Valley mushers fill 3 of top 5 in Knik 200

WILLOW — A “hard and fast trail” may have caused five of the 30 Knik 200 competitors to scratch this weekend, but it didn’t stop familiar names from appearing in the top 10.

Race Manager Bob Sexton said Saturday morning the atmosphere was “almost too relaxed,” and jokingly said he felt like something had to go wrong.

With 13 teams using the Knik 200 Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Sled Dog Race as an Iditarod qualifier, organizers were really hoping that wouldn’t happen.

It started off alright. Two Rivers musher Will Rhodes, winner of the Solstice 100 earlier this month, was first into Deshka Landing on lap one of the race and maintained that lead after the mandatory 6-hour layover.

More than few spectators — and mushers — banked on Rhodes’ win, but the next few slots were up for grabs.

“I was expecting to do well, but I think I surprised myself a little bit. I was hoping for top five,” said Ben Harper, the second-place finisher.

Harper, who will be running his first full Iditarod this year, moved into second place ahead of veteran Iditarod musher Paul Gebhart at the second stop in the Yentna Station checkpoint. Where Gebhart might have ended up, however, is unclear — he scratched before the finish.

Harper voiced two opinions on why mushers may have dropped out of the race.

“I think a lot of people scratched because it was a hard and fast trail,” he said. “It takes a toll on your dogs, the faster you go with them on that hard stuff.”

Harper guessed his average speed was about 11 mph on the first leg of the race, and almost as fast on the second leg, causing him to drop two dogs that couldn’t handle the speed on the layover.

“I need to slow my dogs way down (for the Iditarod),” he said.

The reroute from the original Knik Lake-Yentna Station course to the one starting from Deshka Landing also may have thrown a couple mushers off. On the way to and from Yentna, competitors were supposed to run a small loop around a Willow swamp near the Deshka airstrip, which at least one musher missed on the way back.

“It was easy for a lot of people to just skip the loop on the way back to the checkpoint,” Harper said.

By the end of the race, veteran Iditarod mushers Travis Beals and Charley Bejna, and mushers Robert Bear and Melissa Owens also had scratched.

Third-place finisher Robert Redington had a different opinion about the course, however.

“I think the trail was perfect, it was marked fine,” he said.

Redington also said that the trail was “hard and fast,” and, like Harper, ended up dropping two dogs by the end of the race. “One was a little sore,” he said, and another just got tired.

Overall, the race went “really smoothly,” he said, and taking the two dogs out was mostly a strategic precaution, rather than an issue of emergency.

“You can only go as fast as your slowest dog,” he said.

Sexton said he thought the dogs were probably teams’ biggest issue.

“You know, it’s been a horrible season of training, and a lot of people don't have the miles on their dogs,” he said.

After Redington came Justin Savidis of Willow in fourth, followed by Scott Janssen, Dean Osmar, Kristy Berington, Rick Casillo, DeeDee Jonrowe and Anna Berington, rounding out the top 10.

The Knik 200 was Redington’s final qualifier, making him ready to roll for the 2016 Iditarod.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.

2015 Knik 200 Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Sled Dog Race Results

Approx. 160 miles

1. Will Rhodes; 2. Ben Harper; 3. Robert Redington; 4. Justin Savidis; 5. Scott Janssen; 6. Dean Osmar; 7. Kristy Berington; 8. Rick Casillo; 9. DeeDee Jonrowe; 10. Anna Berington; 11. Yvonne Dabakk; 12. Tim Pappas; 13. Matthew Failor; 14. Jake Leingang; 15. Alan Stevens; 16. Billy Worthy; 17. Justin Stielstra; 18. Wyatt Sucheki; 19. Anais Amouret; 20. Michael Baker; 21. Thomas Jamgochian; 22. Becca Moore; 23. Roger Lee

2015 Earl Norris Memorial Sled Dog Race (Willow Winter Carnival) Results

2 days, 31.2 miles each day

1. Bill Kornmuller; 2. James Wheeler; 3. Cim Smyth; 4. Bob Chlupach; 5. Nicolas Petit; 6. Joey Kornmuller; 7. Smaantha Dixon; 8. Lisbet Norris; 9. Robert Forto; 10. Peter Duncan; 11. Wayne Curtis; 12. S. Cole Larsen