Sunday, December 18, 2011

Besh Cup 2

I was too busy doing my heavy-breathing exercises to take any photos today, but here are the results from today's Besh Cup 2 race, at Chugiak High School.  (top 30 Women; top 50 men)


ConocoPhillips Besh Cup #2
Beach Lake Trails, Chugiak
Classic Interval Start
Hosted by Eagle River Nordic Ski Club
Womens J1+ 10k
PlaceBibFirst NameLast NameAgeAffiliationTotal Time
1202KateFitzgeraldSeniorAPUNSC31:10.5
2198JaimeBrongaSeniorUAA31:33.1
3197AmyGlenSeniorAWS31:49.6
4204LaurenFritzSeniorAPUNSC32:24.4
5191StephanieHiemerSeniorUAA32:27.1
6194HannahBoyerOJFXC32:27.7
7188MarionWoodsJ1AWS32:45.5
8201ChelseaHolmesSeniorSun Valley SEF32:52.4
9182JessicaYeatonSenior33:06.3
10189SarahCresapOJAPUNSC33:29.3
11199 KinseyLoanOJAPUNSC33:34.3
12172KateBackstrumOJAWS33:45.2
13176MackenzieFlynnJ1APUNSC33:46.9
14200CaitlinPattersonSeniorAWS33:47.8
15171MarisaRorabaughSenior33:51.8
16175ElizaRorabaughOJFXC33:55.1
17186TeaganYutrzenkaJ1AWS34:35.0
18165ElizabethWhisenhantOJFXC34:36.1
19180CeliaHaeringJ1APUNSC34:38.6
20187AnnieLiottaOJAWS34:39.8
21193TristanRameyOJAWS34:42.6
22190StephanieKirkJ1AWS34:56.0
23174CrystalPitneySeniorUAF35:08.3
24178RachelleKanadySeniorAWS35:08.5
25181MeganEdicOJFXC35:20.6
26196KaileyMuchaSeniorANR35:30.0
27157ClaireFerreeJ1FXC35:31.1
28168TsainaMahlenJ1APUNSC35:35.8
29163MayaRadonichSeniorAPUNSC35:37.5
30164EmaMayoJ1FXC35:39.2


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Mens J1+ 15k
PlaceBibFirst NameLast NameAgeAffiliationTotal Time
1328DavidNorrisSeniorNSCF40:14.5
2320ReeseHannemanSeniorAPUNSC40:38.3
3329EricPackerSeniorAWS40:43.4
4325TysonFlahartySeniorToko/Madshus40:56.2
5324Erik SoederstroemSeniorUAF41:49.1
6327BrentKnightSeniorAPUNSC41:49.6
7319LukasEbnerSeniorUAA42:08.9
8309LasseMoelgaardSeniorUAA42:22.0

9305IanWilkinsonSeniorUAF42:26.7
10318DylanWattsSeniorAPUNSC42:30.4
11321AndrewDoughertySeniorDU42:45.6
12317LoganHannemanOJFAST42:52.1
13322TylerKornfieldSeniorAWS42:59.6
14312IsaacLammersOJANR43:09.7
15294StefanHajdukovichOJFXC43:21.6
16303KyleHansonJ1FXC43:30.6
17314JackNovakOJAPUNSC43:51.8
18310ErinPhillipsSeniorAPUNSC44:08.2
19308LarsArnesonSeniorUAF44:11.2
20300GalenJohnstonSeniorUAA44:17.5
21316ForrestMahlenOJAPUNSC44:28.3
22301CodyPriestSeniorPurple Cobras44:33.4
23293JohnGlenJ1AWS44:33.5
24313AlexMorrisSeniorUAF44:45.1
25304NevioZeniSeniorUAA44:46.6
26307AndrewArnoldSenior44:46.8
27323ScottPattersonOJAWS44:49.1
28276AdamVerrierM3Atomic Team44:58.8
29278ErichHoeflerJ1FAST45:04.5
30274JackParkeJ1AWS45:08.7
31279DavidMcphetresJ1ANR45:22.8
32292LutzKlausmannOJUAA45:22.9
33285AlexLoanJ1ANR45:25.5
34291DavisDunlapOJ45:33.6
35290DonHaeringSeniorAPUNSC45:36.3
36306CarlSmithOJAWS45:40.1
37296PatrickNugentOJFXC45:42.6
38288RileyTroyerJ1FXC45:43.1
39286PeterBrewerOJANR45:47.5
40266NeillToelleOJFXC45:55.5
41283SchylerKnoppJ1ANR46:10.7
42302NeilLiottaSeniorAWS46:11.1
43280EricBackstrumJ1AWS46:18.8
44269DanielServentiJ1APUNSC47:04.1
45295BrandonBrewsterOJ47:05.4
46281AbeMeyerhoferOJAPUNSC47:16.0
47250LeifJohnsonSenior47:19.6
48311PeterMamrolOJNSAA47:24.8
49246PatrickTerhuneOJFXC47:34.8
50268JakePrinceJ1AWS47:47.8

