linda McClatchy, Cheyenne Stopol and 86-year-old Charley French in the 25k classic; along with Patrick Johnson, Nicole DeYong, Alexa Turzian, Kris Thoreson, Elizabeth Youngman and Jim McClatchy at the 50k distance.
Here are top results and Wood River Valley racers with overall finishes, ages, times and class places (in parentheses):
10 kilometer skate
1—Noah Anderson, 17, Bozeman, Mt. 29:20. 7—Ben Brunelle, 14, 32:18 (3rd). 8—Jacob Truxal, 14, 32:24 (4th). 9—River Vorse, 14, 32:45 (5th). 11—Carter Ros, 14, 33:14 (7th). 25—Loni Unser, 15, 37:14 (7th). 26—Grace Gorham, 15, 37:53 (8th). 46—Sam East, 72, 48:25 (1st)—79 finishers.
25k freestyle
1—Michael Schallinger, 23, Bozeman, Mt. 1.03:37. 26—John Kurtz, 43, 1.19:50 (4th). 33—Andy Andrews, 71, 1.22:10 (1st). 55—Tom Bowman, 58, 1.31:32 (5th). 57—Bob Closser, 57, 1.32:11 (6th). 68—Robert Disbrow, 69, 1.36:23 (1st). 77—Sue Hamilton, 51, 1.38:26 (4th). 80—Carol Mutzel, 60, 1.38:46 (1st). 83—Carol Rank, 55, 1.39:26 (2nd). 84—Katharine Sheldon, 55, 1.39:33 (3rd). 90—Grace Dyck, 71, 1.40:58 (1st). 119—Susan Usher, 67, 1.50:41 (1st). 124—Sophia Deklotz, 15, 1.56:05 (4th). 132—Carol Monteverde, 66, 1.59:10 (2nd). 133—John Gladics, 66, 1.59:55 (7th). 147—Cindy Phelan, 61, 2.17:47 (7th)—148 finishers.
25k classic
1—Luke Bromley, 21, Bozeman, Mt. 1.13:30. 2—Scott Phelan, 21, Bozeman 1.14:16 (2nd). 5—Nate Thomas, 16, 1.16:15 (1st). 7—Stephen Pfeiffer, 17, 1.17:24 (3rd). 9—Chris Mallory, 30, 1.18:30 (1st). 10—Danny Graves, 15, 1.21:19 (4th). 12—Andrew Graves, 17, 1.23:19 (6th). 16—Robert Youngman, 56, 1.25:39 (2nd). 17—Bob Rosso, 65, 1.25:44 (1st). 19—Mike Wolter, 47, 1.26:14 (1st).
23—Emily Allison, 24, Bozeman, Mt. 1.28:57 (1st woman). 34—Craig Phelan, 61, 1.34:33 (1st). 35—Kim Kawaguchi, 51, 1.37:26 (5th woman, 1st class). 59—Linda McClatchy, 63, 1.53:58 (1st). 60—Cheyenne Stopol, 16, 1.55:17 (1st). 81—Charley French, 86, 2.09:50 (1st)—105 finishers.
50k freestyle
1—Patrick Johnson, 23, Ketchum 2.17:08 (1st). 9—Laura McCabe, 46, Winthrop, Wash. 2.26:02 (1st woman). 10—Nicole DeYong, 30, 2.26:10 (1st). 13—David Vanderpool, 26, 2.27:04 (3rd). 22—Alexa Turzian, 24, 2.35:06 (3rd woman, 1st class). 23—Kris Thoreson, 55, 2.35:08 (1st). 38—Elizabeth Youngman, 53, 2.42:15 (5th woman, 1st class). 51—Jim McClatchy, 60, 2.50:23 (1st). 60—Jon Holmquist, 59, 2.56:08 (5th). 77—Susan Thoreson, 51, 3.05:45 (3rd). 83—Bill McCann, 43, 3.07:18 (11th). 94—Tim Hamilton, 49, 3.12:56 (13th). 1300—Thad Farnham, 58, 3.40:20 (17th). 143—Marshall Peterson, 65, 5.07:15 (5th)—143 finishers.
