Anna Stephan, the only veteran in a field of seven teenage mushers, won the 150-mile Junior Iditarod sled dog race Sunday in Willow.
Stephan drove a full team of 10 dogs across the finish line at Willow Lake at 12:57 p.m. for her first victory in three races. She finished sixth last year and ninth in 2017.
A home-schooled 17-year-old from Wasilla, Stephan completed the race in 16 hours, 39 minutes, 46 seconds. She was more than two hours ahead of runner-up Anna Coke, 15, of Wasilla, who finished at 3:09 p.m.
The race, for mushers ages 14-17, started Saturday at Knik Lake. Mushers traveled via Eagle Song Lodge to Yentna, where they took a mandatory eight-hour layover before heading to Willow Lake, also via Eagle Song Lodge.
All seven teams finished. Grace Hill, 17, of Willow, claimed third place at 3:58 p.m. and was followed by Ida Kohnert, 14, of Sweden (4:05 p.m.), Cassidy Meyer, 15, of Fairbanks (4:18 p.m.), Bjorn Keller, 14, of Wasilla (6:10 p.m.) and Johanna Badalich, 14, of Anchorage (8:21 p.m.)