Rosie Frankowski continued her climb into the upper echelons of Alaska mountain running Sunday at Bird Ridge, becoming the first woman other than Nancy Pease to bust the 44-minute barrier in the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb.
She powered her way up the grueling ascent -- 3,400 feet of climbing in three miles -- in 43:53, the fourth fastest time in a race that dates back to 1989.
Erik Bjornsen showed off his uphill strength too, winning the men’s title with the fifth-fastest time ever.
Pease is the queen of Bird Ridge, the owner of the top three women’s times -- 42:27 (1993), 43:06 (1992) and 43:39 (1990). Pease, who also owns the Crow Pass Crossing record, finished ninth among women Sunday in 52:57.
Frankowski is a 2018 Olympic cross-country skier who is an uphill monster in the mountains. She led the way up Mount Marathon last year before holding back on the hair-raising descent to finish seventh, and earlier this summer she set records at the all-uphill Government Peak and Kal’s Knoya Ridge runs.
She finished 13th overall and nearly three minutes ahead of women’s runner-up Hannah Lafleur (46:50).
Bjornsen, a two-time Olympic cross-country skier, made the climb in 37:28 to become the fourth person to break the 38:00 barrier. The others are David Norris (36:58 in 2018 and 37:05 in 2016), Scott Patterson (37:06 in 2016 and 37:29 in 2017) and Jim Shine (37:07 in 2015).
Bjornsen, who also won at Government Peak, was 2:38 ahead of Luke Jager, another top skier who finished in 40:06. Lars Arneson was right behind Jager in 40:13, and Michael Connelly grabbed fourth place in 40:27, breaking his own age-group record for boys 17 and under. His previous record, set last year, was 41:40.
In the junior races, which go halfway to the ridge top, Aven Elsberg topped the boys in 24:12 and Nowelle Spencer finished second overall in 24:32, a new girls record. She broke the previous mark of 25:15, set in 2017 by Quincy Donley.
Men
1. Erik Bjornsen, 37:28; 2. Luke Jager, 40:06; 3. Lars Arneson, 40:13; 4. Michael Connelly, 40:27; 5. Ryan Phebus, 40:47; 6. Adam Jensen, 41:00; 7. Adam Loomis, 41:06; 8. Eric Strabel, 41:10; 9. Gus Schumacher, 41:14; 10. Erik Johnson, 42:05; 11. Matthew Novakovich, 43:14; 12. Pyper Dixon, 43:44; 13. Gavin Block, 44:08; 14. Tor Christopherson, 44:25; 15. Christopher Kirk, 44:27; 16. Seiji Takagi, 44:28; 17. Taylor Turney, 44:46; 18. Jerome Ross, 45:29; 19. Josh Taylor, 45:30; 20. Ben Ward, 45:33; 21. Jimmy Sliwa, 45:51; 22. Kade Fitzgerald, 46:08; 23. Marshall Genn, 46:21; 24. Ryan Beckett, 46:25; 25. Mike Monterusso, 46:37; 26. William Zenker, 46:41; 27. Kai Meyers, 47:03; 28. Craig Taylor, 47:09; 29. Ryan Cox, 47:51; 30. Andrew Hull, 48:08; 31. Erik Mundahl, 