Baic and Hardin win 6th annual Black Mountain Nordic Classic

Mon, Mar  2, 2009 - By Denny Paull

Bright blue skies and nearly perfect snow conditions greeted racers and tour skiers for the annual Black Mountain Nordic Classic 34 km race and 10 km tour held at Black Mountain on Saturday. A record number of 104 skiers turned out for the event with a large number of volunteers and spectators.

In the women's race, Tracy Hardin of Cheboygan led from start to finish for an easy win and to clinch this year's Michigan Cup series title for the third time. Ann Wager of Gaylord was second and Ivanka Baic Berkshire was third.

In the Men's race Milan Baic of Traverse City clinched the Michigan Cup title by winning the race for his second time. Baic and Denny Paull of Cheboygan exchanged leads until the final 10 km where Baic "put the hammer down" and easily outdistanced Paull who ended up second. Todd Vigland and Traverse City was third.

Hanging on to make the last downhill corner at the Black Mountain Nordic Classic.
(Photo by Bob White)

In what has become standard weather protocol for the event, a storm dumped 12 inches of snow on the mountain one day before the race, leaving event organizers scrambling to prepare a viable course. Chief groomer, Jim Meyer of Onaway started the final grooming at 8:00 A.M. Friday and finished about 4:00 A.M. on Saturday in what was described as a "marathon grooming session." The dryness of the snow made grooming particularly difficult to set classic tracks, but Jim's diligence paid off resulting in a great course with firm tracks.

Event organizers were particularly encouraged by a record number of 22 tour participants. "This was our best event ever," commented race director Denny Paull. "The DNR performed a good job at trail and parking lot maintenance throughout the winter then cut the Thunder Bay Trail Association group loose the final week to prepare the race course. This combined with a large number of great local volunteers really made for an event which we could all be proud of."

More Photos by Bob White.

 

