Eric Packer raced for more than just gold on the final day of the U.S. Junior Olympic cross-country ski championships.

He raced for eight stars of gold on a field of blue.

Packer, skiing the last leg of the last relay race of the day, blew open a tight four-team battle in the final kilometer, getting the breathing room he needed to put an exclamation point on Team Alaska's dominating week at the national championships.

As he skied the 100-meter straightaway to the finish line at Kincaid Park, Packer veered toward the fence that separated him from cheering fans and grabbed a giant Alaska flag from someone in the crowd.

He waved the blue-and-gold flag overhead as he crossed the finish line to secure Alaska's third gold-medal finish of the day -- the perfect wrap-up to a week's worth of racing during which the Alaskans claimed the team trophy for the first time since 2002.

"I've never been on a team that's won the Alaska Cup," Packer said of the national team trophy that bears Alaska's name. "It's just really exciting."

Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the traveling trophy has spent so much time here it could qualify for a Permanent Fund dividend.

But there's been a five-year drought since Alaska last won it. With this year's championship races on home turf, the team was determined to bring the Alaska Cup back home.

"I always heard we always got it, but ever since I've been on the team we've never gotten it," Becca Rorabaugh of Fairbanks said. "I'm the oldest one on the team who hasn't (won) it."

Rorabaugh, 18, made sure she finally got her mitts on the Cup.

She did as much as anyone to help Alaska reclaim the trophy, anchoring Alaska to a thrilling relay win Saturday to pick up her third gold medal in four races.

Rorabaugh won Monday's classical sprint race and Friday's 10-kilometer classical race to go along with her gold in Saturday's 3x5-kilometer freestyle relay.

Joining her with three golds was Scott Patterson, 16, of Anchorage.

Patterson was the most dominant skier of the week, winning silver in the sprint and gold in everything else. And his wins were of the no-doubt-about-it variety: Patterson won the 5-K freestyle by an astonishing 75 seconds and the 5-K by 16 seconds.

When Silas Talbot tagged off to send Patterson on his way in the relay, Alaska held a four-tenths of a second edge. By the time Patterson finished his three-kilometer anchor leg, he had a gap of almost 10 seconds on the next closest team.

And so he, too, had time to take a detour on his way to the finish line to grab an Alaska flag from a spectator and carry it to the finish.

"It was really fun to ski in with the flag," Patterson said.

For the day, Alaska won three of the six relays and claimed seven medals. In the Junior I boys relay, Alaska placed first and second -- no real surprise, given that the J-I boys had enough depth to stage two podium sweeps during the week.

Alaska collected 28 of the 72 medals awarded at the championships, including golds in 12 of the week's 24 races.

Alaska made its big push for the Alaska Cup in Friday's mass-start classical races, winning five of the six events to forge a huge lead in the team standings.

Alaska took 1,234 team points into the relays --185 more than second-place New England -- and it would've taken a series of disasters Saturday to lose the Alaska Cup.

And that just wasn't going to happen.

Caitlin Patterson, a member of the second-place Junior II girls relay, said the Alaskans realized they had the Cup all but wrapped up after Friday.

"But we didn't want to have a wimpy showing on the last day," she said.

Alaska enjoyed contributions from a number of racers on its way to the team title, including some from skiers who never stood on the victory podium.

Annie Liotta, a 15-year-old from Anchorage, ranked last on the list of qualifiers for the team, but on Monday she won the B final in the sprints to place seventh.

On Saturday, she teamed with MacKenzie Kanady and Emily Rogers to place fourth in the J-II relay, half a second behind the third-place Alaska team of Kinsey Loan, Kate Backstrum and Karina Packer.

"She qualified last, and on Monday she wins the B finals," Alaska coach Holly Brooks said. "That just blows me away."

Find Beth Bragg online at adn.com/contact/bbragg or call 257-4309.

Saturday freestyle relay races

Girls

Junior II 3x3-kilometers (born in 1992-93) -- 1) New England (Isabel Caldwell 7:51.0, Heidi Caldwell 7:31.6, Tara Geraghty-Moats 7:48.7), 23:11.2; 2) Intermountain (Stella Holt 7:51.5, Kara Baldwin 7:55.9, Katie Gill 7:37.7), 23:25.0; 3) Alaska (Kinsey Loan 7:50.4, Kate Backstrum 7:53.5, Karina Packer 7:50.2), 23:34.1; 4) Alaska (MacKenzie Kanady 8:00.3, Annie Liotta 7:44.0, Emily Rogers 7:50.3), 23:34.6; 5) Midwest (Jen Rolfes 7:52.0, Annie Hart 7:53.0, Sharmila Ahmed 7:51.0), 23:35.9.

Junior I 3x5-kilometers (born in 1990-91) -- 1) Midwest (Libby Ellis 13:46.1, Lynn Duijndam 13:59.2, Jessie Diggins 12:56.5), 40:41.8; 2) Alaska (Jamie Bronga 13:43.2, Caitlin Patterson 13:30.3, Amy Glen 13:29.8), 40:43.3; 3) Intermountain (Monica Markvardsen 14:21.2, Elizabeth Guiney 13:24.5, Kate Dolan 13:36.4), 41:22.1; 4) New England (Sophie Caldwell 13:40.5, Adele Espy 13:52.3, Hilary Rich 13:59.1), 41:31.8; 5) New England (Megan Killigrew 13:45.8, Grace Boutot 13:59.1, Keely Levins 14:13.3), 41:58.1.

