Maclean and Hardin win Michigan Cup Marathon

Results

Sun, Feb  17, 2008 - By Mike Muha

"Soft and creamy," "fresh," or "delightful" - however you wanted to describe the conditions for the Michigan Cup Marathon 15/30km Freestyle, the trails were in awesome shape, with enough soft snow to be forgiving and stable, and a hard enough base to make the snow unexpectedly fast.

Dave Maclean leads Cliff Onthank, Dell Todd, and Dave Fanslow early in the race
(Photo by Joann Cavaletto)

Grand Rapids Nordic's David Maclean used the conditions to his advantage by crushing the competition in the Men's 30km race by over three minutes. Maclean finished first in 1:13:59 with Cliff Onthank from Traverse Nordic in second in 1:17:08. NordicSkiRacer Dave Fanslow was just behind Onthank in 17:38.

Onthank, Fanslow, and Grand Rapids Nordic's Dell Todd held on to Maclean through the M-93 hills and the feed station at the end of the first lap. Maclean gapped the group during the climb up "Racer's Cut" and never looked back.

Tracy Hardin of Straits Striders picked up another Michigan Cup win in the Women's 15km Freestyle. Hardin finished first in 46:38. An unexpected newcomer to the Michigan Cup race, Shawn Oppliger from Marquette, took second place in 47:03. Opplinger reportedly decided to test the competition while her daughters were racing up the road at the Michigan High School Championships in Walloon Lake.

Gussie Peterson was third, 32 second behind Oppliger, in 47:35.

Tracy Hardin
(Photo by Joann Cavaletto)

Revised course

The course was changed from previous years by adding the the set of five "M-93 Hills" to the end of the first lap for the men and the end of the race for the women. Featuring one good climb after the other, with a fast downhill in between, the course gains elevation for a final fast descent toward the Hanson Hills lodge.

The "Racer's Cut" - a long nasty climb up and around the downhill slopes at Hanson Hills, followed by a sharp drop and a sharper right corner, was in the best shape it's ever been.

Kudos to Butch Stockton for the grooming!

Cliff, Dave and Dell, say goodby to Dave Maclean as you head to the Racer's Cut
(Photo by Amy Todd)

Wax of the day

Temperatures over night reached a low of -6F and were in the 10-15F range at the start of the race, climbing to around 20 by the time the last racers finished. Rex Blue seemed to be the race of the day, although racers reported good results with cold, hardened waxes including Solda F15 Blue with S-30 hardening powder, Toko LF Moly/LF Blue with XCold Additive, and Swix LF4.

