Palmer girls win Government Peak ski race

The first race of the season cancelled by an earthquake. The second was cancelled due to lack of snow and closure of schools by earthquake. The third race — threatened by subzero temperatures.

Despite all of these setbacks, the Palmer girls ski team emerged as champions at the Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational ski meet over the weekend.

Freshman Katey Houser swept the girls’ individual titles, winning both the classic and skate races. Houser also helped the Moose finish first in the team standings in both events.

Houser was one of a pair of Palmer skiers to earn titles in the 5-kilomter freestyle races on a day in which the temperature stood at -4 degrees. Each also finished at the head of a pack that featured more than 70 skiers in each of the interval start races.

The temperature rose to about 10 degrees for the 5-K classic mass start races Saturday. The Palmer girls continued to dominate, sweeping the top 3 spots. Houser won by almost a minute, closely followed by Whittington-Evans in second and Berrigan in third.

Aila Berrigan (third) and Rosie Whittington-Evans (sixth) also posted top 10 finishes for the Palmer girls. In addition to Wallings first-place finish Friday, Kaj Taylor was sixth for the Moose.

The boys race was highly competitive, with four skiers from four schools going under 16 minutes. Juneau traveled the farthest and showed their best in the classic race, placing skiers in 5th, 6th and 10th. Soldotna displayed its depth with skier Jeremy Kupferschmid taking first, with two teammates in the top ten. Palmer’s Walling took third, just six seconds off the winning time, with Taylor taking seventh.

The Palmer girls were crowned overall champs, along with the Soldotna boys. The Palmer boys were third overall.

Most of the teams from Region 3 attended the two-day meet at. The field included Soldotna, Kenai, Grace, Seward, Valdez and Juneau. Many local people were instrumental in pulling off the meet in a short time, including Race Director Mikey Evans, Chief groomer Ed Strabel, Timing Director Lori Berrigan, PHS Athletic Director Dale Ewart, and a great many other volunteers. Complete meet results can be found at webscorer.com/race?raceid=166177 for Friday and webscorer.com/race?raceid=166288 for Saturday.

Information courtesy of Susan Skvorc.

Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational

Friday-Saturday, Palmer

Team results:

Girls classic:

1. Palmer 1:23:11; 2. Grace Christian 1:25:54; 3. Soldotna 1:26:08; 4. Kenai 1:34:13; 5. Juneau 1:39:47.

Boys classic:

1. Soldotna 1:06:57; 2. Juneau 1:08:52; 3. Grace 1:11:05; 4. Palmer 1:13:00; 5. Kenai 1:21:53.

Girls skate:

1. Palmer 1:18:37; 2. Soldotna 1:21:29; 3. Grace 1:28:26; 4. Kenai 1:29:30; 5. Juenau 1:40:39.

Boys skate:

1. Soldotna 1:02:30; 2. Grace 1:03:25; 3. Juneau 1:03:52; 4. Palmer 1:04:13; 5. Kenai 1:11:51.

Individual results (top 20)

Girls classic:

1. K. Houser, Pal 19:23; 2. R. Whittington-Evans, Pal 20:20; 3. A. Berrigan, Pal 20:34; 4. M. Jackson, Gra 20:38; 5. E. Arthur, Sol 20:55; 6. M. Salzetti, Ken 21:06; 7. L. Ellis, Gra 21:09; 8. H. Delker, Sol 21:32; 9. C. Demienteff, Gra 21:37; 10. K. Delker, Sol 21:40; 11. S. Martin, Sol 22:00; 12. I. Dammeyer, Sol 22:04; 13. G. Annett, Gra 22:28; 14. J. Ruffner, Sol 22:32; 15. Z. Copp, Pal 22:51; 16. B. Werner, Pal 23:42; 17. S. Lindquist, Sew 23:47; 18. A. McLaughlin, Gra 23:55; 19. L. Fallon, Ken 23:56; 20. M. Ticknor, Ken 24:11.

Boys classic:

1. J. Kupferschmid, Sol 15:46; 2. L. Fritzel, Gra 15:49; 3. J. Walling, Pal 15:53; 4. B. Walters, Sol 15:56; 5. C. Taylor-Ruth, Jun 16:08; 6. A. Ellefson, Jun 16:16; 7. K. Taylor, Pal 16:44; 8. J. Harris, Sol 16:55; 9. C. Fritzel, Gra 17:12; 10. F. Morley, Jun 17:25; 11. F. Boze, Sol 18:16; 12. L. Chilton, Sol 18:26; 13. Q. Cox, Sol 18:41; 14. W. Metzger, Gra 18:57; 15. J. Dammeyer, Sol 19:00; 16. A. Blust, Jun 19:02; 17. J. Foster, Ken 19:03; 18. T. Merritt, Pal 19:03; 19. W. Wallace, Gra 19:05; 20. T. Hippchin, Ken 19:33.

Girls skate

1. K. Houser, Pal 17:21; 2. M. Salzetti, Ken 18:29; 3. A. Berrigan, Pal 18:56; 4. E. Arthur, Sol 20:12; 5. K. Delker, Sol 20:13; 6. R. Whittington-Evans, Pal 20”13; 7. I. Danmeyer, Sol 20:30; 8. H. Delker, Sol 20:32; 9. M. Jackson, Gra 20:37; 10. A. McLaughlin, Gra 21:32; 11. S. Lindquist, Sew 21:36; 12. S. Foster, Ken 21:45; 13. J. Ruffner, Sol 22:03; 14. Z. Copp, Pal 22:06; 15. B. Werner, Pal 22:13; 16. S. Martin, Sol 22:16; 17. G. Annett, Gra 22:36; 18. L. Fallon, ken 22:45; 19. S. Mueller, Pal 23:39; 20. C. Demienteff, Gra 23:40.

Boys skate

1. J. Walling, Pal 13:21; 2. A. Ellefson, Ken 14:46; 3. J. Kupferschmid, Sol 14:50; 4. B. Walters, Sol 14:53; 5. L. Fritzel, Gra 14:56; 6. K. Taylor, Pal 15:00; 7. C. Fritzel, Gra 15:17; 8. C. Tylor-Roth, Jun 15:21; 9. J. Harris, Sol 16:00; 10. F. Morley, Jun 16:13; 11. W. Metzger, Gra 16:20; 12. L. Chilton, Sol 16:44; 13. W. Wallace, Gra 16:51; 14. T. Merritt, Pal 16:51; 15. T. Hippchen, Ken 17:11; 17. K. Leach, gra 17:12; 18. A. Blust, Jun 17:30; 19. F. Boze, Sol 17:35; 20. J. Dammeyer, Sol 17:45