Midwest
Noquemanon Ski Marathon
The 11th annual Noquemanon Ski Marathon attracted over 900 competitors among all races. There were four main events – a 51km classic and freestyle and a 25km classic and freestyle. The point to point course runs from Ishpeming, thehome to the U.S. National Ski Hall of Fame to Marquette’s Superior Dome, the world’s largest wooden domed stadium along the shores of Lake Superior.
Mike Sinnott (Saab Salomon Factory Team), a week after contesting the World Cup races in Whistler, won the men’s 51km classic in a time of 2:28:38, just under two minutes ahead of runner-up Adam Airoldi. Airoldi edged Anders Osthus by 2.2 seconds.
Nikolai Anikin claimed the victory in the men’s 51km freestyle, putting 11 seconds on Matt Weier. The two substantially out distanced the rest of the field. Chip Tabor was third, 6 minutes back.
Olympian Laura McCabe turned in an impressive performance in the women’s 51km classic, skiing away from Rossignol’s Martina Stursova, and winning by four minutes. Kelly Skillicorn was third, over 11 minutes behind McCabe.
Paulette Niemi won the women’s 51km freestyle in convincing fashion over Vicki Asmus. Natalie Dawson was third.
New England
White Mountain Classic
Jackson, N.H. – January 24, 2009 – A record field of 288 racers and tour-participants took to the trails of Jackson in the 5th Annual White Mountain Classic XC 30K today, and two northern New England racers took home the top honors.
Winning the race was Eli Enman (Rossignol) who dominated the field despite breaking a pole in the mass start frenzy and having to race with mis-matched poles. Enman was followed by Eric Eley (Alpina) in second and Dartmouth racer Matt Trueheart who placed third. The women’s division winner, Kelsey Allen (Franconia, N.H.) was followed closely by Dartmouth college racer Kristin Dewey, Trina Hosmer (Stowe, Vt.) and Mary Heller Osgood (Putney, Vt.).
![White Mountain Classic Winner Eli Enman (Rossignol)](http://images.fasterskier.com/2009/01/elienmanwhitemtn30k2009.jpg" "White Mountain Classic Winner Eli Enman (Rossignol)")
The White Mountain Classic race course included a spectator-friendly mass start on the Wentworth Golf Course and provided many opportunities for enthusiasts to cheer for passing racers. Many people watched the race from their favorite ski trails and others turned out in large groups, ringing cowbells, to cheer skiers on at road crossings and “walk-to” vantage points near the finish line. Racers commended the cheering crowds as well World Class grooming for making a tough race worthwhile. Thom Perkins, Executive Director of Jackson XC, was happy to report that “everyone had a good time,”
Many of the racers are members of ski clubs that were competing in a one-day Ski Club Championship. The Mt Washington Nordic Club won the women’s competition thanks to top finishing women including Amy Patenaude Gunn (Henniker), Sally Swenson (North Conway), Meredith Piotrow (Jackson) and Jackson XC ski instructor Marianne Borowski (Glen). The winning men’s team was the Cambridge Sports Union. In addition to the winning women’s team, other MWN racers included Charlie Gunn, Nat Lucy, Doug Armstrong, Ron Newbury, Steve Piotrow, Nilton Motta, Suzie Carrier, Ernst Linder, Dave Duncanson, Mike Marino, David McDermott, Bob Yanuck, Nancy Ritger, Cathy Steers, Jana Johnson, Aaron Fox, and Robin Kosstrin.
Mt. Washington Nordic Club was the host club and many of the 40 volunteers who staffed the event were club members, some of whom raced in addition to working at the event. The event was sanctioned by Nordic ski racing’s Eastern governing body, the New England Nordic Ski Association (NENSA) which was represented by its events manager Jim Rodrigues and Technical Delegate (TD) Jim Townsend.
Proceeds from the race benefit the youth programs of Mt. Washington Nordic Club. These programs have grown in recent years and young local racers have enjoyed racing success in high school and college. In next weekend’s U.N.H. Winter Carnival races (Jan. 30 & 31) there will be MWNC alumni competing for Williams, Bates, and Colby.
Alaska
UAF Skiers Set Pace in Nordic Ski club of Fairbanks Town Race #3
UAF skiers Oyvind Watterdal and Aurelia Korthauer (a redshirt) strided to comfortable wins in the Woolly Rhino Classic, the third race in the 13th Annual Flint Hills Resources Alaska Town Race Series, Saturday afternoon at Birch Hill. The weather was perfect with rock-hard tracks set in 3-4 day old snow on top of a hard granular base, and bright sunshine with the temperature in the single digits above zero.
Korthauer was the last woman to start in the 15-second interval start format event, and she was the first to finish among the women going 7.5 kilometers. Alaska Nanook Theresia Schnurr was second, just over one minute behind Korthauer, with UAF Assistant Coach Ingrid Olson third. Sisters Julia Pierson and Anna Coulter rounded out the top five.
Watterdal was the next-to-last skier to start and overtook most, but not all, of those who started before him. At the finish he had a 34-second cushion (26:43.4 for 10Km) over teammate Einar Often, who was just a second ahead of a third Alaska Nanook, Ray Sabo. Nanooks Erik Soderstrom and John Parry were 4th and 5th.
In the elementary races, Ethan Hamlin, Jacob Chingliak and Kent Yoshikawa staged quite a battle over the 800 meter course, as all three finished within seven seconds. Max Donaldson, Jonathan Koenig and Tristan Sayre had a tight finish in the grade 5-6 boys 1.75Km race, with times of 6:31, 6:49 and 6:50.
Other age-group winners:
* K-1-2 Girls: Emma Jerome
* Grade 3-4 Girls: Amber Lenze
* Grade 3-4 Boys: Logan Mowry
* Grade 5-6 Girls: Alison Hebard
* Grade 7-8 Girls: Alicia Lenze
* Grade 7-8 Boys: Connor Smith
The race had been scheduled for the 17th of January, but was postponed to the 24th due to unsafe course conditions on the 17th. Over 200 skiers had entered for the race on the 17th, but all the high school and most junior skiers were out of town, either at the Besh Cup races in Soldotna or at high school races in Valdez. That being the case, today’s field was reduced substantially, but those who weren’t here missed out on a great day of racing
Next weekend is the final race in the Town Series, the Auto Service Company/SUBARU Skiathlon. All elementary and junior high skiers will race in mass-start free technique events, and high school and adult skiers will race in skiathlon format: starting out and covering half the distance in classic technique, then changing equipment and covering the second half of the distance in free technique. Women go 3Km+3Km and men go 4Km+4Km.
The following weekend will be the Besh Cup finals with races scheduled for Salcha on Saturday and Birch Hill on Sunday.
Besh Cups #3 and #4 – Anchorage
Complete Results
Intermountain
Sacagewea Classic – Bozeman, MT
The Sacagewea Classic was held in good, but abrasive conditions at Bohart Ranch in Bozeman, Montana. The feature event was a 28km classic – two loops around the trail system. There was also a 1,6, and 14km event. Over 100 racers competed.
The US Ski Team’s Leif Zimmermann, home to train in preparation for the World Championships, won the men’s 28km by six minutes over Olympic biathlete Dan Campbell. Johnathan Rulseh was third, 30 seconds in back of Campbell.
Brandy Stewart took the women’s title, skiing to a a 1:37 victory over Melody Scheefer. Nicky Kimball was third.
Complete Results – scroll down after following this link
