Schumacher, Kramer ski to freestyle wins at chilly Kincaid Park

Single-digit temperatures greeted cross-country skiers Sunday at Kincaid Park, where U.S. Ski Team members Gus Schumacher of Anchorage and Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks heated up the scene with sizzling performances.

Back on the trails where each pulled off a gold-medal sweep at last season’s U.S. Junior Championships, Schumacher and Kramer seized Besh Cup victories in the interval-start freestyle races.

Schumacher took a commanding win in the men’s 10K, which consisted of six laps around Kincaid’s 1.7-kilometer snowmaking loop. His time of 21 minutes, 22 seconds put him 31 seconds ahead of runnerup Hunter Wonders of Anchorage.

It was much closer in the women’s 5K race, which consisted of three laps. Kramer posted a time of 12:55 for a two-second win over Becca Rorabaugh of Anchorage.

Kramer, a West Valley senior and member of the Fairbanks training group FXC, finished second in Saturday’s classic sprint race.

Schumacher, who trains with the Alaska Winter Stars, placed third in Saturday’s sprint behind Erik Bjornsen and Luke Jager. Bjornsen didn’t race Sunday and Jager placed fifth, more than a minute behind Schumacher.

Men’s 10K freestyle (interval start)

1) Gus Schumacher 21:22; 2) Hunter Wonders 21:53, 3) Forrest Mahlen 22:16; 4) Tyler Kornfield 22:24, 5) Luke Jager 22:30, 6) Zanden McMullen 22:45, 7) Thomas O’Harra 23:10, 8) Kai Meyers 23:15, 9) Michael Earnhart 23:24, 10) Logan Mowry 23:32, 11) Ari Endestad 23:35, 12) Espen Persen 23:41, 13) Christopher Kalev 23:43, 14) Chip Schoff 23:44, 15) Alexander Maurer 23:45, 16) Mike Ophoff 23:45, 17) Eli Hermanns 23:46, 18) Eric DiFolco 23:47, 19) Everett Cason 23:57, 20) Joel Powers 24:01, 21) Peter Hinds 24:03, 22) Jack Consentstein 24:17, 23) Max Beiergrohsle 24:30, 24) Patrick Marbacher 24:45, 25) Dave Baurick 25:01, 26) Josiah Alverts 25:12, 27) Josh Baurick 25:15, 28) Jordan Laker-Morris 25:17, 29) Seth Downs 25:18, 30) Nils Kolb 25:30.

Women’s 5K freestyle (interval start)

1) Kendall Kramer 12:55, 2) Becca Rorabaugh 12:57, 3) Mariel Pulles 13:15, 4) Alison Arians 13:19, 5) Quincy Donley 13:24, 6) Anna Darnell 13:30, 7) Garviey Tobin 13:38, 8) Caroline Brisbois 13:41, 9) Meg Druckenmiller 13:44, 10) Abigail Haas 13:45, 11) Adrianna Proffitt 13:46, 12) Helen Wilson 13:57, 13) Meredith Schwartz 14:02, 14) Marit Flora 14:11, 15) Ivy Eski 14:11, 16) Tatum Witter 14:15, 17) Annie Gonzales 14:34, 18) Natalie Hood 14:42, 19) Morgan Coniglio 14:43, 20) Rya Berrigan 14:43, 21) Neena Brubaker 14:46, 22) Sammy Legate 14:49, 23) Maria Nedom 14:53, 24) Ariana O’Harra 15:05, 25) Emily Walsh 15:05, 26) Tarja Latva-Kiskola 15:06, 27) Aila Berrigan 15:15, 28) Maggie Whitaker 15:18, 29) Hjelle Personius 15:22, 30) Maggie Meeds 15:33.