PUPS STEP UP

WILLOW — With new-fallen snow cresting the 150-mile trail from the Willow Community Center to Yentna Station, 13 teen mushers and their dog sled teams kicked off Saturday for the start of the 2010 Junior Iditarod.

Mushers age 14 to 17 with an equal mix of males and females bring varying levels of experience, said Michelle Pearson, president of the board for the Junior Iditarod.

“We have an interesting mix out here today, and it should make for a good race,” she said. “It’s a new group and one that I am not entirely familiar with, so it should be pretty wide open.”

Part of that interesting mix is exchange student Guillermo Anton from Madrid, Spain. One might think that being from Spain and sled dog racing are diametrically opposites. And that assumption would be right most of the time — except for Anton.

Anton has been living with a family in Chugiak since August, and although Alaska was not his first choice in studying abroad opportunities, he knew it was one he could never turn down.

“I filled out my bio and then the program asked me if I wanted to go to Alaska, and how could I say no?” he said. “I mean, why not go to Alaska?”

Although the differences between Spain and Alaska are many, he said the Last Frontier is a place he has grown to love and would like to return to. Part of his passion for the 49th State is anchored in mushing.

“It has become a real passion in my life, and since I started this winter I have found I am really liking it,” he said. “You know when the snow came we got out there with sled and dogs and I just fell into it.”

Even though Anton is only in his first season of competitive mushing, he has some credentials to back up his skill. He finished in second place in his first race, the Junior Tustumena. He also won the award for checkpoint efficiency for that race as well.

It was a finish that even winner Rebekah Ruzicka remembers.

“Yeah, Anton, he is pretty good, and really fun to race with out there at Jr. T,” she said. “He came in second right behind me and I was like ahh.”

The Junior Iditarod may Ruzicka’s race to lose as she comes in on a two-race win streak, topping the field at the Junior Tustumena and Junior Willow 100.

“I am running the same dogs as the previous two races, and so I am just ready to get out there and see what we can do,” she said.

Her competition will be stiff as 12 other competitors look to challenge her. And while some may not have the credentials Ruzicka does, they bring years of mushing experience from their own backgrounds. It’s a strategy that Ilsa Schwarzburg hopes can propel her to the front of the pack.

“I got into mushing when I was real young living in Colorado and just found out I loved it and have done it ever since,” she said.

The combined skills of managing a sled team, navigating a 150-mile course and spending the night in the Bush had one onlooker seriously impressed — and you have to work pretty hard to impress former NFL Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka.

Csonka and the television crew for “North to Alaska” are filming the race in hopes of recognizing the mushers’ skills and growing the sport.

“Man, these kids out here are amazing,” Csonka said. “I went out once with a professional retired Iditarod racer and we went through two snow storms and all sorts of stuff, and that was only a 30-mile run. So what these guys are doing is just amazing.”

The mushers will spend a mandatory eight-hour layover at Yenta Station and should return for the finish around 10 a.m. today.

Contact Lanier Hucheson at lanier.hutcheson@frontiersman.com.

2010 Junior Iditarod Field

Guillermo Anton, Kaye Berg, Jonathan Biggerstaff-Myers, Jeff Holt, Jeremiah Klejka, Emily Krol, Meredith Mapes, Merissa Osmar, Rebekah Ruzicka, Ilsa Schwarzburg, Tobin Sworts, Yuta Takagi and Anitra Winkler.