Jessie Smith and Ivanka Bershire win Holiday Classic

Mon, Dec  29, 2008 - By Mike Muha

Michigan Tech freshman Jessie Smith won the 9.6 Km Holiday Classic in 33:03 on Saturday at the Boyne Valley Lodge in Walloon Lake. Close behind were members of the Baic family: Milan Baic came in second in 33:19, followed by nephew Brendan Baic in 34:30. (Full results at end of article)

Another (maiden name) Baic, Ivanka Berkshire, won the women's 9.6 Km in 46:09 while father Vojin Baic cheered her on. Amy Todd and Susan Joslin were second and third in 47:40 and 1:12:59.

Ivanka Berkshire heading for a win at the Holiday Classic

Kaitlyn Patterson and Alex Hawke were the fastest juniors in the 5.3km event at the Holiday Classic, a warm up for upcoming Junior Olympic Qualifiers.

The forecast for the weather was atrocious and most likely responsible for the small turnout: rain and highs in the mid to upper 40's. The temperature came in as predicted, but the rain was a no-show. There was little to no wind, but many skiers remarked on the huge air temperature differences on the course: racers would pass through zones of cold air followed by zones of balmy warm air. Fog would periodically roll in then roll out. Sometimes the fog was quite heavy.

The lead group of juniors at the top of the first little climb at the Holiday Classic at the Boyne Valley Lodge. Kaitlyn Patterson (299) went on to a convincing overall win. Alex Hawke (293) was first in the J2 men"s division, Maria Frick (272), Hannah Meachum (282), and Rachel Swaffer (273) finished 1-2-3 for the J1 women.

The tracks were soft before the race, the snow very soft for pole plants. As the tracks were skied in , first by the juniors, then the 1st of two laps by the seniors, the track become harder, faster, and finally glazed. Kick became more of an issue on the glazed track by the final senior lap.

The top three men all used hairies (the kick zone roughened with sandpaper then covered with a liquid lubricant like silicon or Toko HelX). The majority of skiers used klister for kick or skied on no-wax skis.

 

Team NordicSkiRacer Bill Kaltz lost a basket in the first 50 yards of the race. After getting a pole from a junior racer at the 1km point, Bill went on to win his age class.

PLACE	BIB	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	CITY	Dist	TIME	RANK
5.3 Km Event
J2 Female 14-15 - 5.3 Km
1	292	Hawke	Clancey	Traverse City	5	0:27:06	9
2	279	Bosma	Shaina	Lake City	5	0:41:13	14
J3 Female 13 & Under - 5.3 Km
1	287	Todd	Katie	Grand Rapids	5	0:29:10	10
J1 Female 16-17 - 5.3 Km
1	272	Frick	Maria	Williamsburg	5	0:20:21	2
2	282	Meachum	Hannah	Traverse City	5	0:21:26	4
3	273	Swaffer	Rachel	Traverse City	5	0:21:44	5
4	294	Brennan	Brady	East Jordan	5	0:22:59	7
5	290	Perkins	Katie	Traverse City	5	0:24:05	8
OJ Female 18-19 - 5.3 Km
1	299	Patterson	Kaitlyn	Cadillac	5	0:18:58	1
J2 Male 14-15 - 5.3 Km
1	293	Hawke	Alex	Traverse City	5	0:21:16	3
2	291	Buttrick	Bobby	Traverse City	5	0:22:44	6
3	280	Roberts	Travis	Lake City	5	0:31:12	11
4	271	Cullen	Kennedy	Traverse City	5
J3 Male 13 & Under - 5.3 Km
1	278	Bosma	Daniel	Lake City	5	0:33:24	12
2	288	Todd	Spencer	Grand Rapids	5	0:34:26	13
3	277	Roberts	Kyle	Lake City	5	0:46:49	15
9.6 Km Race
Female 20-45 - 9.6 Km
1	274	Berkshire	Ivanka	Traverse City	10	0:46:09	19
2	285	Todd	Amy	Grand Rapids	10	0:47:40	21
3	256	Joslin	Susan	Troy	10	1:12:59	29
Female 46 & Over - 9.6 Km
1	260	Murray	Jean	Mt. Pleasant	10	1:11:23	28
J1 Male 16-17 - 9.6 Km
1	297	Baic	Brendan	Walloon Lake	10	0:34:30	3
2	270	Innis	Raymond	Traverse City	10	0:37:14	6
3	261	Williams	Ross	Williamsburg	10	0:37:44	8
4	289	Brown	Greg	Traverse City	10	0:51:44	24
5	281	Anderson	Johnathan	Traverse City	10	0:52:45	25
OJ Male 18-19 - 9.6 Km
1	300	Smith	Jesse	Traverse City	10	0:33:03	1
2	298	Brennan	Mac	East Jordan	10	0:36:20	5
Male 20 To 44 - 9.6 Km
1	266	Paull	Denny	Cheboygan	10	0:35:58	4
2	284	Todd	Dell	Grand Rapids	10	0:38:08	10
3	104	Goodman	Glenn	Bellaire	10	0:38:25	11
4	269	Seaman	Michael	Mt. Pleasant	10	0:40:26	15
5	258	Smith	Robert	Roscommon	10	0:41:07	16
6	262	Temkin	Mike	Troy	10	0:44:29	18
Male 45 To 55 - 9.6 Km
1	275	Baic	Milan	Williamsburg	10	0:33:19	2
2	265	Onthank	Clifford	Traverse City	10	0:37:42	7
3	295	Weingartz	Chris	Petoskey	10	0:38:48	12
4	286	Muha	Mike	Wixom	10	0:39:08	13
5	264	MacLean	Robert	Brutus	10	1:06:47	27
Male 56 To 60 - 9.6 Km
1	263	Camp	Don	Grand Haven	10	0:38:07	9
2	105	Luce	Robin	Central Lake	10	0:39:24	14
3	283	Gambert	George	Bellaire	10	0:50:08	22
4	257	Ahrenberg	Bill	Cheboygan	10	0:51:24	23
Male 61 & Over - 9.6 Km
1	296	Kaltz	William	Pinckney	10	0:42:31	17
2	259	Haefner	Bill	Clarkston	10	0:47:05	20
3	276	Wells	Richard	Hamtrakick	10	1:04:15	26