Colony makes top five

March 4, 2005

GENE JANSEN/Frontiersman

FAIRBANKS - While Iditarod officials were scrambling to find quality conditions for the sled dog race restart, prep skiers from all over the state were basking in the chilly Fairbanks air as a new girls' team champion was crowned.

The West Valley girls' ski team last weekend unseated the Service High Cougars, who owned nine consecutive state ski championships, during the Alaska State Ski Championships at the Birch Hill ski area, where teams from all over the state had been hoping for a change in scenery.

"Teams were chanting 'Anybody but Service,'" Colony ski coach Ed Strabel said. "It's healthier for the sport when schools rotate through the top spots."

Service no longer held a home-field advantage, as the meet was relocated from Anchorage to Fairbanks last month due to warm weather conditions. Temperatures at start time were close to perfect with a 20-degree reading, well above the legal limit of minus-4 degrees. Ground temperatures held steady at about 5 degrees.

"The course was challenging and fair," Strabel said. "We train at cold temps on a regular basis, but when you go all out in extreme cold, skiers are susceptible to [injuries]."

In the boys' competition, Service continued its domination by winning its second consecutive team title with a combined time of four hours, 20 minutes, 32.1 seconds.

Mike Hinckley skied to his second consecutive skimeister title for the Cougars to help Service repeat championships. The Knights finished in fifth place overall with a time of 4:34:05.6 while the closest other Valley finisher was the Palmer Moose. They placed 16th overall in team competition.

Colony's Peter Doner finished in 15th place and Joe Dougherty crossed right behind him to help the Knights team post its fifth-place team finish. Other top-50 Valley finishers included Colony's Ryan Van Gorder (30th) and Allan Spangler (35th), as well as Su Valley's Galen Johnston, who finished 40th.

"I was hoping we would do better on skate race day," Strabel said. "We had two top-10 finishes the second day. We definitely nailed the wax on the second day."

In the 7.5K classic race on the second day, Peter Doner skied to a time of 22 minutes, 51.7 seconds for a sixth-place finish. Joe Dougherty finished in eight place with a time of 23:02.3, to help the Knights climb into the top-five spot.

In the girls' competition, West's Fiona Worcester won the state skimeister award, upsetting East's Region IV skimeister, Elizabeth Quinley. The top Valley girls' skier was Kate Fitzgerald of Palmer, who completed the tourney with a combined time of 43:57 and a 26th-place spot.

The Colony Knights girls' team, which lost handily to the Palmer Moose at the Region III meet last month, bested its Valley rivals by about five minutes, with a 12th-place overall finish.

Kate Fitzgerald of Palmer placed 16th in the first day of racing to help the Moose team edge Colony by 14 seconds after the free-style competition.

The Knights' Emily Dougherty, Claire Warren and Jessica Pace posted top-50 finishes in classic competition on the second day as Palmer fell off by six minutes. Top-50 girl's overall finishers included Palmer's Kate Fitzgerald (28th), Colony's Jessica Pace (47th) and Emily Dougherty (50th).

State Prep X-C Ski Tourney held at Birch Hill in Fairbanks on Feb. 24-26

Girls' skimeister results

(Combined free style

and classic times)

1. Fiona Worcester (West), 39:59.2 2. Becca Rorabaugh (West Valley), 40:11.8; 3. Adele Mery (WV), 40:29.7; 4. Elizabeth Quinley (East), 40:45.5; 5. Lauren Fritz (Chu), 40:48.2; 6. Chelsea Holmes (Dimond), 40:50.6; 7. Christina Gillis (WV), 40:51.9; 8. Janna Widness (Service), 41:03.9; 9. Hannah Johnson (Ser), 41:12.3; 10. Elisabeth Habermann (Skyview), 41:26.6; 11. Kelsey Coolidge (Ser), 41:32.9; 12. Katie Franzmann (Sol), 42:08.3; 13. Jaime Bronga (East), 42:19.7; 14. Katy Pankoski (Soldotna), 42:20.2; 15. Ky Eiben (Ser), 42:20.7; 16. Rachelle Kanaday (West), 42:49.6; 17. Kalen Ramey (Ser), 42:54.4; 18. Brita Mjos (East), 43:00.2;19. Kelsi Evans (WV), 43:03.2; 20. Erin Johnson (Chu), 43:14.1; 21. Alice Bradley (Chu), 43:15.4; 22. Mary O`Grady (South), 43:27.0;23. Elizabeth Tsigonis (Lathrop), 43:48.8; 24. Jessica Kazmierczak Eielson, 43:49.7; 25. Kalysta Schmidt (Dim), 43:50.1.

