Talkeetna native wins national ski titles

April 8, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - Tazlina Mannix is on the move. And fast.

The 2004 Susitna Valley graduate recently returned home to Talkeetna after capping a successful cross-country ski season in Europe by winning two U.S. titles at the national championships in Maine.

After spending two months on the European cross-country circuit, Mannix said her decision to participate in nationals came at the last minute.

“I figured since I was flying back to the U.S. anyway, and was feeling good, I'd do it,” she said. “I went to it purely to have fun.”

Winning two races and being named U.S. Grand Champion were just a bonus.

“I was really pleased,” she said. “I felt like the season overall went really well.”

That Mannix has found such rapid success should come as no surprise to anyone who's followed her career. She's a former Region III champion who went from Talkeetna to the prestigious Alaska Pacific University team, and now to the U.S. Ski team.

This season in Europe saw the globetrotting Mannix reach her highest level of success yet. Last month, she won her first Europa Cup event - one step below World Cup competition - in a 15-kilometer skate race in Slovenia.

She also made her World Cup debut this season as part of a U.S. relay team that competed in Switzerland.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” she said of her first World Cup race.

Mannix said she believes she'll eventually find a home on the World Cup, and her goal is to become competitive at racing's highest levels.

“The ultimate goal is definitely the World Cup and the Olympics,” she said.

She took this semester off from classes at APU in order to focus on her European season - her third on the continent - and said this year she finally started to feel comfortable with the demands of international competition.

“This year I felt like I started getting it down and felt really comfortable on the road,” she said.

She said moving from country to country - eating new foods, living out a backpack - can be exhausting.

“You're always moving,” she said.

But, with three years of international competition under her belt, she said the grind has become more routine.

“This year it felt normal,” she said.

Still, being away from home for so long can be tough on anyone, and Mannix said she's happy to be back in Alaska. She spent a recent afternoon working with some of Talkeetna's youth skiers, and afterward said it's fun to return to her

roots.

“They have so much energy, it's so much fun,” she said.

Despite her rising profile on the international state, the pride of Talkeetna said it's nice to get back to her roots.

“I'm really excited to be home.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com