Skiing

Solstice Sprint skiers dash through the snow at Kincaid Park

A high-quality field of cross-country skiers sprinted through the snow Saturday at Kincaid Park.

With lots of new snow making things a bit slower than usual, two-time Olympic skier Sadie Maubet Bjornsen and three-time World Junior medalist Luke Jager captured victories in the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage’s FIS Solstice Sprint.

A crowd of 179 skiers competed in the classic-technique sprint, which did not go beyond the qualifying round. Quarterfinal, semifinal and final heats — in which physical distancing is impossible — weren’t held.

Bjornsen, one of the top skiers in the country the last couple of seasons, was untouchable for the second straight weekend of racing. She won the 1.4-kilometer women’s sprint by 24.4 seconds over second-place Rosie Frankowski, a 2018 Olympian and a teammate of Bjornsen’s in the Alaska Pacific University ski program.

Bjornsen, 31, was ranked eighth in the world last season and will join her U.S. Ski Team teammates on the World Cup circuit after the holidays.

Frankowski eked out a 0.54-second advantage over third-place Mariel Pulles, a UAF skier who has represented Estonia at two World Championships. APU’s Becca Rorabaugh was fourth and UAF’s Kendall Kramer was fifth. Kramer, 18, won a silver medal at the World Junior Championships as a member of Team USA’s women’s relay team.

Jager, 20, has collected medals in the last three men’s relay races at the World Juniors — gold in 2020 and 2019, silver in 2018.

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[Alaskans are part of a gold-and-silver day for the USA at World Juniors]

He claimed a 3.22-second victory over APU teammate Zanden McMullen, the winner of last weekend’s Anchorage Cup 10-kilometer freestyle race.

Third place went to APU’s Hunter Wonders, who was part of the 2018 silver-medal relay team at the World Juniors. APU skiers Thomas O’Harra and Michael Earnhart finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the 1.2-kilometer sprint for skiers 16 and under, Alaska Winter Stars skiers Elias Soule and Sammy Legate took home wins. In the 1-kilometer race for skiers 14 and under, the winners were Oskar Flora of APU and Olivia Soderstrom of AWS.

The race was the first of two FIS races this weekend. On Sunday, a freestyle distance race will begin at 11 a.m. with interval starts.

NSAA FIS Solstice Sprint results

Men’s 1.4K (top 25) -- 1) JAGER, Luke 3:42.81; 2) MCMULLEN, Zanden 3:46:03; 3) WONDERS, Hunter 3:48.64; 4) O`HARRA, Thomas 3:49:55; 5) EARNHART, Michael 3:52.93; 6) HENDRY, Samuel 3:53:12; 7) MAHLEN, Forrest 3:54.75; 8) MEYERS, Kai 3:54.84; 9) POWER, Joel 3:56.65; 10) OPHOFF, Mike 3:57:24; 11) MAURER, Alexander 3:58.63; 12) KALEV, Christopher 3:59.83; 13) HINDS, Peter 4:00.97; 14) POWER, Aaron 4:02:54; 15) PERSEN, Espen 4:03:27; 16) DANIELSON, Karl 4:04:54; 17) MARBACHER, Patrick 4:06:21; 18) ENDESTAD, Ari 4:07:17; 19) BUTTS, Garrett 4:10:21; 20) PLATIL, Lukash 4:11.85; 21) MAVES, Aaron 4:12:08; 22) HERMANSON, Eli 4:15:29; 23) DENNIS, Miles 4:15.76; 24) BLEI, Porter 4:15.93; 25) BEIERGROHSLEIN, Max 4:16:46.

Women’s 1.4K (top 25) -- 1) MAUBET BJORNSEN, Sadie 4:17.88; 2) FRANKOWSKI, Rosie 4:42:28; 3) PULLES, Mariel Merlii 4:42.82; 4) RORABAUGH, Becca 4:48:10; 5) KRAMER, Kendall 4:49.85; 6) TOBIN, Garviey 4:59.65; 7) GRANOEIEN, Tuva 5:01.74; 8) FLORA, Marit 5:01.90; 9) SCHWARTZ, Meredith 5:04:06; 10) ARIANS, Alison 5:05:19; 11) DONLEY, Quincy 5:08:30; 12) GONZALES, Annie 5:08.92; 13) LECLAIR, Aubrey 5:09.68; 14) WILSON, Helen 5:10:21; 15) HOOD, Natalie 5:11:29; 16) WITTER, Tatum 5:12.95; 17) ESKI, Ivy 5:13:18; 18) BRUBAKER, Neena 5:19:01; 19) MILLER, Robyn 5:19:19; 20) HANCOCK, Mina 5:19:35;  21) WALSH, Emily 5:26.63; 22) YOUNG, Lucy 5:28.82; 23) BERRIGAN, Rya 5:29.99; 24) ROBINE, Sage 5:30:50; 25) HOUSER, Katey 5:31:27.

Boys 1.2K (top 5) -- 1) SOULE, Elias 4:04.99; 2) YOUNG, Owen 4:12:31; 3) HLASNY, Paul 4:13:41; 4) FLOWERS, Cole 4:18.75; 5) MENKENS, Hatcher 4:19:04.

Girls 1.2K (top 5) -- 1) LEGATE, Sammy 4:38:25; 2) SCHUMACHER, Heidi 4:56.94; 3) RECKMEYER, Madeleine 4:57:23; 4) IRELAND, Marley 4:58:26; 5) SEARS, Piper 5:01:03.

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