The White Pine had a reroute at the last moments. Parts of the 20k/30k course suffered damage from snowmobile and other use. The trail chief race director spent all Friday before race day re-routing portions of the course and making sure the trail and all splits were clearly marked. Because of the reroute, the lengths of the races changed a bit: The 30k was closer to 26.5 K. The 20k become an 18.5K, and the 10k was around 11k.
It was cold but sunny! Sections of the trail suffered a bit from a short but intense warm up as few days before the race.
Jordyn Ross (Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team) was the overall 30k women's winner in 1:20:56. Elizabeth Callison (UofM Nordic) was second in 1:24:44, followed by Jenny White in 1:26:34. For the men, Sam Shaheen (Nittany Nordic) was as fast 1:09:18. Just three seconds back was Jorden Wakeley (Hanson Hills / Cross Country Ski Shop) in 1:09:22. Zach Goldberg took third in 1:12:44.
Racers in the 30k received full Michigan Cup Points.
In the 20k, Karen Kirt (Vasa), Laura Tay (Grand Rapids Nordic), and Jamie Endicott took the top three spots in 1:01:44, 1:12:34, and 1:13:37. For the men, Kevin Tarras (48:59) took first, followed by Nick Murray (55:16) and John Gravlin (56:21 - Hanson Hills / Cross Country Ski Shop).
Racers in the 20k received partial Michigan Cup Points.
Arianne Olson (Grand Rapids Nordic) continued here winning streak, finishing first in the 10K in 30:30. This is her fourth win this season in as many races. Ella Gaylord was second in 35:57, with Emma Decker (UoM Nordic) third in 37:22.
Dasan Simmons (UofM Nordic) was the top male 10k skier with at time of 30:48, followed by Zeke Martin (Lake Michigan Juniors) in 31:29 and Nils Lindwall in 32:05.
Juniors received full Michigan Cup points for the event.