GRNST fastest team at the Michigan Cup Team Time Trial

Sun, Jan  13, 2008 - By Mike Muha

Wow! Who would have expected that Hanson Hills would have quality skiing conditions after all the rain earlier in the week? But the trails were well covered and everyone had their good skis out for the first Michigan Cup team Time Trial.

This event was specifically designed to be a low-key, fun day with a short race and plenty of time to go back out a ski. Thirty-four 3-person teams showed up the race the 5km freestyle course. A great track was set for the skiers who wanted to classic ski rather than skate. (And at least one skier did choose to stride).

Only team points were awarded by the Michigan Cup committee - there were no individual points. The top team in each division received 200 points. The other teams receive points based on how many teams were in the category. for example, if there were 10 teams, the second place finishers would receive 200-(200/number of teams) or 180 points. Third would get 160 points, etc.

The first skiers went off at 10:00am. Skiers could start anytime they wanted between 10:00 and noon: They would pull up to the starting line and say "I'm ready!" The timer would take the bib number and start time, and give a 5-second countdown to "Go!"

Eric Scholz tearing around the 5km course

 

Team strategies were many. Some skiers went off individually, others left as a group. Cross Country Ski Headquarters Teams "Snow Blasters" and "No Excuses" left simultaneously in what we must believe an exercise in group motivation (and maybe a little drafting???). The strategy must have worked - the teams took first and second in their categories!

The course was firmly packed, the snow damp but not wet. The conditions got slightly faster during the time trial as skiers packed the snow even more. Toward the end, the humidity and temperature increased started slowing things down a bit.

Results

In the Co-Ed division, two Hanson Hills - Cross Country Ski Shop (HHCCSS) teams came in first (45:13) and third (46:30), sandwiching a team from Grand Rapids Nordic (45:23). "Snow Blasters" Bob Smith and husband/wife duo Curt and Gussie Peterson took the gold. GRNST's "Stinkers" Melzar Coulter and another husband/wife duo Dell and Amy Todd took second. Jim Pryor, Brenda Carlson, and Chris Jones ("Wrong Wax") was about a minute back in third.

Only three all-women teams competed. HHCCSS came in on top again. "Did you need one" (Chris Seager, Ellen Thompson, and Kelly Kirk) finished in 56:08. The Headquarters' "2 Chickens and a Hen" (Catarina Gulledge, Toria Kanaby, and Fran Upton) pulled in second in 1:02:03. NordicSkiRacer's Karen Dawson, last year's Michigan Cup overall winner Emily Flynn and Julie Hewlett took third about 16 minutes back.

Joe Webb of Team Webb (Jon, Sarah, and Joe Web)

 

Grand Rapids Nordic narrowly took the men's division over HHCCSS. Steve Smigiel Jr., Randy Bladel, and Dave Maclean ("GRNST Hope to be Fast") had the fastest time of the day, 41:36. "No excuses" (John Gravlin, Glenn Goodman, and Robin Luce) were just 8 seconds behind. NordicSkiRacer's Dave Fanslow, Ken Dawson and Mike Muha took third with the third fastest time of the day, 42:14.

Hanson Hills provide ribbons to the top three teams in each division and lunch to everyone.

And tons of skiers stayed after to get in a few more hours of skiing before next weekend's Garland Grip and Glide....

 

