Three Alaska women, including two sisters from Fairbanks and an Anchorage woman whose brother is headed to the Winter Olympics, teamed up to win their relay race at the recent World Cup Masters cross-country ski championships in Minneapolis.
Davya Flaharty, Gina Chythlook and Tamra Kornfield skied to the gold medal in the women's 30-34 age group along with Kathleen Dewael of Minnesota. Flaharty and Chythlook are sisters (their maiden name is Baker), and Kornfield is the sister of Olympic-bound skier Tyler Kornfield.
All three women collected multiple medals at the week-long race series at Theodore Wirth Park.
So did 87-year-old Reno Deprey, Alaska's oldest competitor. Deprey won the 10-kilometer classic and 15K classic in the men's 85-89 age group.
The Masters World Cup is cross-country skiing's biggest international age-group competition. This year's event attracted more than 1,000 skiers from 20 countries.
In addition to their relay medals, Flaharty and Chythlook both came home with one gold and two silvers and Kornfield collected three silvers.
In the 30K freestyle for 30-34 women, Flaharty and Kornfield finished 1-2. Flaharty added silvers in the 15K free and 7.5K free, and Kornfield earned silvers in the 30K classic and 7.5K classic.
Chythlook, a 35-39 age-group skier, won the 7.5K free and was second in the 15K free and 20K free. Sharon Baker, Flaharty and Chythlook's mom, just missed getting a medal in the 65-69 age group, finishing fourth in the 15K freestyle race.
Other Alaska medalists included Guy Thibodeau, a 65-69 age-group skier who was part of the winning U.S. team in the 4x5K relay; Seth Downs, a 45-49 age-group skier who claimed bronze medals in the 40K free and 30K free; and Tyson Flaharty, a 30-34 skier who took bronze in the 15K free.
The annual competition ran from Jan. 19-26. See complete results here.