Cali King wins Junior Iditarod

Nineteen young mushers hit the Iditarod trail Saturday morning to race in the 2002 Junior Iditarod.

Mushers between the ages of 14 and 17 competed in the 180-mile race that ran from Settlers Bay Golf Course to Yentna, with the finish back at Settlers Bay Sunday.

Cali King of Denali Park returned first at 9:27 a.m. Sunday to take the 25th running of the Junior Iditarod.

"The trail was good today coming back," King said. "The worst part was past Eagle Song -- the trail was punchy and choppy there yesterday, but much better today."

Tyrell Seavey of Seward finished second in the race after crossing the finish line at 10 a.m. Max Kornmuller of Willow finished third in the race, crossing the finish line at 10:19 a.m.

Seavey and King battled to the wire last year, with Seavey winning the 2001 Junior Iditarod just 34 seconds ahead of King.

The race was the last Junior Iditarod for both mushers, who will be 18-years old by next year's race.

Seavey plans to run the Iditarod next year while King is still not sure.

"I plan on going to college out of state," King said. "If I do the Iditarod, I will probably only do it next year."

Both mushers hail from families rich in Iditarod tradition. King is the daughter of Jeff King, three-time Iditarod winner, and Seavey is the son of Mitch Seavey, eight-time Iditarod competitor.

King's team of dogs may be virtually same team that Jeff King will use to run the Iditarod.

"This was basically a trial run with the dogs for the Iditarod," Cali King said.

Teams made the trek to Yentna, where they were required to take a 10-hour layover before starting back at 2:57 a.m. Sunday.

"I slept from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.," King said. "I was tired while it was dark [Sunday morning], but when the sun came up it got me going again."

Nicole Osmar is a rookie musher carrying on a family tradition in the Junior Iditarod. Her father, Tim Osmar, won the race three times from 1982 to 1984 and has ran the Iditarod 16 times.

In a field of 11 girls and eight boys, 11 rookies competed in this year's race.

Maegan Mackey, a 17-year-old rookie from Palmer, felt confident before the race Saturday.

"I'm nervous about taking off and getting the dogs out," she said. "I'm not worried after that."

Mackey started the race with no mishaps, but stopped at the Susitna river checkpoint.

Heather Hardy of Wasilla finished fourth in her rookie venture in the the event.

Mari Troshynski of Wasilla started the race but stopped at the Knik checkpoint.

Jordan Lolley, a 14-year-old rookie from Kennesaw, Ga., traveled the trail on a practice run a week prior to the race. Lolley said before the race that trying to get sleep would be the hardest part for him.

"I just want to finish to say that I've done it," Lolley said.

Lolley, with his father and mother, Bill and Brenda Borden, live in Wasilla during the winter to compete and learn about mushing. Bill Borden will compete in the Iditarod as a rookie this year. Lolley finished ninth in the race.

Long-time volunteer Rachel Runyan was given honorary musher status for the race, receiving bib number one. Runyan has provided radio service for several years of the race, relaying musher status and information about emergencies along remote areas of the trail.

The Iditarod begins with the ceremonial start Saturday in Anchorage, followed by the restart at Bumpus Ballfields Sunday at 10 a.m. in Wasilla.