Name	Team	Bib #	Individual Time	Combined Team Time
CO-ED
Bob Smith	SNOW BLASTERS	135	0:14:14	0:45:13
Curt Peterson	SNOW BLASTERS	136	0:14:16
Gussie Peterson	SNOW BLASTERS	137	0:16:43
Dell Todd	STINKERS	293	0:13:53	0:45:23
Melzar Coulter	STINKERS	294	0:14:09
Amy Todd	STINKERS	295	0:17:21
Jim Pryor Jr.	WRONG WAX	272	0:14:15	0:46:30
Brenda Carlson	WRONG WAX	273	0:16:55
Cris Jones	WRONG WAX	274	0:15:20
Andrew Weddle	ME AND THE WEDDLES	275	0:13:21	0:49:26
Jessica Weddle	ME AND THE WEDDLES	276	0:20:57
Justin Andre	ME AND THE WEDDLES	0	0:15:08
Mac Brennan	RAMBLING DEVILS	287	0:14:28	0:50:25
Brendan Baic	RAMBLING DEVILS	288	0:15:08
Brady Brennan	RAMBLING DEVILS	289	0:20:49
Ellis Boal	SUICIDE BOMBERS	260	0:19:39	0:51:04
Chris Weingurtz	SUICIDE BOMBERS	286	0:15:06
Tracy Handin?	SUICIDE BOMBERS	280	0:16:19
Jon Webb	TEAM WEBB	299	0:16:18	0:53:51
Sarah Webb	TEAM WEBB	300	0:20:01
Joe Webb	TEAM WEBB	150	0:17:32
Cheryl Darnton	SPEED DMANS	277	0:16:48	0:55:08
David Darnton	SPEED DMANS	278	0:17:32
Colin Darnton	SPEED DMANS	279	0:20:48
Terence Cuneo	KILLJOY	296	0:17:22	0:58:00
Carole M Brumbaugh	KILLJOY	297	0:25:18
Michael Seaman	KILLJOY	298	0:15:20
Frank Nizio	GO FASTzzzz GO HARD	304	0:20:44	1:03:10
Linda Allen	GO FASTzzzz GO HARD	305	0:23:19
Harris Ryan	GO FASTzzzz GO HARD	306	0:19:07
Chris Maltby	SLOWPOKES	301	0:16:20	1:07:16
Chris Scholz	SLOWPOKES	302	0:31:49
Eric Scholz	SLOWPOKES	303	0:19:07
Amelia Wilks	THE STANDBYS	120	0:25:35	1:09:02
Dave Whitlock	THE STANDBYS	121	0:20:37
Daryl Allison- Busch	THE STANDBYS	122	0:22:50
Brian Reicks	OLD FARTS	94	0:26:02	1:15:42
Dale Arbour	OLD FARTS	95	0:23:20
Chris Fowler	OLD FARTS	96	0:26:20
Mary Dunn	NSR 2	71	0:30:40	1:16:21
Spencer Ruffner	NSR 2	72	0:18:14
Garrett Ruffner	NSR 2	73	0:27:27
Kelly Kanaby	2 LADIES & A GUY	283	0:30:38	1:24:09
Carole Merwin	2 LADIES & A GUY	284	0:36:01
Joseph Shifart	2 LADIES & A GUY	285	0:17:30
FEMALE
Chris Seager	DID YOU NEED ONE	85	0:19:09	0:56:08
Ellen Thompson	DID YOU NEED ONE	86	0:18:55
Kelly Kirk	DID YOU NEED ONE	87	0:18:04
Catarina Gulledge	2 CHICKS AND A HEN	117	0:20:43	1:02:03
Toria Kanaby	2 CHICKS AND A HEN	118	0:23:00
Fran Upton	2 CHICKS AND A HEN	119	0:18:20
Karen Dawson	NSR 1	68	0:19:37	1:18:12
Emily Flynn	NSR 1	69	0:19:53
Julie Hewlett	NSR 1	70	0:38:42
MALE
Stephen Smigiel	GRNST HOPE TO BE FAST	126	0:13:49	0:41:36
Randal Bladel	GRNST HOPE TO BE FAST	127	0:14:28
David Maclean	GRNST HOPE TO BE FAST	128	0:13:19
John Gravlin	NO EXCUSES	138	0:13:33	0:41:44
Glenn Goodman	NO EXCUSES	139	0:13:53
Robin Luce	NO EXCUSES	140	0:14:18
Dave Fanslow	NSR 4	77	0:13:49	0:42:14
Ken Dawson	NSR 4	78	0:13:47
Mike Muha	NSR 4	79	0:14:38
Brad Wagner	ALL Y'ALLS A BUNCH OF SUCK	93	0:15:10	0:44:44
Steve Seager	ALL Y'ALLS A BUNCH OF SUCK	92	0:14:22
Jamie Green	ALL Y'ALLS A BUNCH OF SUCK	91	0:15:12
Larry Kanaby	FRANK'S FREELOADER'S	99	0:14:29	0:46:21
Frank Ryanalski	FRANK'S FREELOADER'S	98	0:16:33
Kip Knight	FRANK'S FREELOADER'S	97	0:15:19
Bill Kaltz	NSR 3	74	0:15:18	0:49:51
Doug Cornell	NSR 3	75	0:15:01
Greg Worrel	NSR 3	76	0:19:32
Jon Upton	WTF	254	0:16:34	0:50:02
Stew Upton	WTF	255	0:15:32
Tom McCardle	WTF	256	0:17:56
Steve Smigiel	GRNST OLD	123	0:16:36	0:50:53
Tom Anderson	GRNST OLD	124	0:15:25
Tim Greening	GRNST OLD	125	0:18:52
Stephen Karlsen	SMM	257	0:16:25	0:52:22
Mike Temkin	SMM	258	0:16:59
Matt Levasseur	SMM	259	0:18:58
Devan Thielfoldt	FASTER THAN SNOW	134	0:18:04	0:54:12
Ryan Harris	FASTER THAN SNOW	133	0:18:04
Rick Neier	FASTER THAN SNOW	132	0:18:04
Larry Timm	LaJoGr	144	0:16:39	0:55:29
John Geiger	LaJoGr	145	0:20:58
Greg Merwin	LaJoGr	146	0:17:52
Jeff Pike	CROW'S NEST	147	0:19:24	1:00:36
Sam Gillepsie	CROW'S NEST	148	0:19:25
Bill Matson	CROW'S NEST	149	0:21:47
John Love	GRNST ANCHOR	141	0:16:42	1:10:04
Ernie Brumbaugh	GRNST ANCHOR	142	0:26:41
Nick Baic	GRNST ANCHOR	143	0:26:41
Leonard J. Block	BEA	88	0:30:08	1:13:09
Dale Ernst	BEA	89	0:19:22
Mark Abbe	BEA	90	0:23:39
Wolfgang Uhrig	3 AMIGOS	129	0:23:54	1:15:59
Larry Mergentime	3 AMIGOS	130	0:22:46
Mark Pobucik	3 AMIGOS	131	0:29:19
Kenneth Roberts	VUNNY SWAMP RACERS	290	0:34:24	1:42:41
Kyle Roberts	VUNNY SWAMP RACERS	291	0:46:10
Travis Roberts	VUNNY SWAMP RACERS	292	0:22:07