Anchorage’s Lars Arneson, a 2009 graduate of Cook Inlet Academy, has won the men’s title in the 2019 Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix. Fellow Anchorage mountain runner Rosie Frankowski is the women’s winner.
The Alaska Mountain Running Grand Prix is made up of seven races — Crazy Lazy, Kal’s Knoya Ridge Run, Government Peak Climb, Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb at Bird Ridge, Mount Marathon Race, Cirque Series Alyeska and Matanuska Peak Challenge.
The Grand Prix standings are determined by taking a racer’s best four finishes, with at least two finishes required to make the final list.
Arneson won with 365 points, while runner-up Eric Strabel had 305. Arneson won the Crazy Lazy, took second at Knoya, took second at Government Peak and claimed third at Mount Marathon.
A pair of Seward runners also had a strong showing, with Pyper Dixon taking fifth with 290 points and Erik Johnson taking ninth with 245 points.
Dixon was spurred on by a strong finish in the last three races of the season, taking fourth at Mount Marathon, third at Mat Peak and sixth at Cirque Series Alyeska. He also was ninth at Government Peak.
Johnson had fifth-place finishes at Mount Marathon and Alyeska, a 10th at Bird Ridge and an 11th at Crazy Lazy.
Frankowski, an APU skier who finished 21st in the 30K classic at the 2018 Winter Olympics, scored a perfect 400 points by winning Knoya, Government Peak, Bird Ridge and Alyeska, setting new records at Knoya and Government Peak in the process.
Fueled by a strong start to the season, Anchorage’s Denali Strabel, a 2008 graduate of Seward High, took second with 355 points. She won Crazy Lazy and finished second at Knoya and Government Peak before taking fifth at Mount Marathon, where a foot injury ended her season.
Anchorage’s Julianne Dickerson, raised in Kenai and a 2006 graduate of Wings Christian Academy, was third with 345 points after a second at Alyeska and thirds at Government Peak, Bird Ridge and Mount Marathon.
Seward’s Hannah Lafleur competed in just three races, but that was good enough for fifth with 280 points. Lafleur won Mount Marathon and was second at Crazy Lazy and Bird Ridge.
Also, 2018 Seward High grad Ruby Lindquist was 15th, 1998 Seward High grad Aubrey Smith was 19th and Seward’s Karol Fink was 28th.
The annual awards ceremony will be Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Peanut Farm and Grill in Anchorage.
