Frigid temperatures throughout Alaska couldn't keep many of the state's best skiers from turning out for the final races of the 2008 Besh Cup race series.
Besh Cup races #5 and #6 were originally scheduled for Salcha and Fairbanks on February 2nd and 3rd. The races were postponed a week due to cold temperatures in interior Alaska, which reached as as low as -67F in some places. The one-week delay was no help, as temperatures continued to hover around the -40 degree mark in Fairbanks (that's fahrenheit AND celsius) last week. Birch Hill is usually warmer than downtown Fairbanks, but it was still not above the FIS/USSA legal limit of -4 degrees F. Therefore, the races were moved to the Beach Lake Trails at Chugiak High School, where the Eagle River Nordic Ski Club did a fantastic job of hosting two races on very short notice.
Even with the change in venue, it was a chilly weekend. On both days the 11:00 AM start was delayed for an hour in order for the temperature to warm up above -4 F.
SATURDAY CLASSIC RACE
Saturday's event was an interval start classic race. The cold weather made for easy kick waxing, and the track was surprisingly fast considering the temperature.
In the women's J1/OJ/Senior 10 kilometer race, Becca Rorabaugh (APU Nordic Ski Center) edged out Amy Glen (Alaska Winter Stars) by six seconds, while Tazlina Mannix (APU/US Ski Team) was third. In the J2/J3 girls 5K race Karina Packer (AWS) was the winner, and there was a tie for second between Kate Backstrum (Alaska Nordic Racing) and Kinsey Loan (also ANR). Marion Woods (AWS) was the top J3 in that race. Sarrissa Lammers won the girls J4/J5 2K by a mere one second over Jane Hoefler (APUNSC).
In the men's J1/OJ/Senior 10K classic race, Tyson Flaharty led a parade of five APUNSC skiers at the top of the results. Anders Haugen was second and coach Frode Lillefjell was third. Reese Hanneman (Fairbanks Area Ski Team) was the top junior in 6th place. Not to be outdone by his brother, Logan Hanneman (FAST) was the winner of the J2/J3 boys 5K race, with Eric Ryan (AWS) second and Kyle Barnhart (APUNSC) third. Magnus Pedersen (AWS) won the boys J4/J5 2K race by six seconds over Jacob Bassett (APUNSC) and Tracen Knopp (ANR) was third.
SUNDAY FREE TECHNIQUE
The skate race on Sunday was the final race of the 2008 Besh Cup series, and also the last Alaskan qualifying race for Junior Olympics and Arctic Winter Games.
Tazlina Mannix was a winner by 27 seconds in the women's J1/OJ/Senior 5K race. She was followed by three of her APUNSC teammates, including Becca Rorabaugh in second and Kate Fitzgerald in third. J2 skier Karina Packer finished 5th overall, to complete her series sweep of the J2 Besh Cup races. J3 skiers Marion Woods and Maranda Merkes went 1-2 for the second time in two days in the 3K race. Hanna Gillis (NSCF) was third in the 3K event and Jane Hoefler was the top J4 in 5th place. Amber Lenze (Fairbanks Jr. Nordic) was winner of the 1K race.
Tyson Flaharty repeated his victory from Saturday in the men's J1/OJ/Senior race. He was once again followed by his APU teammates. This time Brent Knight was second and Frode Lillefjell was third. Darrin Markvardsen (BlackJack Ski Club) was the top junior in 5th place. Silas Talbot (AWS) edged Eric Ryan by a scant 0.1 seconds to win the J2 boys 5K race. Logan Hanneman was third. J3 skiers John Glen (AWS), Austin Hess (AWS), and Schyler Knopp (ANR) took the top three in the boys J3/J4 3K race. Magnus Pedersen was the top J4 in that event. In the J5/J6 boy's 1K race, brothers Tracen and Dawson Knopp finished first and second respectively, and Louie Bassett was third.
, Kate Backstrum (235), Jeannete Klecka (230), Photo: Janet Dougherty</font></center></p><p><center><img decoding=)