So that's all for UAA ski racing until next year.  At this very moment, various members of the team are packing their bags to scatter to the far ends of the earth - to places like Copenhagen, the Black Forest, Oslo, Fairbanks... even Palmer!  The coaches are taking a short break, too, before the start of the NCAA season begins in earnest.  As for me, I'm headed to Mexico tonight for a little sun, surf and sand, so the chances of a blog update from me between now and January 2012 are slim at best.  Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

...and the finalists are:

Lasse was focused today.  It was obvious.  As soon as he came across the finish line of each of his heats, he immediately took a few swigs of sport drink and a jogged a few laps around the stadium to stay loose between heats. And to anyone who watched his heats closely, it was clear that he had a strategy: get to the front early and control the race from there, using sharp accelleration in a few critical parts of the course that he'd memorized in advance.  He executed his plan with an expert touch, and worked his way through to the A-final, the last race of the day, as night was falling on Kincaid Park.  Once again, Lasse put himself into perfect position, in the lead, as the group came behind the scoreboard at the 500 meter mark.  All day, this was the part of the course where Lasse had relaxed to take a few deep breaths before a hard acceleration into the final, critical 400 meters.  But this time, he was getting pressure from Davis Norris, who had also been employing crafty race tactics all day.  To put it bluntly, six skiers tried to squeeze themselves onto a trail made for five, and Lasse saw his plans for victory unravel from a vantage point sprawled in the middle of the ski trail, about 350 meters from the finish.  But that's sprint racing: you take your chances, play to your strengths, keep your brain in gear, and take advantage of opportunities as they arise.  Lasse did everything to put himself in position to win today, but sometimes you just have to come away from the race satisfied that you took your chances and gave everything you had. And Lasse did that today.



 Lukas went all the way through to the final, too.  But it was the B-final.  There wasn't much "lucky" about Lukas' starts today.  Just as Lasse could be counted on to look back over his shoulder at the 100 meter mark at the beginning of each heat, wondering where everyone was, Lukas struggled to get out of the start quickly, and had to spend each heat fighting his way through the field in order to advance.  But he showed guts and resolve and he kept advancing all the way to the B-final. 

With 350 meters to go, coming downhill off the tunnel and into the strategically critical sweeping left turn under the bridge, Lucky hoped to get lucky with an inside move that could have launched him into a solid second place position coming into the finish sprint, but Scott Patterson was alert and closed the door on Lukas, taking the inside line for himself.  Smart skiing by both skiers. 



Today's results haven't been posted yet, but I bet they'll be available here before too long: http://www.crosscountryalaska.org/site/categoryblog/235-bc-1-a-2-info

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Pic o' th' Day

We like to have our team meetings indoors, but we're not afraid to have 'em in the Kincaid Park parking lot every once in a while:

Monday, December 12, 2011

Anchorage Cup

Yesterday, the team raced 15km skating (mass start) at the first Anchorage Cup Series race.  163 skiers showed up at Chugiak High School to take a lap or two around a hilly, twisty 7.5 km course.  We had good, firm conditions on fast, old, warm snow.  If I'd raced with my camera, I could have taken a few photos for this blog.  For instance, I could have taken a photo or two of Jaime as she passed me at the halfway point of the race, during my futile struggle to hang on and make a race of it...

Here are the results (top skiers only):

Women 15 K
1) Jaime Bronga, 0:40:24.3;
2) Laura Rombach, 0:42:08.4;
3) Steffi Hiemer, 0:44:42.5;
4) Rachel Steer, 0:45:46.3;
5) Karina Smith, 0:46:33.4;
6) Maya Radonich, 0:46:33.9;
7) Laura Gardner, 0:47:26.7;
8) Sheryl Loan, 0:50:47.6;
9) Margaret Hillhouse, 0:51:30.1;
10) Jessica Vetsch, 0:51:57.6;
11) Karen Bronga, 0:52:43.5;
12) Cynthia Decker, 0:56:50.4;
13) Liz Brewster, 0:57:52.9;
14) Celia Rozen, 1:04:57.3;
15) Ellen Toll, 1:08:40.9;
16) Alyssa Hargis, 1:22:19.3;

Men 15 K
1) Mark Iverson, 0:36:00.0;
2) Dylan Watts, 0:36:05.0;
3) Lukas Ebner, 0:36:15.5;
4) Lasse Moelgaard-Nielsen, 0:38:17.7;
5) Peter Mamrol, 0:38:59.3;
6) Tor Christopherson, 0:39:02.2;
7) Erik Mundahl, 0:39:05.2;
8) Galen Johnston, 0:39:09.0;
9) Christopher Clark, 0:39:10.0;
10) Nevio Zeni, 0:39:14.7;
11) Brandon Brewster, 0:39:15.1;
12) Lutz Klaufmann, 0:39:38.6;
13) Leif Johnson, 0:40:23.6;
14) Seth Downs, 0:40:43.6;
15) Adam Verrier, 0:41:01.6;
16) Mark Brady, 0:41:05.4;
17) Davis Dunlap, 0:41:14.9;
18) Don Haering, 0:41:28.8;
19) Erik Gorman, 0:42:01.4;
20) Rich Suddock, 0:42:07.3;