Anchorage skier Murphy Kimball goes from bystander to contender at Besh Cup

Murphy Kimball was a bystander when he saw many of the finalists in the Besh Cup’s open division race for the first time.

On Saturday, the 17-year-old Alaska Winter Stars skier was a contender. Kimball not only was the top junior in the classic sprint race at Kincaid Park, he also found himself advancing through the open heat races to the finals.

Kimball, a senior at West High, finished in sixth place in the finals, racing alongside some of North America’s top racers. Canadian Julien Locke won the finals, where competitors included U.S. Ski Team and APU stalwart Michael Earnhart and a number of other top college racers.

“I went to senior nationals for the first time two years ago, and I watched these guys, these exact guys in the final race,” Kimball said. “And then now two years later, to be able to be with them is amazing — to be acquaintances and meet these people that I’ve watched and have wanted to race against.”

The Besh Cup has traditionally included top racers from across the state, but this year the open class was part of the Winterstart Super Tour, which meant a larger and faster field.

Kimball posted the fastest qualifying time at 3 minutes, 25.34 seconds. That got him into the main field, where he won his quarterfinal race. In the semis, he was a “lucky loser” advancing to the finals with the sixth fastest time despite finishing out of the top 2 in his heat.

“This morning, I wanted to make the senior heats, top 30,” he said. “And so then the goal was to go out and be present in every race I was in.”

A healthy season so far has allowed Kimball to continue to progress.

“My distance racing has improved,” he said. “And then just consistent work. I’ve haven’t been sick that much, haven’t had any injuries like maybe last year. It’s just been consistent. Me and my friends just show up every day and work hard.”

Earnhart finished fourth in the finals with a time of 3:27.83 and continues to pile up points toward future World Cup opportunities.

“I know right now I’m in a decent position for the overall leader from these first couple of races, which will give me some benefit for getting World Cup starts later on,” Earnhart said. “So that’s definitely a goal. But you know, I’m just trying to win each race and things fall into place.”

Although Earnhart has competed in plenty of races in front of hometown fans, on Saturday he invited some friends who were relatively unfamiliar with skiing to see him in action.

“I talked to some of my friends and got some of my friends that have never cross-country skied to come out and cheer today,” he said. “To be out on course, and you know, see them making it loud, it was really cool.”

Locke won Tuesday and continued to look solid on the Kincaid trails, finishing in 3:25.91.

“It’s been a good start to the season,” Locke said. “I just love Anchorage. I’ve never been before, and the trails are amazing. This was a really nice classic skiing day and it’s just fun to be racing.”

On the women’s side, Samantha Smith just kept winning. The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation athlete also won Tuesday but this time came from behind to win.

“I was trying to be in front, it just didn’t happen like that,” she said. “It’s very early season, and I really haven’t had a lot of time on snow. So going into it, I didn’t have any expectations. I was just trying to get my sea legs back under me.”

[Top US college and high school skiers compete in Alaska’s Winterstart Super Tour stop]

Smith (3:57.27) finished just ahead of UAF racer Mariel Pulles, who finished on the podium in second. After racing in falling snow for the entire day Tuesday, multiple skiers said the track at Kincaid was noticeably faster Saturday.

“I’ve been looking forward to this race,” Pulles said. “Tuesday wasn’t my day with all the snow. Today I managed to do something I was looking forward to.”

Action continues at 10 a.m. Sunday at Kincaid with a mass start freestyle race.