Streeper wins heat, Wright keeps overall lead on 2nd day of Rondy racing

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Roxy Wright mushes through Campbell Tract on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, the second day of the Fur Rondy Open World Championship sled dog races. Wright, 66, held onto the lead, and will enter the final day of competition on Sunday with a 4 minute advantage over her nearest competitor. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News)

Buddy Streeper's dog team posted the fastest time in two days of racing but Roxy Wright kept the overall lead Saturday at the Fur Rendezvous Open World Championship Sled Dog Race.

Wright, a three-time champion from Fairbanks, finished in less than 90 minutes for the second straight day. A 66-year-old in her first Rondy since 1995, Wright owns the only sub-three-hour time after two days of racing.

"It's the second day and I was second for (the day), but I still have a nice lead overall," Wright said. "So it's just go out and have another clean run tomorrow to maintain (the lead)."

Wright's team is composed of dogs from the kennel of two-time Rondy champion Arleigh Reynolds. Five of her dogs were part of Reynolds' championship teams.

Streeper, a five-time Rondy champion from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, improved his Friday time by nearly six minutes. He finished the 25-mile heat in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 43 seconds — 35 seconds faster than Wright — to jump from third to second place. He's about four minutes behind Wright's overall time of 2:57:08.

"This is the best dog team in the world and they showed it today and they'll show it tomorrow, but I dug myself too big of a hole yesterday," Streeper said. "We'll give it everything we've got and try to overcome it, but we didn't run very smart yesterday."

Streeper said spotty radio coverage made it hard to tell how he was faring Friday, when he was the third musher to start. His dogs were also tired from a 3,500-mile drive from Canada to Alaska, he said.

[Roxy Wright leads Fur Rondy race by nearly 5 minutes after first heat]

On Saturday, Streeper's smart, quick-thinking lead dogs set the fastest pace of the day.

Streeper said 6-year-old Skeeds and 5-year-old Zak maneuvered the team on a clean pass on one of the race's most treacherous portions — Cordova Hill.

Going up the hill, rookie musher Emilie Entrikin's team was hugging the right side of the trail ahead of Streeper's team, and Skeeds and Zak quickly took the team up the other side to make a clean pass.

"They're always thinking ahead of the situation," Streeper said of his leaders. "We don't come into a spot (where) they don't know what's going on. They kind of anticipate what's happening."

The racers benefited from clear skies and sturdier snow Saturday — a stark contrast to Friday's wet snow and crumbling trail.

Lina Streeper, Buddy's wife, leapt from ninth place to third for the biggest jump of the day with a solid run of 1:28:55, the third fastest run of the day.

Also making jumps in the overall standings were Jeff Conn (11th to ninth) and Marvin Kokrine (14th to 10th).

[Video: This year's Fur Rondy race kicks off in Anchorage]

"I had a couple dogs get tired and I had one team I passed pretty early (re-pass me)," Kokrine said. "It's a pretty tough race. You get dogs that get tired every now and then."

John Erhart of Tanana had Saturday's fourth fastest run to drop from second to fourth overall.

Going into the final day of the three-day race, mushers must choose how many dogs to use and which dogs to leave behind so they have their strongest team for  their final push.

"The goal is to really look at the dogs tonight and make sure I don't take somebody that shouldn't be there tomorrow, because if you have to pick up a dog, that can take your race away," said Wright, who went from using 15 dogs on Friday to 14 on Saturday. "I really need to be on my toes and make sure I read the dogs right."

Racing will conclude with the final 25-mile heat at noon Sunday at Fourth Avenue and D Street.

Fur Rendezvous Open World Championships

(Day 1 time, Day 2 time, total time)

1) Roxy Wright, Fairbanks, 1:28:40, 1:28:28, 2:57:08
2) Buddy Streeper, Fort Nelson, British Columbia, 1:33:30, 1:27:43, 3:01:13
3) Lina Streeper, Fort Nelson, British Columbia, 1:35:34, 1:28:55, 3:04:29
4) John Erhart, Tanana, 1:33:20, 1:33:27, 3:06:47
5) Mark Hartum, Seba Beach, Alberta, 1:33:53, 1:33:35, 3:07:28
6) Jason Dunlap, East Salcha, 1:33:39, 1:35:08, 3:08:47
7) Emilie Entrikin, Fairbanks, 1:34:25, 1:36:11, 3:10:36
8) Gary Markley, Anchorage, 1:34:30, 1:36:54, 3:11:24
9) Jeff Conn, Ester, 1:37:43, 1:33:47, 3:11:30
10) Marvin Kokrine, North Pole, 1:39:04, 1:34:37, 3:13:41
11) Don Cousins, Crooked Creek, 1:38:12, 1:36:50, 3:15:02
12) Hyunchul "Nikki" Seo, Salcha, 1:38:47, 1:36:59, 3:15:46
13) Anthony Beck, Hay River, NWT, 1:34:21, 1:41:41, 3:16:02
14) James Wheeler, Clam Gulch, 1:36:34, 1:39:56, 3:16:30
15) Danny Beck, Hay River, NWT, 1:40:40, 1:38:14, 3:18:54
16) Dave Turner, Fairbanks, 1:44:06, 1:37:52, 3:21:58
17) Bill Kornmuller, Willow, 1:45:25, 1:41:26, 3:26:51
18) J.P. Norris, Willow, 1:49:30, 1:50:18, 3:39:48
19) George Attla III, North Pole, 1:50:05, 1:59:11, 3:49:16