Men's 30km Freestyle
Overall	Age Rank	Name	Bib #	Age Group	CLUB	Time
1	1	David Maclean	85	40-49	GRNST	1:13:59
2	1	Cliff Onthank	47	50-59	Traverse Nordic	1:17:09
3	2	Dave Fanslow	8	40-49	Nordicskiracer.com	1:17:38
4	3	Dell Todd	37	40-49	GRNST	1:18:45
5	1	Robert Smith	56	30-39	HansonHills/CCSS	1:19:25
6	2	Gregory A. Worsnop	395	50-59	GRNST	1:19:27
7	3	John Gravlin	1	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:19:58
8	4	Steve Seager	52	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	1:20:14
9	5	Glenn Goodman	397	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	1:20:49
10	4	Ken Dawson	76	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:21:46
11	5	Greg Patalik	70	50-59	Straits Striders	1:21:57
12	6	Larry Kanaby	38	40-49	XCHQ	1:22:06
13	6	Randal Btrelel	53	50-59	GRNST	1:22:20
14	7	Jon Morgan	48	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	1:22:21
15	7	Mike Muha	19	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:22:22
16	8	Chris Weingartz	400	50-59	Straits Striders	1:22:23
17	8	Michael Seaman	63	40-49	GRNST	1:22:24
18	1	Rodney Halstead	94	20-29	HansonHills/CCSS	1:25:05
19	1	William Kaltz	16	60-69	Nordicskiracer.com	1:26:02
20	9	Douglas Cornell	15	40-49	Nordicskiracer.com	1:26:05
21	2	Ivan Mikhailov	90	20-29	XCHQ	1:26:08
22	9	Robin Luce	398	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:26:10
23	2	Jack Deegan	58	30-39	Straits Striders	1:27:39
24	10	Stephen Van Dam	21	50-59	Straits Striders	1:28:13
25	3	Tim Polonkey	14	30-39		1:28:35
26	11	Tim Triebold	2	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:28:49
27	12	Fred Mills	43	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:29:28
28	13	Cris Jones	5	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:29:30
29	2	Tom Anderson	11	60-69	GRNST	1:29:33
30	4	Than Dykstra	35	30-39		1:30:19
31	10	Steven Viecheca	29	40-49	Traverse Nordic	1:30:59
32	14	Joel Moore	59	50-59	Straits Striders	1:31:10
33	11	Jukka Pietila	7	40-49	GRNST	1:31:27
34	12	Jamie Green	55	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	1:32:10
35	15	Frank Rynalski	6	50-59	XCHQ	1:32:31
36	5	Theovon Wallmenich	27	30-39	XCHQ	1:32:42
37	16	Robert Fairman	40	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:32:49
38	6	Terence Cuneo	69	30-39	GRNST	1:33:03
39	3	Steve Smigiel	31	60-69	GRNST	1:33:48
40	13	Dave Durbin	396	40-49	XCHQ	1:34:00
41	17	Joseph Seifert	95	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	1:34:06
42	18	MarkFinstad	17	50-59	Straits Striders	1:34:48
43	3	Garrett Dawe	80	20-29		1:35:31
44	14	Jerry Weiss	39	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	1:36:32
45	19	Mark Madorski	18	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:36:34
46	15	Mike Temkin	4	40-49	XCHQ	1:37:34
47	1	Bill Haefner	91	70-79	Nordicskiracer.com	1:38:58
48	20	Tom Baron	87	50-59	Ohio Nordics	1:39:31
49	16	Stephen Karlsen	3	40-49	XCHQ	1:39:32
50	21	John Schuld	13	50-59		1:40:51
51	22	Frank Nizio	54	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:41:10
52	23	Jon Upton	78	50-59	XCHQ	1:41:39
53	17	Doug Endicott	68	40-49		1:41:40
54	24	Devan Thielfoldt	9	50-59	XCHQ	1:42:24
55	25	Larry Timm	44	50-59	XCHQ	1:42:32
56	7	Matt LeVasseur	67	30-39	XCHQ	1:42:33
57	26	Spencer Ruffner	62	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:46:22
58	18	Tom McArdle	64	40-49	XCHQ	1:46:23
59	27	Jeff Moore	20	50-59	Straits Striders	1:46:43
60	28	Vincent Call	83	50-59	Straits Striders	1:46:55
61	29	Duane Amato	72	50-59		1:47:05
62	30	Kevin Kezly	23	50-59	Straits Striders	1:47:27
63	4	Bob Welsch	394	60-69	HansonHills/CCSS	1:48:51
64	31	Dan Nolan	65	50-59	GRNST	1:49:01
65	5	Ernie Brumbaugh	26	60-69	GRNST	1:49:02
66	32	Bob Vande Kopple	73	50-59	Straits Striders	1:49:47
67	6	Jim Meyer	74	60-69	Straits Striders	1:50:27
68	7	Dan Yeager	60	60-69		1:51:48
69	19	Mark Ostahowski	22	40-49		1:53:29
70	33	Jeff Pike	89	50-59	XCHQ	1:55:10
71	34	Sam Gillespie	10	50-59	XCHQ	1:57:58
72	8	Ellis Boal	92	60-69	Straits Striders	1:58:05
73	9	John Johnson	57	60-69		2:04:49
74	1	Ryan Harris	50	19 under	XCHQ	2:08:13
75	35	Greg Worrel	12	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	2:09:59
76	2	William Matson	86	70-79	XCHQ	2:14:28
77	3	John Caldwell	33	70-79	XCHQ	2:25:16
78	20	Glen Maylath	46	40-49	Nordicskiracer.com	DNF
79	10	John Geiger	75	60-69	XCHQ	DNF
80	4	Ryan Halstead	81	20-29		DNF
Women's 15km Freestyle
Overall	Age Rank	Name	Bib #	Age Group	CLUB	Time
1	1	Tracy Hardin	399	50-59	Straits Striders	0:46:38
2	1	Shawn Oppliger	93	40-49		0:47:03
3	2	Gussie Peterson	30	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	0:47:35
4	2	Terri Pomfret	42	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	0:49:10
5	1	Emily Flynn	34	20-29	Nordicskiracer.com	0:49:29
6	3	Brenda Carlson	25	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	0:51:11
7	1	Kellie Kirk	36	30-39	HansonHills/CCSS	0:51:22
8	2	Kelly Mikolajczyk	24	30-39	HansonHills/CCSS	0:52:06
9	4	Ann Wagar	28	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	0:53:33
10	3	Karen Dawson	77	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	0:53:41
11	4	Ellen Thompson	49	50-59	HansonHills/CCSS	0:54:19
12	5	Maria Iwaniec	41	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	0:56:10
13	5	Fran Upton	79	40-49	XCHQ	0:56:40
14	6	Christine Seager	51	40-49	HansonHills/CCSS	0:57:30
15	2	Hilary Witbrodt (pink hair!)	66	20-29	HansonHills/CCSS	1:01:23
16	6	Mary Call	82	50-59	Straits Striders	1:06:53
17	7	Cheryl Timm	45	50-59	XCHQ	1:14:44
18	8	Carol Mueller- Brumbaugh	84	50-59	GRNST	1:15:37
19	7	Susan Joslin	71	40-49	XCHQ	1:15:55
20	9	Sita Compton	88	50-59	XCHQ	1:19:48
21	1	Beth Caldwell	32	70-79	XCHQ	1:20:10
22	10	Julie Hewlett	61	50-59	Nordicskiracer.com	1:35:21