The Soldotna boys, Homer girls, Homer’s Jacob Davis and Seward’s Ruby Lindquist notched wins at the Homer Invitational, a ski meet held Friday and Saturday at Ohlson Mountain.
The meet consisted of a five-kilometer classic race Friday and a five-kilometer freestyle race Saturday. Soldotna ski coach Isaac Erhardt said both were done on a tough course that included a one-kilometer climb. But Erhardt said the conditions and weather were fantastic, and added central peninsula skiers finished off the weekend with an easy five-kilometer Saturday ski that was gorgeous.
The Stars boys won at 1 hour, 58 minutes and 58 seconds, while Kenai was second at 2:00:53. Davis won both Friday’s classic race and Saturday’s freestyle race. His Friday time was 14:03 and Saturday time was 13:03, leading to an overall victory of 27:06. Soldotna’s Addison Downing was second at 27:39 and Kenai’s Patrick Michels was third at 28:22.
The Homer girls had a time of 2:23:17 for the victory, while Kenai was second at 2:29:55. Lindquist won both races, in 16:56 on Friday and 14:50 on Saturday, leading to an overall victory of 31:47. Rylee Norris of Valdez was second in 17:05 and Homer’s Katie Holms was third in 33:22.
Peninsula qualifies 3 for Junior Nationals
Three central peninsula skiers have qualified for Junior Nationals, which will be held from March 3 to 11 in Lake Placid, New York.
Soldotna’s Sadie Fox, who now skis for the University of Alaska Anchorage, and Kenai Central’s Addison Gibson qualified for Under-18/20 girls, while Kenai Central’s Karl Danielson qualified for the Under-18/20 boys.
The final race of the six-race qualifying series was held Sunday in Fairbanks.
In the women’s Under-18 and over 10-kilometer classic mass start, Gibson finished fifth at 39:48, with Jenna Difolco winning at 37:53. Kenai Central’s Riana Boonstra was 10th at 41:00, while Soldotna’s Kellie Arthur was 22nd at 46:22.
In the men’s Under-18 and over 10-kilometer classic mass start, Danielson led the way for the area by taking 11th in 34:00. Lukash Platil won at 32:16. Also from the area, Soldotna’s Koby Vinson was 21st at 35:38, Soldotna’s Jeremy Kupferschmid was 29th at 37:00 and Soldotna graduate Levi Michael was 43rd at 42:45.
In the boys Under-16 three-kilometer classic mass start, Homer’s Caleb Rauch was 23rd in 11:43, while George Cvancara won at 10:16.
Homer Invitational
Friday, Saturday
at Ohlson Mountain
BOYS
Team times: 1. Soldotna, 1:58:58; 2. Kenai, 2:00:53; 3. Homer, 2:09:06.
Five-kilometer classic
1. Jacob Davis, Hom, 14:03; 2. Addison Downing, Sol, 14:20; 3. Patrick Michels, Ken, 14:39; 4. Joshua Shuler, Sol, 14:54; 5. Eric Kempf, Ken, 15:10; 6. Trevor Debnam, Ken, 15:22; 7. Jode Sparks, Sol, 15:31; 8. Joseph Dammeyer, Sol, 16:13; 9. Jack Harris, Sol, 16:18; 10. Hoxie Parks, Hom, 16:18; 11. Cooper Nelson, Sol, 16:31; 12. Ben Swanson, Val, 17:00; 13. Taft Stiener, Was, 17:20; 14. Tyle Owens, Sol, 17:31; 15. Cy Dull, Ken, 17:35; 16. Matthew Minium, Nik, 17:52; 17. James Hancock, Val, 18:17; 18. Kaleb Greathouse, Was, 18:36; 19. Billy Morrow, Ken, 18:37; 20. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 19:05; 21. Eric Super, Hom, 19:49; 22. Egor Sturdy, Sew, 19:51; 23. Josh Foster, Ken, 20:11; 4. Chris Cummins, Val, 21:18.
Five-kilometer freestyle
1. Davis, 13:03; 2. Downing, 13:19; 3. Shuler, 13:34; 4. Michels, 13:42; 5. Kempf, 13:47; 6. Swanson, 14:11; 7. Jode Sparks, 14:28; 8. Harris, 14:37; 9. Parks, 14:37; 10. Debnam, 14:46; 11. Dammeyer, 15:01; 12. Stiener, 15:26; 13. Waclawski, 15:39; 14. Nelson, 15:40; 15. Dull, 15:48; 17. Owens, 16:01; 18. Super, 16:29; 19. Foster, 16:42; 20. Minium, 16:49; 21. Morrow, 17:25; 22. Hancock, 17:44; 23. Greathouse, 17:53; 24. Cummins, 18:39.
Overall
1. Davis, 27:06; 2. Downing, 27:39; 3. Michels, 28:22; 4. Shuler, 28:28; 5. Kempf, 28:58; 6. Sparks, 30:00; 7. Debnam, 30:08; 8. Harris, 30:55; 9. Parks, 30:56; 10. Swanson, 31:11; 11. Dammeyer, 31:14; 12. Nelson, 32:11; 13. Stiener, 32:46; 14. Dull, 33:24; 15. Owens, 33:33; 16. Minium, 34:42; 17. Waclawksi, 34:44; 18. Hancock, 36:02; 19. Morrow, 36:02; 20. Sturdy, 36:05; 21. Super, 36:19; 22. Greathouse, 36:29; 23. Foster, 36:54; 24. Cummins, 39:58.
GIRLS
Team times: 1. Homer, 2:23:17; 2. Kenai, 2:29:55.
Five-kilometer classic
1. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 16:56; 2. Rylee Norris, Val, 17:05; 3. Katia Holms, Hom, 17:13; 4. Katie Cooper, Ken, 17:43; 5. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 18:28; 6. Katie Davis, Hom, 18:31; 7. Sadie Lindquist, Sew, 18:31; 8. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 18:41; 9. Anya Danielson, Ken, 19:16; 10. Maria Salzetti, Ken, 19:41; 11. Taylor Huston, Val, 19:44; 12. Mia Alexson, Hom, 19:48; 13. Caitlin Bales, Was, 20:07; 14. Hannah Delker, Sol, 20:33; 15. Dareena Doyle, Ken, 20:52; 16. Carolyn Morton, Ken, 22:07; 17. Emmalee Moore, Sew, 23:12; 18. Sophie Thomas, Sol, 23:52.
Five-kilometer freestyle
1. R. Lindquist, 14:50; 2. Norris, 15:39; 3. Holms, 16:09; 4. Davis, 16:59; 5. Cooper, 17:10; 6. S. Lindquist, 17:23; 7. Blackwell, 17:24; 8. Daigle, 17:32; 9. Salzetti, 17:35; 10. Danielson, 18:06; 11. Alexson, 18:21; 12. Delker, 19:05; 13. Bales, 19:05; 14. Huston, 19:27; 15. Doyle, 19:29; 16. Hill, 20:15; 17. Morton, 21:17; 18. Moore, 21:27; 19. Thomas, 23:58.
Overall
1. R. Lindquist, 31:47; 2. Norris, 32:45; 3. Holms, 33:22; 4. Cooper, 34:53; 5. Davis, 35:30; 6. Blackwell, 35:52; 7. S. Lindquist, 35:55; 8. Daigle, 36:13; 9. Salzetti, 37:16; 10. Danielson, 37:23; 11. Alexson, 38:10; 12. Huston, 39:12; 13. Bales, 39:13; 14. Delker, 39:38; 15. Doyle, 40:21; 16. Morton, 43:25; 17. Moore, 44:39; 18. Thomas, 47:50.
