West Valley’s Kendall Kramer proved that home course advantage is real by sweeping to a dominant victory Friday in the girls 7.5-kilometer event at the ASAA First National Bank Alaska Nordic Ski Championships at Birch Hill ski area in Fairbanks.
With the win, Kramer also captured the overall state championship — known as the Skimeister award — for her two-day combined efforts. It’s the first ski title for Kramer, a sophomore, and the second in five months, following up her cross-country running crown in October.
Kramer rallied from behind to win the title. After finishing second in Thursday’s freestyle race, eight seconds behind West’s Molly Gellert, Kramer won Friday’s girls classic mass start in a time of 26 minutes, 52 seconds, 1:10 faster than runner-up Heidi Booher of Chugiak and 1:23 faster than Gellert, more than enough to secure the state crown.
Gus Schumacher of Service claimed the boys state Skimeister title with a two-day sweep of the individual races. Schumacher won Friday’s 10K classic race by five seconds over West’s Luke Jager in a time of 29 minutes, 23 seconds, beating Jager by 59 seconds in the overall standings. The crown is Schumacher’s second consecutive.
In the team race, which combines the top skiers from each school over all three days, the West Anchorage Eagles reigned supreme by sweeping the boys and girls championships.
John-Mark Pothast of Soldotna was the top peninsula finisher in 10th, picking up two spots after Thursday’s race to finish 5:35 behind Schumacher.
“It was really special,” said SoHi head coach Isaac Erhardt about Pothast’s weekend. “Any time somebody finishes in the top 10 is good.
“He went out there and raced hard every day, and today during the relay, he was making up time there too. He showed he has the fitness to race among the best.”
Kenai’s Karl Danielson recovered from a poor Thursday race to take home 15th in the overall Skimeister. Danielson finished 24th on Thursday but 11th Friday to pick up nine spots.
Jacob Davis topped Homer’s boys team with a 26th-place finish, while Egor Sturdy was 75th to lead Seward.
In the girls Skimeister battle, Kenai Central senior Addison Gibson led the peninsula with an 11th-place result in the state Skimeister standings. Gibson finished 12th in Friday’s classic race, and finished 4:05 behind Kramer in the overall two-day standings and 44 seconds behind a top-10 spot.
The three-day state meet concluded Saturday with the popular relays, a classic-classic-skate-skate technique event with four-man teams.
The West Eagles won the girls relay in 38 minutes flat, over two minutes ahead of runner-up West Valley, while the Service Cougars won the boys relay in 1:00:37, besting second-place West Valley by 23 seconds.
The SoHi boys relay came home eighth Saturday, a team that consisted of Jeremy Kupferschmid, Bradley Walters, Jode Sparks and Pothast, who anchored the Stars. The SoHi boys also received the sportsmanship award, Erhardt said.
Also in the boys relay, Homer took 10th and Kenai took 14th.
A strong anchor leg from Gibson helped push the Kenai girls to a seventh-place finish in the girls relay. Gibson took the handoff from Maria Salzetti in 10th and made up three places for the team, which also included Riana Boonstra and Anya Danielson. The SoHi girls were just seven seconds behind in eighth, while Homer was ninth.
Boonstra finished 22nd Friday and 20th overall in the Skimeister race, 6:23 behind Kramer, and Seward’s Ruby Lindquist was 23rd Friday and 23rd overall. Autumn Daigle finished 28th Friday to wrap up 26th overall as the top Homer skier.
Sonora Martin led Soldotna with a 32nd-place result overall, finishing 36th on Friday, while teammate Kellie Arthur was 36th in the overall standings.
“The girls skied really good, they gave it their all,” Erhardt said. “It was two days of tough courses, they’re not used to skiing on these courses.
“But today in the relay, they just showed what they could do. It was really encouraging.”
Erhardt added that the coaching staffs were kept on their toes throughout the weekend due to changing weather conditions, forcing a mixture of wax combinations to be used for the ideal glide. He said snowfall Thursday night combined with high winds on Friday delivered a challenging classic event.
“It made it interesting for waxing, every single day,” he said. “Friday’s race had bunch of wind blowing snow on the tracks.”
