Karl Danielson led all peninsula skiers Saturday at the Besh Cup race No. 3 freestyle sprints at the Tsalteshi Trails in Soldotna.
Danielson, a 2018 Kenai Central grad, finished sixth in the A final, the last race of the day after a full schedule of qualifying and heat races over the one-kilometer sprint loop. Fairbanks racer Ari Endestad won the final, beating runner-up Julien Bordes of Alaska Pacific University.
Soldotna senior Jeremy Kupferschmid took 14th among the senior class of skiers, and was followed by Soldotna’s Bradley Walters in 46th, Soldotna’s Jack Harris in 47th, Kenai Central’s Joshua Foster in 59th, Soldotna’s Joseph Dammeyer in 70th and Soldotna’s Darius Martin in 75th.
The top 30 skiers in the morning qualifying session advanced to the afternoon heats.
Kenai’s Maria Salzetti was the top peninsula finisher in the women’s skate sprints, making the cut to finish 27th overall. Marion Woods of Alaska Winter Stars won the women’s final.
Soldotna’s Sonora Martin followed behind in 40th, while SoHi teammate Isabella Dammeyer was 42nd, Soldotna’s Cameron Blackwell was 47th, Soldotna’s Hannah Delker was 48th, Soldotna’s Erika Arthur was 53rd and Kenai’s Summer Foster was 54th.
Sunday’s racing begins at 11 a.m. with a day of classic interval start races. Skiers take to the course in 30-second intervals, with the day’s last racer heading out around 2:15 p.m.
