A pair of Kenai Central skiers helped Team Alaska to a third-place finish as the cross-country Junior National Championships finished Saturday in Lake Placid, New York.
New England won the Alaska Cup with 1,352 points, while Intermountain/Northern was next with 1,054 points and Alaska was third with 984 points. Alaska is the only of the 10 regions which draws all of its team members from just one state. Junior Nationals features the top skiers in the country.
In Saturday’s Under-18 men’s freestyle relay, Kenai Central’s Karl Danielson teamed with Ryan Bickford and Ari Endestad to finish 21st with a time of 24 minutes, 23 seconds. The Alaska squad of Luke Jager, Canyon Tobin and Gus Schumacher won the race.
In the Under-18 women’s freestyle relay, Kenai Central’s Addison Gibson teamed with Ruth Cvancara and Elizabeth Mans for a 17th-place finish in 28:27.3. Rocky Mountain won at 25:57.3.
Friday, Danielson finished 62nd out of 88 finishers in the U18 men’s 10K classic race with a time of 34 minutes, 58.3 seconds, about 5:22 behind winner Ben Ogden of Stratton Mountain School. Service High School and Alaska state Skimeister champion Gus Schumacher finished second, 12 seconds behind Ogden, and West High skier Luke Jager took third, 30 seconds behind.
Gibson took 45th out of 78 finishers in the U18 women’s 10K event, finishing 3:47 behind race winner Anna Gibson with a time of 37:46.5.
