Anchorage Daily News

As a nordic skier with Olympic aspirations, Brent Knight is one fit dude.

With back-to-back third-place finishes at storied Mount Marathon, the state's most prestigious mountain-running race, Knight also owns serious credentials in that discipline. He burnished those with a second-place finish Sunday morning in the 20th annual Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb, the three-mile, uphill-only grind that gains about 3,400 feet in elevation on Bird Ridge.

Knight clocked 41 minutes, 52 seconds on the slope about 25 miles south of Anchorage. And that left him smiling, especially since he was coming off a particularly intense week of training on Eagle Glacier with the team from Alaska Pacific University's Nordic Ski Center.

As satisfying as Knight found his performance, though, he couldn't help but shake his head in appreciation of the guy who finished 1:51 ahead of him.

Cue the superlatives for Sam Hill, whose 40:01 marked the sixth-fastest time in race history.

"I just think Sam's in another world,'' Knight marveled behind a grin. "I wish I was closer to Sam. I just keep telling myself I'm about 40 pounds heavier than him. I'm coming up with all the excuses I can.''

Hill, fresh off a commanding win in the uphill-only Government Peak Climb last weekend near Hatcher Pass, blitzed the field in the Alaska Mountain Runners Grand Prix event that serves as the final tune-up for Mount Marathon in Seward on the Fourth of July.

"He destroyed me,'' Knight said. "He controlled the race from start to finish. It was Sam's day today. He pulled away from me about halfway, and just kept moving away.

"He's unbelievable.''

While Hill, 30, left behind Knight and third-place finisher Trond Flagstad (42:02), the 2005 champ on Bird Ridge and a three-time runner-up at Mount Marathon, Holly Brooks continued to rule the women's division in the early season.

Brooks, 26, won in 48:36 to add to her victories in the Government Peak Climb and the Turnagain Arm Trail Run. She topped runner-up Jane Senaga (51:04) and third-place finisher Najeeby Quinn (52:01) on an overcast, breezy morning that featured the maximum field allowed -- 250 -- on the trail in Chugach State Park.

Four-time defending women's champion Cedar Bourgeois, who also is the four-time defending champion at Mount Marathon, did not race. Neither did defending men's champion Brad Precosky, who is the race director for the Bob Spurr and has captured Mount Marathon six times, including the last two years.

Meanwhile, Hill looms as a serious threat at Mount Marathon, where he finished fourth last year. Hill led that race to the top of the 3,022-foot peak, but faltered on the punishing downhill, which Precosky customarily blistered.

Hill's climbing performance in Seward, and in the two races this season, confirm his uphill credentials.

"The one thing that puts him in a different league is he works hard at running inclines,'' said sixth-place finisher Eric Strabel. "He was running 15-percent inclines on a treadmill all winter.

"If you take (masters runners) Brad Precosky's or Barney Griffith's work ethic and put it in a 30-year-old body, you've got Sam.''

Knight echoed Strabel's thoughts about the work ethic of Hill, who last year ran a 2:29 marathon.

"He puts in legitimate 15-hour training weeks,'' Knight said.

Hill's time on Bird Ridge, which was slightly slower than usual due to snow on the upper reaches of the mountain, has only been topped by three men and puts him in lofty company.

Toby Schwoerer, the 2004 Mount Marathon champ who owns the second-fastest time in the 80-race history of that event, climbed Bird Ridge in a race-record 38:25 in 2000. Four-time Mount Marathon champ Todd Boonsta, a former Olympic skier, won in 1996 (39:20) and 1999 (39:53) with the second- and fourth-fastest times recorded, respectively. And skier Frode Lillefjell stamped his name in the record books with a second place to Schwoerer in 2000 that ranks third fastest (39:38), and the fifth-fastest (39:59) time in winning the 2002 race.

After winning Sunday, Hill ran down the mountain relatively quickly and returned to the parking lot where the race started. He changed his shirt and shoes before any of the other racers returned, politely declined an interview request and jogged off.

Whether Hill can break through at Mount Marathon will likely depend on whether he can improve his downhill there.

"That's the million-dollar question,'' Strabel said.

Knight, meanwhile, looks forward to racing Hill in Seward. Knight said he has trained occasionally with Hill, and enjoys talking with Hill, who he called "a really nice guy.''

"I love battling Sam,'' Knight said. "He's one of the toughest competitors I know.

"I wish he'd stick around (after races). He's that slightly mysterious character. Unless you know Sam, you don't really know Sam.''

Find Doyle Woody's blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

20th annual Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb

On Bird Ridge

Age-group results

Men

17 and under -- 1) Nathaniel Knaff 46:56; 2) Erin Phillips 51:02; 3) Davis Dunlap 53:19; 4) Carl Smith 57:29; 5) Zach Halverson 57:30; 6) Clarense Ess 57:37; 7) Hugh Cosgrave 59:14; 8) Kyle Carpenter 59:59; 9) David Mills 1:00:27; 10) Mark Hansen 1:01:01; 11) Aaron Wheatall 1:02:18; 12) Benjamin Wheatall 1:03:19.