Older Junior 3x5-kilometers (born in 1988-89) -- 1) Alaska (Christina Gillis 13:40.9, Rachelle Kanady 13:32.3, Becca Rorabaugh 13:28.4), 40:41.5; 2) Intermountain (Ase Carlson 13:39.7, Erika Flowers 13:48.8, Mali Noyes 13:42.3), 41:10.8; 3) New England (Parker Tyler 13:46.7, Katie Miller 13:57.7, Lucy Garrec 13:41.2), 41:25.5; 4) Alaska (Hanna Johnson 14:09.2, Kalysta Schmidt 13:49.3, Lauren Fritz 14:17.8), 42:16.2; 5) New England (Caitlin Curran 14:16.8, Maddie Talkington 14:09.1, Mae Foster 14:02.9), 42:28.8.

Boys

Junior II 3x5-kilometers (born in 1992-93) -- 1) Alaska (Logan Hanneman 7:01.0, Silas Talbot 6:43.2, Scott Patterson 6:32.9), 20:17.0; 2) Intermountain (Will Wicherski 6:57.6, Daniel Sundali 6:48.8, Johnny Springer 6:39.8), 20:26.2; 3) New England (Bridger Tyler 7:07.0, David Sinclair 6:37.5, Nick Michaud 6:50.9), 20:35.3; 4) Intermountain (Tanner Wiegand 7:08.5, Charlie Fereday 6:52.0, Tanner Putt 7:00.1), 21:00.5; 5) Rocky Mountain (Sean Woods 7:07.5, Alden Lowney 7:06.4, Spencer Lacy 7:00.5), 21:14.4.

Junior I 3x5-kilometers (born in 1990-91) -- 1) Alaska (Lex Treinen 11:46.1, Cole Talbot 11:54.7, Eric Packer 11:33.8), 35:14.6; 2) Alaska (David Norris 11:49.3, Andrew Dougherty 11:50.2, Tyler Kornfield 11:50.7), 35:30.2; 3) Midwest (Hans Nygren 11:54.1, Joe Dubay 11:46.0, Chris Bowler 12:02.7), 35:42.8; 4) New England (Sam Tarling 11:50.4, Lauren Turner 12:04.9, Chase Marston 12:11.8), 36:07.0; 5) Intermountain (Max Durtschi 11:55.3, Travis Job 12:14.1, Marshall Opel 12:24.7), 36:34.1.

Older Junior 3x5-kilometers (born in 1988-89) -- 1) Intermountain (Reid Pletcher 11:53.1, Ian Havlick 11:49.4, Noah Hoffman 11:40.1), 35:22.6; 2) Rocky Mountain (Miles Havlick 12:06.3, Leif Nordgren 11:55.4, Tad Elliott 11:29.8), 35:31.4; 3) Alaska (Max Treinen 12:00.9, Michael Matteson 11:42.4, Reese Hanneman 11:55.2), 35:38.4; 4) Midwest (Zach McGill 11:57.7, Kyle Fredrickson 12:03.6, Doug Debold 11:59.0), 36:00.3; 5) Intermountain (Willie Neal 12:03.7, Erik Anderson 11:58.3, Taylor Sundali 11:59.7), 36:01.7.

Medals table and standings

Team Gold Silver Bronze Total

Alaska 12 7 9 28

New England 4 5 8 17

Intermountain 3 8 5 16

Midwest 3 2 2 7

Rocky Mountain 0 2 0 2

Mid-Atlantic 1 0 0 1

Far West 1 0 0 1

Alaska Cup standings

1) Alaska 1,604 points, 2) New England 1,344, 3) Intermountain 1,098, 4) Midwest 712, 5) Rocky Mountain 507, 6) Pacific Northwest 260, 7) Mid-Atlantic 215, 8) Far West 180, 9) High Plains 121, 10) Great Lakes 118

Medals table and standings

Alaska's medal winners

Includes Relay Medals

Older Juniors (born 1988-89)

Boys -- Max Treinen (UAA) -- 3 bronzes; Reese Hanneman (Fairbanks Area Ski Team) -- 1 gold, 1 bronze; Michael Matteson (APU) -- 1 bronze. Girls -- Becca Rorabaugh (APU) -- 3 golds; Rachelle Kanada (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 1 gold; Christine Gillis (Northern Michigan) -- 1 gold

Junior I (born 1990-91)

Boys-- Eric Packer (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 2 golds, 1 silver; Lex Treinen (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 2 golds; Cole Talbot (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 1 gold, 1 bronze; David Norris (FAST) -- 2 silvers; Andrew Dougherty (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 1 silver, 1 bronze; Tyler Kornfield (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 1 silver, 1 bronze Girls -- Amy Glen (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 2 golds, 1 silver; Caitlin Patterson (Alaska Winter Stars) -- 1 silver; Jamie Bronga (no team affiliation) -- 1 silver

Junior II (born 1992-93)