28. Kate Fitzgerald (Palmer), 43:57.0; 47. Jessica Pace (Colony), 46:38.6; 50. Emily Dougherty (Col), 46:57.8; 61. Morgan Moeglein (Col), 47:51.7; 64. Anne Ferry (Pal), 48:25.5; 73. Claire Warren (Col), 49:19.7; 75. Erin Skvorc (Col), 49:27.3; 80. Ayla Dolecki (Susitna Valley), 50:34.6; 82. Rosalie Leiner (Pal), 51:15.1; 86. Kaija Klauder (Col), 51:37.0; 87. Katie Cunningham (Pal), 51:38.5; 88. Grace Ferry (Pal), 51:42.7; 91. Hannah Hamler (Su V), 52:22.5; 92. Ivy Shipman (Su V), 52:31.6; 93. Jasmine McQuown (Pal), 52:40.0; 94. Jae Lynch (Was), 53:26.0; 98. Casey Bickford (Su V), 55:18.3; 101. Katie Hunner (Wasilla), 59:59.9; 102. Lindsay Miller (Was), 1:01:24.2; 103. Eve Shipman (Su V), 1:01:25.7; 107. Giselle Merkley (Su V), 1:16:10.5.

Girls' team results

(Combined free style,

classic and relay times)

1. West Valley, 3 hours, 25 minutes, 17.6 seconds; 2. Service, 3:27:03.5; 3. East, 3:33:11.1; 4. Chugiak, 3:34:22.2; 5. South, 3:37:40.7; 6. West, 3:39:11.0; 7. Dimond, 3:39:51.2; 8. Soldotna, 3:44:31.8; 9. Lathrop, 3:44:31.8; 10. Valdez, 3:52:04.7; 11. Skyview, 3:54:45.4; 12. Colony, 3:57:15.8; 13. Kenai, 4:01:22.5; 14. Homer, 4:02:34.3; 15. Palmer, 4:02:34.3; 16. Seward, 4:12:38.0; 17. Bartlett, 4:15:28.4; 18. Su Valley, 4:21:50.8.

Boys' skimeister results

(Combined free style

and classic times)

1. Mike Hinckley (Ser) 49:09.7; 2. Nate Berry (Chugiak), 49:38.4; 3. Anders Gillis (West Valley), 50:14.7; 4. Patrick Johnson (Serv), 50:25.8; 5. Max Treinen (West), 50:37.5; 6. Brett Broda (Lath), 51:15.77; 7. Lex Treinen (West) 51:34.9; 8. Daichi Ito (Serv) 52:04.2; 9. Bryan Lowen (Dim), 52:30.2; 10. Colin Singleton (Chu), 52:51.2; 11. Eric Packer (South), 52:57.1; 12. Jesse Cherry (Chu), 52:57.1; 13. John Murphy (Chu), 53:00.4; 14. Steven Buklis (West), 53:00.8; 15. Peter Doner (Col), 53:03.1; 16. Joe Dougherty (Col), 53:04.1; 17. Stephen Olendorff (Sol), 53:12.8; 18. Zak Melms (Serv), 53:20.6; 19. Erik Olson (WV) 53:32.4; 20. Morgan Jones (Homer), 53:34.2; 21. Nathan Wolfe (East) 53:38.7; 22. Mason Hulen (West) 53:47.2; 23. William Brooks (East) 53:58.7; 24. Noah King (Sky) 54:00.8; 25. Colin Fay (Chu) 54:17.0.

30. Ryan Van Gorder (Col) 54:46.2; 35. Allan Spangler (Col), 55:17.0; 40. Galen Johnston (Su V), 56:07.0 6:57.3; 41. Nico Ambrose (Su V), 56:11.4; 51. Chris Heiserman (Col) 57:35.3; 55. Joe Hunner (Was), 58:09.2; 60. Joe Heimerl (Col), 58:59.1; 72. Brian Senta (Pal) 1:01:15.7; 75. Tyler Chapman (Pal), 1:02:16.1; 78. Trevor Thomas (Was), 1:02:38.5; 91. Ryan Harrington (Pal), 1:05:21.9; 93. Gunnar Bahn (Was), 1:05:39.9; 95. Cody Priest (Pal), 1:06:45.1; 98. Joey Willardson (Pal), 1:09:29.3; 101. Gabe Sharrow (Was), 1:14:05.1.

Boys' team results

(Combined free style,

classic and relay times)

1. Service, 4 hours, 20 minutes, 32.1 seconds; 2. West, 4:24:53.6; 3. Chugiak, 4:25:10.5; 4. West Valley, 4:31:51.1; 5. Colony, 4:34:05.6; 6. Lathrop, 4:36:35.9; 7. East, 4:40:41.7; 8. Dimond, 4:42:47.2; 9. South, 4:42:47.2; 10. Kenai, 4:47:18.7; 11. Soldotna 4:54:56.9, 12. Homer, 4:59:10.1; 13. Seward, 5:03:59.8; 14. Bartlett, 5:13:33.7; 15. Skyview, 5:14:28.5; 16. Palmer, 5:26:38.4; 17. Wasilla, 5:30:18.2; 18. Nikiski, 5:34:16.4.