Kenai Central cross-country skiers dominated racing action on the Hillside Trails at Service High School on Saturday in Anchorage.
With many of the state’s top high schools skiers away in Fairbanks for the Besh Cup races, competitors had the chance to “Ski for Relief,” with race funds and entry fees going to aid oppressed people in the countries of Burma and South Sudan.
Jordan Theisen won the boys race in 18 minutes, 11 seconds, beating Kenai teammate James Butler by 31 seconds.
Alex Bergholtz led a Kenai girls sweep of the top four positions by winning with a time of 21:05, beating teammate Kirsten Nyquist by nearly a minute. Mikaela Salzetti and Katie Cooper finished third and fourth, respectively.
Fox leads top division locals at Fairbanks Besh Cup
The fifth Besh Cup race of the season kicked off Saturday at Birch Hill ski area in Fairbanks.
In the women’s 10-kilometer mass start skate event, Soldotna skier Sadie Fox finished 10th with a time of 39 minutes, 51 seconds, 2:40 behind winner Anne-Tine Markset. Hannah Pothast of Soldotna followed behind in 16th with a time of 41:59.3
In the female Under-16 three-kilometer race, Addison Gibson of Kenai finished fourth with a time of 11:27.2. Kenai teammate Riana Boonstra took fifth in 11:34.1.
men’s 10-kilometer mass start skate race, former Homer skier Andre Lovett led the Peninsula crowd with an 11th-place finish in 30:18.2, more than a minute behind race winner Michael Fehrenbach. Kenai’s Travis Cooper finished 22nd in 31:30.3, and Soldotna’s Levi Michael finished 41st with a time of 37:16.
In the male U16 three-kilometer mass start, Kenai skier Karl Danielson led the way with a ninth-place finish and a time of 9:23.7. Soldotna’s John-Mark Pothast finished 12th in 9:30.8, and Jeremy Kupferschmid placed 19th in a time of 10:14.9.
The season-long series ends today with the sixth race, a classic interval start event.
Ski for Relief, Saturday top 10
Hillside Trails, Anchorage
Boys
1) Jordan Theisen (Kenai) 18:11.0; 2) James Butler (Kenai) 18:42.1; 3) Ty Mumford (Grace) 18:50.3; 4) John Cosgrave (Grace) 19:04.2; 5) Kyle Stone (Dimond) 19:19.0; 6) Joshua Roach (Grace) 19:49.6; 7) Wyatt Brown (Grace) 20:17.0; 8) Taylor Sheldon (Grace) 20:41.2; 9) Joe Divelbiss (Dimond) 21:11.6; 10) Adam Liland (Dimond) 22:10.9.
Girls
1) Alexandria Bergholtz (Kenai) 21:05.8; 2) Kirsten Nyquist (Kenai) 22:02.2; 3) Mikaela Salzetti (Kenai) 22:02.4; 4) Katie Cooper (Kenai) 22:48.2; 5) Sarah Cosgrave (Grace) 22:49.3; 6) Lauren Tsao-Wu (Grace) 24:23.2; 7) Ruby Lindquist (Seward) 24:53.1; 8) Katie McWhite (Dimond) 25:27.1; 9) Ithaca Bergholtz (Kenai) 25:37.2; 10) Chloe Bee (Dimond) 25:46.
