Four Kenai Peninsula skiers wrapped up competition with the nation’s top Under-20 skiers at Junior Nationals in Truckee, California, with races on Friday and Saturday.
Friday, Kenai Central freshman Addison Gibson paced Kenai Peninsula skiers in a day of mass start classical racing.
In the Under-16 girls race, Gibson skied five kilometers in 22 minutes, 13.6 seconds, to take 23rd place. Inter Mountain’s Brooke Dunnagan clocked 20:38.4 for the win.
In the Under-20 men’s race, Kenai Central senior Travis Cooper skied 15 kilometers in 43:08.7 to finish 24th. Alaska’s Thomas O’Harra won the race at 40:00.3.
In the Under-16 boys race, Kenai freshman Karl Danielson skied five kilometers in 19:03.8 to take 29th place. Rocky Mountain’s Nolan Herzog won at 17:48.7.
In the Under-18 women’s race, Soldotna senior Sadie Fox covered the 10 kilometers in 44:11.3 to finish 56th. New England’s Katharine Ogden took the win at 36:09.9.
Saturday, the skiers participated in relays.
In the girls Under-16 3-by-2.5-kilometer classic relay, Gibson teamed with Jenna DiFolco and Emma Nelson to finish seventh in 26:22.2, 1:26.8 behind Inter Mountain.
Cooper also had a solid day on the trails, teaming with David McPhetres and John Farr to give Alaska eighth in the men Under-20 3-by-2.5-kilometer relay. The squad crossed at 23:36.5, 1:15.2 behind the winning New England squad.
In the girls Under-18 3-by-2.5-kilometer classic relay, Fox joined Ryan Terry and Ana Jager to finish 16th in 28:57.3, 4:12.9 behind champion New England.
Danielson ended up in a mixed team in the boys Under-18 3-by-2.5-kilometer relay. His squad finished 25th in 26:11.2, 3:07.0 behind the winning Midwest squad.
Team Alaska finished fifth in the race for the Alaska Cup, scoring 906 points. New England took the team title with 1,190 points.