18-29 -- 1) Brent Knight 41:52; 2) Erik Mundahl 43:56; 3) Eric Strabel 44:01; 4) Mark Iverson 44:20; 5) Tor Christopherson 44:30; 6) Mason Wick 45:22; 7) Erick Romig 45:24; 8) Michael Montague 45:54; 9) Mark Brady 47:58; 10) Roy Elie-Wolkoff 48:10; 11) Don Haering 50:18; 12) Rudy Ryback 50:39; 13) Joey Klecka 53:58; 14) Jonathan Harvey 54:06; 15) Spencer Litzenberger 54:34; 16) Jason Croft 54:40; 17) Jeff Hall 58:10; 18) Tim Luebke 59:21; 19) Austin Thayer 1:00:21; 20) Joshua Allely 1:03:35; 21) Michael Rubeo 1:04:12; 22) Levi Robinson 1:07:31; 23) Joshua Rigdon 1:11:33; 24) Nicholas Miyasato 1:11:50; 25) Trevor Millar 1:18:24; 26) Chad Lusk 1:21:01.

30-39 -- 1) Sam Hill 40:01 (overall winner); 2) Trond Flagstad 42:02; 3) Hugh Gren 45:11; 4) Todd Bethard 45:19; 5) Keith Weinhold 45:45; 6) Seth Downs 46:11; 7) Kent Peterson 48:22; 8) Brandon Rinner 49:41; 9) Todd Lowery 50:03; 10) Alex Alonso 50:25; 11) Todd Borke 52:03; 12) Luke Kiskaddon 52:06; 13) Joe Magellan 52:38; 14) Matthew Kenney 52:51; 15) James Zwiefel 54:58; 16) Chris Wood 55:11; 17) Luke Duffy 55:58; 18) Joe Goodall 56:31; 19) Josh Niva 56:43; 20) Allen McLeod 58:42; 21) Daniel Willman 59:29; 22) Greg Russell 1:00:10; 23) Aaron Christie 1:01:24; 24) Sean Slaughter 1:05:58; 25) Philip Kastar 1:14:45; 26) Jonathan Hughes 1:17:14; 27) Christopher Kleckner 1:19:12; 28) Jason Hamlin 1:20:27; 29) Matt Smith 1:24:29.

40-49 -- 1) Tony Slatonbarker 45:02; 2) Todd Kasteler 51:06; 3) Timothy Blake 51:16; 4) Lance Kopsack 51:18; 5) Andrew Stavich 51:41; 6) Dave Pfeiffer 53:10; 7) Brian Stoecker 55:25; 8) Thomas Burton 55:32; 9) Pete McEnaney 56:04; 10) Joe Mortiboy 57:34; 11) Steve Halverson 57:51; 12) Matthew West 1:00:28; 13) Jeff Henson 1:01:42; 14) Cloyd Crow 1:02:02; 15) John Zebutis 1:02:55; 16) Tim Lebling 1:03:18; 17) Jeff Bool 1:03:50; 18) Jerry Cosgrave 1:03:53; 19) John McMullen 1:04:10; 20) Nick Miyasato 1:04:14; 21) Quentin Reuer 1:04:59; 22) David Brown 1:06:11; 23) Brent Kirk 1:06:40; 24) Michael Minogue 1:08:07; 25) Martin Cassens 1:08:09; 26) Evan Steinhauser 1:08:53; 27) Don McQuown 1:11:06; 28) Mark Tuovinen 1:16:29; 29) Andrew Daoust 1:19:18; 30) Chuck Kopp 1:23:43; 31) Matthew Myers 1:25:14.

50-59 -- 1) Barney Griffith 42:43; 2) John Weddleton 48:16; 3) Karl Romig 48:59; 4) Braun Kopsack 54:01; 5) Mark Smith 54:27; 6) Bob Butera 54:53; 7) Tom Smayda 55:15; 8) Mark Carr 55:43; 9) Steve Gilles 56:35; 10) Rod Anderson 58:47; 11) Charlie Ess 59:01; 12) Robert Felker 59:17; 13) William English 59:40; 14) Chris Kennedy 1:01:59; 15) Russ Dunlap 1:08:41; 16) John Dougherty 1:14:33; 17) Paul Beever 1:15:42.

60-69 -- 1) Eric Johnson 58:30; 2) Greg Brown 1:01:41; 3) David Watsjold 1:03:00; 4) Samuel Flora 1:04:07; 5) Norm Johnson 1:05:33; 6) Tom Corbin 1:12:33; 7) Kneeland Taylor 1:19:20; 8) Tom Meacham 1:37:11.

70-79 -- 1) Corky Corthell 1:22:23.