48:10; 32. Jacob Bradley, 48:20; 33. Kurtis Brumbaugh, 48:31; 34. Sebastian Szweda-Middlest, 48:53; 35. Tom Ritchie, 48:54; 36. Patrick Conway, 49:18; 37. Andrew Duenow, 49:36; 38. Samuel Cason, 49:52; 39. Tony Slatonbarker, 50:18; 40. Alex Alonso, 50:39; 41. John Weddleton, 50:46; 42. Barney Griffith, 51:12; 43. Westley Dahlgren, 51:12; 44. Luke Rosier, 51:17; 45. Steve Lee, 51:24; 46. William Michener, 51:27; 47. Kevin Donley, 51:27; 48. Adam Baxter, 51:36; 49. Mark Brady, 51:54; 50. Scott Talbert, Salem, OR 51:55; 51. Alex Carl, 52:00; 52. Brad Benter, 52:12; 53. Brian Haviland, 52:23; 54. Aaron Maves, 52:33; 55. Brenton Savikko, 52:44; 56. Derek Nottingham, 53:34; 57. Martin Schuster, 54:04; 58. Alex Youngmun, 54:07; 59. Jim McDonough, 54:12; 60. Daniel Brokaw, 54:27; 61. Todd Jackson, 54:34; 62. MICHAEL OTTENWELLER, 54:40; 63. Joseph Nyholm, 54:45; 64. Marten Martensen, 55:05; 65. Tucker Lien, 55:13; 66. Marc Lickingteller, 55:22; 67. Isaac Redmond, 55:25; 68. John Thain, 55:34; 69. SAM YOUNG, 55:36; 70. Greg Michaelson, 56:10; 71. Robert Whitney, 56:15; 72. Jacob BERA, 56:21; 73. Cody Lourie, 56:22; 74. Frank Witmer, 56:30; 75. Ben Meahan, 56:41; 76. Kirk Louthan, 56:59; 77. Mitchell Guyer, 57:01; 78. Kris Heck, 57:22; 79. Michael Michener, 57:34; 80. Brad Precosky, 57:38; 81. Clay Johnson, 57:40; 82. Ted Paprocki, 57:40; 83. Michael Bourdukofsky, 57:56; 84. John Clark, 57:59; 85. Jordan Huckabay, 58:01; 86. Marek Kolendo, 58:24; 87. Joey Klecka, 58:30; 88. Shayne Wescott, 58:51; 89. Steve Gilles, 59:01; 90. Brant Grifka, 1:00:00; 91. Daryll Vispo, 1:00:07; 92. Rob Earl, 1:00:31; 93. Scott Henry, 1:01:06; 94. Jeremy Weber, 1:01:16; 95. David Owens, 1:01:25; 96. Daniel Willman, 1:01:47; 97. Laddie Shaw, 1:02:51; 98. Michael Link, 1:03:06; 99. David Buhite, 1:03:19; 100. Dane Crowley, 1:03:22; 101. Kibo Kang, 1:03:40; 102. Dylan Lauwers, 1:03:58; 103. Keith Cook, 1:04:53; 104. Braun Kopsack, 1:05:28; 105. Joseph Davis, 1:05:36; 106. Keith Sanfacon, 1:06:06; 107. Jack Chan, Las Vegas, NV 1:07:09; 108. Conner Von Huene, 1:07:23; 109. Ethan Perry, 1:07:25; 110. John Pahkala, 1:07:51; 111. Gunner Hodgson, 1:08:37; 112. David Rebischke, 1:08:46; 113. Kevin Lauver, 1:11:44; 114. Devan Andersen, 1:11:59; 115. Duke Ruzicka, 1:12:16; 116. Christopher Crosta, 1:13:16; 117. Derek Meier, 1:13:30; 118. Willie Casilla, 1:15:19; 119. Alex Slivka, 1:16:29; 120. Evan R Steinhauser, 1:16:53; 121. Matt LaFleur, 1:18:16; 122. Tab Ballantine, 1:19:58; 123. Timothy Garbe, 1:22:33; 124. Roger Kemppel, 1:22:49; 125. Norm Johnson, 1:23:02; 126. Neil Lamothe, 1:23:25; 127. Ed Strabel, 1:23:42; 128. Martin Lindeke, 1:25:06; 129. Roy Longacre, 1:27:27; 130. Marcus Knight, 1:41:45; 131. Michael Chard, 1:44:51.
