Soldotna’s Harris, Homer’s Daigle ski to Homer Invite victories

Homer’s Autumn Daigle and Soldotna’s Jack Harris skied to success this weekend at the annual Homer Invite at the Lookout Mountain Trails on Ohlson Mountain Road.

High school skiers from SoHi, Kenai Central and Seward competed with host Homer in two mass start races: a 5-kilometer classic race Friday and a 5K skate race Saturday.

Daigle skied to victory for the varsity girls in both races, as did Harris. The SoHi boys team took first place in both the classic and skate races at the meet, while the SoHi girls team won the classic race and the Kenai girls topped Saturday’s skate race.

Daigle won Friday’s classic 5K in 20 minutes, 0.4 seconds, followed closely by second-place Jayna Boonstra of Kenai in 20:07. Soldotna’s Jordan Ruffner took third for the girls with a time of 20:30. Soldotna skiers dominated the top spots in Friday’s classic race. Harris won with a time of 17:05, followed by teammates Foster Boze in 17:21 and Quinn Cox at 17:32.

During Saturday’s 5K skate race, skiers were given a 10 second penalty if they did not don a costume while racing. Soldotna skiers showed up as a gaggle of gnomes in tall red hats and white beards, while many Kenai skiers raced through the hilly Lookout course in Hawaiian shirts and leis. Wacky costumes of other sorts also graced the groomed trails, including a replica of a box of McDonald’s fries worn by Homer junior varsity skier Seamus McDonough.

Harris won Saturday’s skate race in 16:54, followed by teammate Ryder Giesler in 16:55 and Kenai’s Josh Foster in third place with a time of 16:57. Daigle took first place in the girls skate ski with a time of 19:21, followed again by Boonstra at 19:45 and Ruffner in third with a time of 20:21.

Area skiers compete at Besh Cup in Anchorage

The fifth Besh Cup races of the season were held Saturday at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, this time using a freestyle mass start. Besh Cup races are used to qualify for Junior Nationals and Arctic Winter Games, but also can be used by skiers of other ages just to stay sharp.

In the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle for Under-18 skiers and above, Soldotna High School’s Erika Arthur led the Kenai Peninsula by finishing 28th at 35 minutes, 44 seconds. Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks won at 27:43.

In the men’s 10K for Under-18 and above, SoHi’s Bradley Walters led the area by finishing 31st in 28:46. Forrest Mahlen of the Alaska Pacific University program won at 23:37.

In the 5K mass start for Under-16 boys, Kenai Central’s Tyler Hippchen led the area by taking 11th in 15:00, with Ethan Eski of the APU program winning at 13:22.

Reach Megan Pacer at mpacer@homernews.com.

Homer Invitational

at Ohlson Mountain

Friday’s 5K classic

Boys

Team results: 1. Soldotna; 2. Kenai.

Individual results: 1. Jack Harris, Sol, 17 minutes, 1 second; 2. Foster Boze, Sol, 17:21; 3. Quinn Cox, Sol, 17:32; 4. Ryder Giesler, Sol, 17:34; 5. David Grinestaff, Sol, 18:35; 6. Josh Foster, Ken, 19:14; 7. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 19:18; 8. Nathan Haakenson, Ken, 19:53; 9. Jesper Strom, Sol, 20:03; 10. Tucker Mueller, Ken, 20:19; 11. Clay Petersen, Sew, 20:24; 12. Johan Caranza, Ken, 20:24; 13. Mathew Grzybowski, Ken, 20:49; 14. Cody Bryden, Sew, 21:07; 15. Carter Cannava, Sol, 21:23; 16. Garrett Briscoe, Hom, 22:36.

Girls

Team results: 1. Soldotna; 2. Homer; 3. Kenai.

Individual results: 1. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 20:00; 2. Jayna Boonstra, Ken, 20:07; 3. Jordan Ruffner, Sol, 20:30; 4. Katie Delker, Sol, 20:57; 5. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 21:20; 6. Zoe Stonorov, Hom, 21:23; 7. Brita Restad, Hom, 21:30; 8. Summer Foster, Ken, 22:29; 9. Carson Dement, Sol, 22:39; 10. Leah Fallon, Ken, 22:51; 11. Aiyana Cline, Hom, 23:02; 12. Gabbie Tews, Ken, 23:13; 13. Jordan Strausbaugh, Sol, 23:57; 14. Sonja Saleva, Sol, 24:33; 15. Kara Super, Hom, 25:33; 16. Emmy Reese, Sol, 26:20; 17. Mikaela Hall, Ken, 26:33; 18. Julia Anderson, Ken, 26:33.

Saturday’s 5K skate

Boys

Team results: 1. Soldotna; 2. Kenai.

Individual results: 1. Jack Harris, Sol, 16:54; 2. Ryder Giesler, Sol, 16:55; 3. Josh Foster, Ken, 16:57; 4. Quinn Cox, Sol, 17:31; 5. Foster Boze, Sol, 17:39; 6. David Grinestaff, Sol, 18:05; 7. Nathan Haakenson, Ken, 18:38; 8. Jesper Strom, Sol, 18:49; 9. Johan Caranza, Ken, 18:52; 10. Carter Cannava, Sol, 18:52; 11. Tucker Mueller, Ken 18:57; 12. Mathew Grzybowski, Ken, 19:07; 13. Garrett Briscoe, Hom, 19:48; 14. Sorin Sorensen, Ken, 20:10; 15. Cody Bryden, Sew, 21:01; 16. Clay Petersen, Sew, 21:38.

Girls

1. Kenai; 2. Homer; 3. Soldotna.

Individual results: 1. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 19:21; 2. Jayna Boonstra, Ken, 19:45; 3. Jordan Ruffner, Sol, 20:21; 4. Zoe Stonorov, Hom, 20:38; 5. Katie Delker, Sol, 20:46; 6. Leah Fallon, Ken, 20:57; 7. Brita Restad, Hom, 21:06; 8. Gabbie Tews, Ken, 21:38; 9. Summer Foster, Ken, 21:44; 10. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 22:30; 11. Mikaela Hall, Ken, 23:03; 12. Carson Dement, Sol, 23:24; 13. Jordan Strausbaugh, Sol, 23:25; 14. Aiyana Cline, Hom, 24:22; 15. Sonja Saleva, Sol, 24:59; 16. Kara Super, Hom, 26:50; 17. Emmy Reese, Sol, 27:00.’