GIRLS
Team standings — 1. West Anchorage, 3:36:15; 2. West Valley, 3:42:59; 3. Chugiak, 3:47:55; 4. Service, 3:51:31; 5. South Anchorage, 3:57:19; 6. Kenai Central, 4:06:15; 7. Colony, 4:06:25; 8. Homer, 4:08:34; 9. Soldotna, 4:14:05; 10. Eagle River, 4:14:22; 11. Dimond, 4:18:23; 12. Grace Christian, 4:28:56; 13. Palmer, 4:33:49.
Overall Skimeister results (top 10) — 1. Kendall Kramer, WV, 41:53; 2. Molly Gellert, Wes, 43:08; 3. Garvee Tobin, Ser, 43:55; 4. Adrianna Proffitt, Chu, 43:56; 5. Heidi Booher, Chu, 44:15; 6. Quincy Donley, Wes, 44:16; 7. Aubrey LeClair, Wes, 44:25; 8. Annika Hanestad, Col, 44:57; 9. Emma Nelson, Chu, 45:08; 10. Maggie Meeds, Sou, 45:14.
Other Peninsula finishers — 11. Addison Gibson, Ken, 45:58; 20. Riana Boonstra, Ken, 48:16; 23. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 48:43; 26. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 50:22; 28. Katia Holmes, Hom, 50:41; 30. Zoe Stonorov, Hom, 51:04; 32. Sonora Martin, Sol, 51:25; 35. Kate Bering, Hom, 51:47; 36. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 52:01; 42. Maria Salzetti, Ken, 52:48; 44. Hannah Delker, Sol, 53:09; 48. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 53:58; 55. Erika Arthur, Sol, 54:49; 57. Anya Danielson, Ken, 55:02; 63. Brita Restad, Hom, 56:16; 64. Katie Delker, Sol, 56:32; 69. Dareena Doyle, Ken, 57:45; 70. Elise Kemppaine, Ken, 57:50; 74. Emmalee Moore, Sew, 59:52; 84. Libby Fabich, Hom, 1:05:35.
Friday 7.5K classic (top 10) — 1. Kendall Kramer, WV, 26:52; 2. Heidi Booher, Chu, 28:03; 3. Adrianna Proffitt, Chu, 28:14; 4. Molly Gellert, Wes, 28:16; 5. Tobin Garvee, Ser, 28:19; 6. Quincy Donley, Wes, 28:35; 7. Aubrey LeClair, Wes, 28:37; 8. Maggie Meeds, Sou, 28:43; 9. Emma Nelson, Chu, 28:58; 10. Annika Hanestad, Col, 28:59.
Other Peninsula finishers — 12. Addison Gibson, Ken, 29:31; 22. Riana Boonsta, Ken, 30:54; 23. Ruby Lindquist, Sew, 31:23; 28. Autumn Daigle, Hom, 32:44; 29. Katia Holmes, Hom, 32:49; 33. Zoe Stonorov, Hom, 32:56; 34. Kate Bering, Hom, 33:00; 36. Sonora Martin, Sol, 33:05; 38. Kellie Arthur, Sol, 33:18; 42. Cameron Blackwell, Sol, 33:41; 47. Hannah Delker, Sol, 33:54; 52. Maria Salzetti, Ken, 34:33; 58. Brita Restad, Hom, 35:14; 59. Erika Arthur, Sol, 35:17; 63. Anya Danielson, Ken, 35:42; 69. Katie Delker, Sol, 36:27; 73. Elise Kemppainen, Ken, 37:05; 76. Dareena Doyle, Ken, 37:37; 79. Emmalee Moore, Sew, 38:20; 86. Libby Fabich, Hom, 42:36; Sadie Lindquist, Sew, DNF.
Saturday 4x3K relay — 1. West Anchorage (Leclair, Eski, Donley, Gellert), 38:00; 2. West Valley, 40:01; 3. Service, 41:33; 4. South Anchorage, 42:07; 5. Chugiak, 42:17; 6. Colony, 43:14; 7. Kenai (Boonstra, Danielson, Salzetti, Gibson), 44:08; 8. Soldotna (Arthur, Delker, Martin, Blackwell), 44:15; 9. Homer (Holmes, Baring, Stonorov, Daigle), 44:39; 10. Eagle River, 45:01; 11. Dimond, 45:23; 12. Palmer, 48:09; 13. Grace Christian, 48:56.
