Anchorage Daily News

One of the richest events for Alaska teenage athletes has a new sponsor and is set to hand out $13,000 in scholarships to the top five finishers as well as the winners of the humanitarian and sportsmanship awards.

The Jr. Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which begins Feb. 28, already has 21 mushers signed up.

Lynden, the race's new sponsor, will provide funding for Junior Iditarod operating expenses as well as prizes.

Twenty one mushers between 14 and 17 years old are already signed up for the 2009 race, but defending champion Jessica Klejka, now 18, is too old to defend her title.

But Fairbanks' Cain Carter, the 17-year-old stepson of Iditarod and Yukon Quest champ Lance Mackey, is back.

Last year, Carter lost to Bethel's Klejka by a mere 2 seconds after 140 miles of racing for the closest finish in the race's 31-year history. The two sprinted head to head to the finish line.

"We're both running, and then my dogs saw everybody at the finish line and they picked it up, " Klejka said last year. "And his dogs saw everybody, so both teams are going really fast. It was really close."

Also back this year is Two Rivers' Ava Lindner. The daughter of former Yukon Quest champ Sonny Lindner, she finished fifth last year.

Patrick Mackey, the son of Iditarod musher Jason Mackey, has also signed up.

For the first time, the entry list includes three rookie mushers from Outside, two from Michigan and one from Montana. Four teens will be running their fourth Jr. Iditarod in 2009.

Entries will be accepted through Feb. 14. The entry fee is $200 and further information is on the Web site, www.jriditarod.com.

With six more entrants, the Jr. Iditarod will surpass its record field of 26 in 2007.

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