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WASILLA — Nic Petit ended the 2018 mushing season the way he started it. By winning a mid-distance sled dog race.
The Girdwood musher rolled into Kotzebue behind seven dogs just after 12 a.m. Sunday to win the final major event of the 2018 mushing calendar.
Petit was the first of 14 mushers to reach the finish line in Kotzebue. He left the final checkpoint at Noorvik just before 6 p.m. Saturday evening, and needed just more than six hours to tackle the final leg. Tony Browning was the runner-up, finishing at 3:29 a.m. Sunday.
Jessia Klejka was the top Valley musher in the event, placing fourth. Klejka, a veterinarian in Big Lake originally from Bethel, hit the finish line at 11:59 a.m. Sunday. Jesse Salyer, the kennel manager for four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey, finished ninth. Kristin Bacon of Big Lake was 10th.
Petit, the 2018 Iditarod runner-up, earned wins in five mid-distance races this season. He also finished first in the Willow 300, Tustumena 200, Joe Redington Sr Memorial Knik 200 and the Copper Basin 300.
Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.
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