BOYS
Team standings — 1. West Anchorage, 4:33:58; 2. Service, 4:34:21; 3. West Valley, 4:36:29; 4. Chugiak 4:46:01; 5. Dimond, 4:52:18; 6. South Anchorage, 4:53:32; 7. Grace Christian, 5:07:43; 8. Soldotna, 5:08:39; 9. Lathrop, 5:09:42; 10. Homer, 5:18:46; 11. Eagle River, 5:30:54; 12. Colony, 5:33:40; 13. Kenai, 5:37:48; 14. East Anchorage, 5:46:54; 15. Bartlett, 6:36:58.
Overall Skimeister results (top 10) — 1. Gus Schumacher, Ser, 48:51; 2. Luke Jager, Wes, 49:50; 3. Ti Donaldson, WV, 49:52; 4. Zanden McMullen, sou, 50:58; 5. Eli Hermanson, Ser, 52:35; 6. Everett Cason, Wes, 52:50; 7. Ari Endestad, WV, 53:25; 8. Noah Ravens, Wes, 53:58; 9. Michael Earnhart, Chu, 54:02; 10. John-Mark Pothast, Sol, 54:26.
Other Peninsula finishers — 15. Karl Danielson, Ken, 55:29; 26. Jacob Davis, Hom, 58:08; 36. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 59:07; 40. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Sol, 1:00:04; 47. Caleb Rauch, Hom, 1:02:34; 51. Jode Sparks, Sol, 1:03:10; 52. Bradley Walters, Sol, 1:03:10; 68. Josh Wisner, Hom, 1:07:34; 69. Josh Foster, Ken, 1:07:38; 72. Joseph Dammeyer, Sol, 1:08:35; 75. Egor Sturdy, Sew, 1:10:26; 76. Tristan Summers, Ken, 1:10:30; 78. Ben Kettle, Hom, 1:10:49; 79. William Morrow, Ken, 1:11:53; 80. Gideon Cullver, Ken, 1:12:38; 81. Cody Bryden, Sew, 1:13:27; 85. Andy Super, Hom, 1:14:35; 87. Mathew Grzybowski, Ken, 1:16:29; 89. Sam Paperman, Sew, 1:21:41.
Friday 10K classic (top 10) — 1. Gus Schumacher, Ser, 29:23; 2. Luke Jager, Wes, 29:28; 3. Ti Donaldson, WV, 30:05; 4. Zanden McMullen, Sou, 30:06; 5. Eli Hermanson, Ser, 30:18; 6. Ari Endestad, WV, 31:31; 7. Everett Cason, Wes, 31:35; 8. Noah Ravens, Wes, 31:40; 9. Michael Earnhart, Chu, 31:46; 10. John-Mark Pothast, Sol, 31:49.
Other Peninsula finishers — 11. Karl Danielson, Ken, 32:05; 30. Jacob Davis, Hom, 34:29; 31. Denver Waclawski, Hom, 34:29; 45. Jeremy Kupferschmid, Sol, 36:35; 57. Jode Sparks, Sol, 37:42; 59. Bradley Walters, Sol, 37:51; 60. Caleb Rauch, Hom, 37:53; 69. Josh Foster, Ken, 39:48; 72. Josh Wisner, Hom, 40:34; 73. Joseph Dammeyer, Sol, 41:12; 74. Gideon Cullver, Ken, 41:16; 76. Egor Sturdy, Sew, 41:48; 78. Tristan Summers, Ken, 41:59; 81. Ben Kettle, Hom, 42:46; 83. Cody Bryden, Sew, 43:24; 84. William Morrow, Ken, 43:28; 88. Andy Super, Hom, 46:10; 89. Mathew Grzybowski, Ken, 46:49; 90. Sam Paperman, Sew, 49:23.
Saturday 4x5K relay — 1. Service (Power, Hermanson, Schumacher, Maurer), 1:00:37; 2. West Valley, 1:01:00; 3. West Anchorage, 1:01:14; 4. Chugiak, 1:03:55; 5. South Anchorage, 1:05:29; 6. Dimond, 1:05:51; 7. Grace Christian, 1:08:02; 8. Soldotna (Kupferschmid, Walters, Sparks, Pothast), 1:08:21; 9. Lathrop, 1:10:43; 10. Homer (Davis, Waclawski, Wisner, Rauch), 1:11:22; 11. Palmer, 1:12:42; 12. Colony, 1:13:20; 13. Eagle River, 1:14:03; 14. Kenai (Danielson, Foster, Morrow, Summers), 1:14:28; 15. East Anchorage, 1:15:34; 16. Bartlett, 1:27:09.