Women
1. Rosie Frankowski, 43:53; 2. Hannah Lafleur, 46:50; 3. Julianne Dickerson, 48:27; 4. Jessica Vetsch, 48:37; 5. Marine Dusser Bjornsen, 48:48; 6. Megan Chelf, 49:37; 7. Lauren Fritz, 51:39; 8. Holly Brooks, 52:29; 9. Nancy Pease, 52:57; 10. Lisa Anglen, 53:11; 11. Yvonne Jeschke, 53:16; 12. Shauna Severson, 53:48; 13. Molly Gellert, 54:16; 14. Mazzy Jackson, 54:21; 15. Leslie Robbins, 54:53; 16. Lauren Spinelli, 55:17; 17. Klaire Rhodes, 55:25; 18. April McAnly, 55:45; 19. Rachel Dow, 56:01; 20. Alyse Loran, 56:05; 21. Carly Venzke, 56:20; 22. Tamra Kornfield, 57:10; 23. Alyson Kopsack, 57:31; 24. Kristen Sieminski, 57:48; 25. Verena Gill, 58:09; 26. Sadie Fox, 58:41; 27. Leah Besh, 59:03; 28. Justine Reese, 59:04; 29. Tori Hickel, 59:12; 30. Angela DiBerardino, 59:12; 31. Julie Hood, 59:23; 32. Shannon Donley, 59:30; 33. Alejandra Legate, 59:31; 34. Kimberly Riggs, 59:49; 35. Lily Slaton Barker, 59:58; 36. Amy De Schweinitz, 59:59; 37. Karol Fink, 1:00:07; 38. Jessica Pahkala, 1:00:24; 39. Elizabeth Novakovich, 1:00:27; 40. Shannon Brockman, 1:00:29; 41. Tiffanie Bird, 1:01:44; 42. Erin Hamilton, 1:01:57; 43. Leah Legate, 1:03:14; 44. Jocelyn Kopsack, 1:03:18; 45. Kristi Adams, 1:03:22; 46. Kaylee Heck, 1:03:23; 47. Sabrina Farmer, 1:03:34; 48. Grace Annett, 1:04:22; 49. Justin Calvin, 1:04:41; 50. Alexandra Jefferies, 1:04:44; 51. Mary Goodwin, 1:04:49; 52. Laura Ripp, 1:04:52; 53. Gyongyver Pear Schilling, 1:05:28; 54. Karen Williams, 1:05:36; 55. Rebecca Convery, 1:06:23; 56. Ingrid Kelly, 1:06:25; 57. Sadie Benter, 1:07:39; 58. Karen Looney, 1:07:40; 59. Nicole Wollgast, 1:07:50; 60. Gwendolynn Stuart, 1:08:07; 61. Bronwen Nicholls, 1:08:12; 62. Pamela Richter, 1:09:27; 63. Danielle Harris, 1:12:50; 64. Megan Kemp, 1:13:24; 65. Katrina Garner, 1:14:06; 66. Melissa Castle, 1:14:32; 67. Brittany Winternheimer, 1:14:49; 68. Melissa Bussell, 1:14:58; 69. Rachelle Kanady, 1:15:31; 70. Darian Weber, 1:15:33; 71. Jane Casilla, 1:16:35; 72. Adriane Walas, 1:17:37; 73. Amy Belmear, 1:18:03; 74. Emily Kloc, 1:19:22; 75. Trina Resari-Salao, 1:20:31; 76. Amy Brumbaugh, 1:22:20; 77. Laura Reynolds, 1:25:03; 78. Joanne Singleton, 1:28:12; 79. Ellyn Brown, 1:30:20; 80. Rose Garner, 1:37:27; 81. Sarah Warnke, 1:37:48; 82. KRISTINA STORLIE, 1:51:49; 83. Sherri Warnke, 2:09:06.
Jack’s Run (halfway)
Boys — 1. Aven Elsberg, 24:12; 2. Finnigan Donley, 24:54; 3. Daniel Ferucci, 25:20; 4. Quinn Smith, 27:01; 5. Rhett Jones, 30:23; 6. Braun Precosky, 34:08; 7. Jason Cooper, 34:22; 8. Elias Barnard, 34:33; 9. Legend Kopsack, 37:48; 10. Jesse Cooper, 38:09; 11. Breyden Nottingham, 39:14; 12. Liam Cuddy, 41:08; 13. Emery Lindeke, 1:02:00; 14. Leif Konrath-Bera, 1:02:07.
Girls — 1. Nowelle Spencer, 24:32; 2. Jillian Gavalya, 29:45; 3. Rosie Conway, 30:18; 4. Mia Stiassny, 31:54; 5. Skyler Belmear, 32:29; 6. Brianna Gill Anderson, 32:56; 7. Piper Belmear, 33:12; 8. Sammy Legate, 34:15; 9. Iris Jones, 35:46; 10. Quinzee Elsberg, 36:01; 11. Ruby Willman, 36:57; 12. Natalia Novakovich, 38:12; 13. Ava Cook, 38:35; 14. Savannah Barnard, 39:20; 15. Sophie Novakovich, 39:56; 16. Morgan Nottingham, 44:56; 17. Harper Willman, 48:17; 18. Lillian Konrath-Bera, 1:04:13.