Cross Country Alaska held the second of three weekends of Besh Cup ski races this past weekend in Homer, Alaska. The Besh Cup Race Series is the premier cross country skiing competition series in Alaska. Results in Besh Cup races are used to select the Alaska Teams to the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) Junior Olympic National Championships (JO's), as well as the biennial Arctic Winter Games, which will be held this year in Yellowknife, NWT, Canada. Almost three hundred skiers participated in each day of the Homer races, held at the McNeil Canyon ski trails.
Saturday’s race was a classic sprint event, held under mostly cloudy skies. Alaska WinterStars skiers Eric Packer and Amy Glen were the winners of the men’s and women’s Open (J1 and older) races, respectively. Packer (J1) and second place Reese Hanneman, a J1 skier for Fairbanks’ FAST team, managed to edge out a couple of strong Senior skiers, APUNSC’s Tyson Flaharty and Brent Knight in the A Final. In the women’s race, Glen won the qualifying round by three seconds and never looked back on her way to victory in the heats. Jaime Bronga (East High School) and Becca Rorabough (APUNSC) finished second and third.
In the J2 boys category, Scott Patterson (AWS) posted an impressive win, with Eric Ryan (AWS) second and Robert Hovda (FAST) third. The girls J2 winner was another member of the Packer family, Karina (AWS), followed by Kinsey Loan (Alaska Nordic Racing) and Annie Liotta.
In the boy’s J3 category, Schyler Knopp (ANR) posted his first win of the Besh Cup season, ahead of Kuba Grzeda (Fairbanks Cross Country) and Austin Hess (AWS). Hanna Gillis (Nordic Ski Club of Fairbanks) won the girls J3 race, with Marion Woods (AWS) and Maranda Merkes (Soldotna) also making the top three.
J4 Boys: 1. Jacob Bassett, 2. Brett Egeland, 3. Andrew Glen
J4 Girls 1. Sarrissa Lammers, 2. Jane Hoefler, 3. Jade Hajdukovich
J5 Boys: 1. Tracen Knopp, 2. Dawson Knopp, 3. Louie Bassett
J5 Girls: 1. Amber Lenze, 2. Mia Alexson
J6 Girls: 1. Amber Hajdukovich
Sunday was a distance classic race, with the temperature slightly above freezing and occasional rain, snow, and sleet, which made for challenging wax conditions.
Amy Glen continued her winning ways in the women’s Open 5K race, while Becca Rorabough and Jaime Bronga again finished in the top three. In the men’s Open 10K race Lex Treinen (AWS) was in a league of his own, winning by a minute and a half over Tyson Flaharty. Cole Talbot (AWS) was third.
Scott Patterson and Karina Packer repeated their victories from Saturday in the J2 class. Patterson has now won all four J2 Besh Cup races this season, while Packer has won the last three. Eric Ryan earned another second place finish and Silas Talbot (AWS) was third. For the girls, Emily Rogers (AWS) was second and Kate Backstrum (ANR) was third.
Kuba Grzeda edged out Schyler Knopp in the boys J3 race, while Douglas Watts (AWS) was third. Hanna Gillis was a repeat winner in the girls J3 race, while Maranda Merkes and Marion Woods traded podium places from Saturday.
J4 Boys: 1. Jacob Bassett, 2. Brett Egeland, 3. Andrew Glen
J4 Girls 1. Sarrissa Lammers, 2. Morgan Flynn, 3. Jade Hajdukovich
J5 Boys: 1. Tracen Knopp, 2. Dawson Knopp, 3. Louie Bassett
J5 Girls: 1. Amber Lenze, 2. Mia Alexson
J6 Girls: 1. Amber Hajdukovich
Full results and points lists can be found at:
www.crosscountryalaska.org
Photos of Saturday’s race can be viewed here:
http://scottdickerson.com/photos/eventphotography/Besh-Cup-3/
Cross Country Alaska gives a big thank you to Race Director Stephanie Haynes and her excellent crew of volunteers in the Kachemak Nordic Ski Club who put on two great days of racing.