Women

17 and under -- 1) Allison Barnwell 56:34; 2) Kate Backstrum, 57:42; 3) Mariah Applegate 58:53; 4) Mackenzie Barnwell 1:00:58; 5) Sierra Halverson 1:04:00; 6) Christina Knapp 1:06:20; 7) Maya Radonich 1:09:36; 8) Celia Haering 1:12:12; 9) Mackenzie Wonders 1:13:36; 10) Sarah Ford 1:13:37; 11) Lottie Barton 1:18:56.

18-29 -- 1) Holly Brooks 48:36 (women's winner); 2) Jane Senaga 51:04; 3) Najeeby Quinn 52:01; 4) Kristina Eaton 52:31; 5) Christie Laughlin 53:14; 6) Ky Eiben 53:46; 7) Danielle Pratt 54:10; 8) Kelsey Vrem 1:00:37; 9) Alina Rubeo 1:01:21; 10) Sarah Tegeler 1:02:52; 11) Emily Dougherty 1:02:57; 12) Paige Brady 1:03:03; 13) Tamra Kornfield 1:03:58; 14) Rhianne Waggood 1:04:11; 15) Kaley Strachan 1:04:13; 16) Angelica Pollock 1:04:50; 17) Jasmine McQuown 1:08:02; 18) Laura Cluberton 1:08:19; 19) Beth Fletcher 1:11:40; 20) Julie Alzheimer 1:16:31; 21) Amanda Lusk 1:21:59; 22) Amara Liggett 1:23:24; 23) Tanya June 1:24:14; 24) Charity Molnar 1:28:04; 25) Kelsey Tranel 1:43:59.

30-39 -- 1) Eeva Lagosuo 55:33; 2) Wendy Shaw 1:02:47; 3) Kimberly Riggs 1:03:17; 4) Stacy Johnson 1:03:45; 5) Courtney Lebling 1:06:42; 6) Emily Grossman 1:06:51; 7) Erika Downs 1:07:29; 8) Kari Fritzel 1:08:40; 9) Jana Ozturgut 1:09:00; 10) Alberta Laktonen 1:09:18; 11) SaraEllen Hutchison 1:15:57; 12) Nell Brown 1:17:14; 13) Shamarie Coomler 1:21:53; 14) Carole Holley 1:22:08; 15) Ashley Kelly 1:24:07.

40-49 -- 1) Gail Taylor 53:08; 2) Colleen Durnford 53:16; 3) Judy Kanady 56:11; 4) Trish Copp 1:00:14; 5) Sandy Ford 1:01:28; 6) Teresa Russell 1:06:39; 7) MaryLynn Barnwell 1:08:27; 8) Barb Adams 1:09:40; 9) Teresa Doyle 1:12:12; 10) Gretchen Hopkins 1:13:34; 11) Kris Kile 1:41:00; 12) Shannon Huber 1:45:23.

50-59 -- 1) Gerri Litzenberger 56:09; 2) Ellyn Brown 58:35; 3) Leslie Kroloff 1:02:20; 4) Cheryl Ess 1:04:01; 5) Anita Felker 1:04:25; 6) Liz Butera 1:04:42; 7) Donna Klecka 1:35:51; 8) Trula Acena 1:54:34; 9) Joani Welch 1:54:36; 10) Marty Beckwith 2:17:19; 11) Belenda Mehlschmidt 2:32:04.

60-69 -- 1) Elaine Nelson 1:04:58; 2) Sandy Johnson 1:26:55.

70-79 -- 1) Mary Hensel 1:32:37.

Junior Race, halfway up Bird Ridge

17 and under boys -- 1) Ben Russell 24:56; 2) Gillean Mittelstadt 25:00; 3) Jack Parke 25:09; 4) Lyon Kopsack 25:38; 5) Trace Strahle 26:54; 6) Paul Butera 29:32; 7) Keegan Crow 30:17; 8) Matthew Lowery 31:29; 9) Roman Hamm 31:34; 10) Connor Sperry 31:50; 11) Trent Fritzel 32:37; 12) John Cosgrave 32:47; 13) T.J. Connelly 34:59; 14) Mark Connelly 35:35; 15) Ty McEnaney 38:16; 16) Nathan Sperry 38:19; 17) Dmitry Hamm 40:57; 18) Michael Connelly 42:09; 19) Hunter Sulte 42:54.

17 and under girls -- 1) Amelia Hennessy 26:01; 2) Mira Hopkins 26:21; 3) Tori Hickel 30:47; 4) Rachel Russell 31:47; 5) Mykaela McMullen 32:48; 6) Sarah Cosgrave 33:03; 7) Leah Hopkins 33:05; 8) Abby Amick 33:14; 9) Sydney Henegan 34:09; 10) Aspen Sulte 34:47; 11) Brynn Sulte 36:31; 12) Isabel Barnwell 36:48; 13) Autumn Sperry 37:31; 14) Hannah Russell 37:45; 15) Jocelyn Kopsack 37:45; 16) Annie Connelly 38:08; 17) Hannah Lowery 38:59; 18) Clair Harpel 45:10; 19) Madison McEnaney 55:14.

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