Norwegian rockets Sigrid Aas and Petter Eliassen were victorious in Tuesday evening's Tour of the Golden Heart Spring Series opener.
Norweigans Aas and Eliassen Win Distance Nationals Tune-Up
FasterSkier · March 26, 2008
Heather Edic, Marisa Rorabaugh and Kate Bennett were the three top juniors, in 7th-8th-9th.
The racing started at 6:00PM under sunny skies with comfortable temperatures. Sixteen women were entered in the race, but a number of scratches, including former Fairbanks skiers Kate (Pearson) Arduser and Becca Rorabaugh, brought the field down to 11. However it was a very strong field, and the junior skiers who competed in the race were able to measure themselves against the very best.
, who was the 10Km classic champion on the Birch Hill trails at the 2003 Junior Olympics, was the first skier out of the gate, wearing bib number 20, and was the early leader. </p></div><div class=)
Starting two-and-a-half minutes behind Zimmerman was 2008 NCAA Champion Marius Korthauer of the Alaska Nanooks, now skiing for Rossignol. Korthauer gained a few seconds on Zimmerman early, Petter Eliassen, starting 30 seconds behind Korthauer, took over the lead at most of the early timing positions.
These three skiers spend most of the race in that order, but within 15-20 seconds of one another. Eliassen had about 10 seconds on Korthauer with two to three kilometers to go. Korthauer was able to narrow that gap to four seconds by the finish, but could get no closer. The final top three were Eliassen, Korthauer (+4.2 seconds) and Zimmerman (+13.2 seconds). APUNSC coach Frode Lillefjell was fourth (+1:17) and UAF skier Vahur Teppan was fifth (+1:22).
Among juniors, Michael Mattson of APU was first (6th overall). David Norris of FAST was second junior (10th overall) and Ray Sabo of UAF was third junior in 12th overall.
Coverage from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner
