Soldotna’s Sadie Fox and Kenai Central’s Addison Gibson led area skiers at Besh Cup 6 at Birch Hill in Fairbanks on Sunday. Racers competed in classic interval starts.
The finishes also earned Gibson and Fox slots on Team Alaska, which will represent the state at Junior Nationals at Truckee, California, from March 9 to 14. Gibson was fifth in the Under-16 racing, while Fox was sixth in the U-18/U-20 racing.
In the Under-16 girls 5-kilometer race, Gibson took fourth in 19:17, while Molly Gellert was first in 18:10. Also from the area, Riana Boonstra was ninth in 19:46.
In the Under-18 girls 5K, Fox was fourth in 18:50, while Morgan Flynn was first in 17:51. Also from the area, Hannah Pothast, who missed making Junior Nationals by one slot, was ninth in 19:31.
In the U-18 boys 10-kilometer race, SoHi’s Levi Michael finished 17th in 34:22, while Hunter Wonders won at 30:12. In the U-20 boys 10K, Travis Cooper of Kenai took fourth at 31:53, while Seiji Takagi won at 30:26. In the senior men 10K, former Homer skiers Andre Lovett was 10th in 33:01, while Michael Fehrenbach won at 29:43.
In the U-16 boys 5K, John-Mark Pothast led the Peninsula by taking ninth in 16:38, while Ti Donaldson won at 15:13. Also from the area, Jeremy Kupferschmid was 15th at 17:17 and David Michael was 19th at 17:55.