Overall	By Gender	By Division	Time	Bib Number	Last Name	First Name	City	State/Prov	Team
F30-39
84	15	1	DNF	138	Todd	Amy	Grand Rapids	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
F40-49
34	2	1	2:32:34	170	Wager	Ann	Gaylord	MI	HHCCSS
66	7	2	3:13:07	107	Thompson	Dolores	Sumner	MI
67	8	3	3:15:30	123	Marietti	Kathy	Ishpeming	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
68	9	4	3:21:14	169	Upton	Fran	Roscommon	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
72	10	5	3:30:46	116	Riehl	Pam	Milford	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
77	12	6	3:52:48	166	Bowers	Tammy	Alanson	MI
80	13	7	4:15:48	119	Joslin	Susan	Troy	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
F50-59
20	1	1	2:22:10	108	Hardin	Tracy	Cheboygan	MI	Straits Striders
39	3	2	2:36:37	173	Baic Berkshire	Ivanka	Traverse City	MI
50	4	3	2:48:00	154	Meincke	Marg	Sault Sainte Marie	ON
60	6	4	3:03:06	159	Mueller-Brumbaugh	Carole	Rockford	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
F60-69
59	5	1	3:00:17	140	Lund	Lorraine	Harbor Springs	MI	Straits Striders
81	14	2	4:18:10	113	Wilks	Amelia	Mancelona	MI	Straits Striders
F70-79
76	11	1	3:49:13	182	Murray	Jean	Mt Pleasant	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
Overall	By Gender	By Division	Time	Bib Number	Last Name	First Name	City	State/Prov	Team
MJ1 14-15
83	69	1	4:31:10	112	Roberts	Travis	Lake City	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
M30-39
3	3	1	2:03:36	147	Vigland	Todd	Traverse City	MI	Traverse City Nordic
17	17	2	2:19:12	134	Dvoratcher	Thomas	Streamwood	IL	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
27	26	3	2:27:33	167	Smith	Robert	Roscommon	MI	HHCCSS
46	43	4	2:46:07	148	VonWallmenich	Theo	Alma	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
52	48	5	2:52:38	102	Oberman	Mark	Cheboygan	MI
M40-49
1	1	1	1:56:50	151	Baic	Milan	Williamsburg	MI	Traverse City Nordic
2	2	2	2:01:37	101	Paull	Denny	Cheboygan	MI	Straits Striders
4	4	3	2:03:37	172	Harrington	Jim	Petoskey	MI	Straits Striders
5	5	4	2:07:10	135	Dufour	Yvon	Brighton	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
7	7	5	2:07:20	184	Folte	Jon	Boyne City	MI
13	13	6	2:13:07	125	Green	Jamie	Gaylord	MI	HHCCSS
15	15	7	2:16:28	141	Goodman	Glenn	Bellaire	MI	HHCCSS
16	16	8	2:17:52	137	Todd	Dell	Grand Rapids	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
18	18	9	2:20:26	104	Seaman	Michael	Mt. Pleasant	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
21	20	10	2:24:59	164	Weiss	Jerry	Bay City	MI	HHCCSS
22	21	11	2:25:05	161	Smith	Randy	Williamsburg	MI	Traverse City Nordic
25	24	12	2:26:05	183	Doull	James	Petoskey	MI
26	25	13	2:26:18	143	Britton	John	Zanesfield	OH	HHCCSS
28	27	14	2:28:11	139	Pietila	Jukka	Rockford	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
40	37	15	2:38:08	142	Freed	Mark	Mt Pleasant	MI
41	38	16	2:38:30	133	Cornell	Doug	Corunna	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
43	40	17	2:40:17	179	Handelsman	Jon	Detroit	MI
48	45	18	2:47:06	120	Temrin	Mike	Troy	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
70	61	19	3:24:16	174	MacLean	Robert	Brutus	MI	Straits Striders
M50-59
6	6	1	2:07:14	128	Weingartz	Chris	Petoskey	MI	Straits Striders
8	8	2	2:07:48	176	Dawson	Ken	Farmington Hills	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
9	9	3	2:08:19	146	Brundage	Bill	Traverse City	MI
10	10	4	2:08:27	118	Bladel	Randal	Granger	IN	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
11	11	5	2:11:21	171	Camp	Don	Grand Haven	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
12	12	6	2:11:28	177	Gravlin	John	Linwood	MI	HHCCSS
14	14	7	2:15:11	126	Fairman	Robert	Ann Arbor	MI	Hanson Hills
24	23	8	2:25:39	136	Luce	Robin	Central Lake	MI	HHCCSS
29	28	9	2:28:41	165	Seager	Steve	Grayling	MI	HHCCSS
32	31	10	2:31:53	127	Heady	Doug	Ann Arbor	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
35	33	11	2:33:16	163	Rockwood	Andy	Traverse City	MI	Traverse City Nordic
38	36	12	2:33:42	117	Nolan	Dan	Holland	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
44	41	13	2:43:12	131	Zlobicki	Zbigy	West Bloomfield	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
45	42	14	2:43:34	155	Call	Vince	Alpena	MI	Straits Striders
49	46	15	2:47:22	180	Pike	Jeff	Highland	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
56	52	16	2:57:26	109	Ahrenberg	Bill	Cheboygan	MI	Straits Striders
57	53	17	2:57:54	129	Ball	Douglas	Linden	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
62	56	18	3:04:50	106	Thompson	Gary	Sumner	MI
63	57	19	3:05:57	115	Ruffner	Spencer	Tecumseh	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
64	58	20	3:08:39	130	Kraai	Rick	Holland	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
69	60	21	3:21:15	150	McInally	Al	Midland	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
71	62	22	3:26:20	156	Fairbanks	Randy	Hubbard Lake	MI
78	66	23	4:02:26	168	Reicks	Brian	Roscommon	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
79	67	24	4:07:25	103	Kuhn	Greg	Indianapolis	IN
82	68	25	4:31:10	111	Roberts	Ken			Cross Country Ski Headquarters
M60-69
19	19	1	2:21:42	124	Kaltz	William	Pinckney	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
23	22	2	2:25:24	152	Smigiel	Steve	Ada	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
30	29	3	2:30:21	158	Christopherson	Wayne	Alpena	MI	Straits Striders
31	30	4	2:31:14	122	Keenan	Michael	Marquette	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
33	32	5	2:32:06	145	Jones	Cris	Roscommon	MI	HHCCSS
37	35	6	2:33:33	160	Brumbaugh	Ernie	Rockford	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
42	39	7	2:39:57	144	Wright	Hap	Boyne	MI	Straits Striders
51	47	8	2:49:04	132	Malaczynski	Gerald	Bloomfield Hills	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
53	49	9	2:54:31	181	Gobeski	Jim	Plymouth	MI
54	50	10	2:55:38	162	Schmekel	Ray	Traverse City	MI	Traverse City Nordic
55	51	11	2:57:03	149	Boal	Ellis	Charlevoix	MI	Straits Striders
58	54	12	2:58:30	175	Johnson	Peter	Whitehall	MI	Grand Rapids Nordic Ski Team
61	55	13	3:03:49	114	Whitlock	Dave	Mancelona	MI	Straits Striders
65	59	14	3:12:52	153	Johnson	John	Midland	MI	HHCCSS
73	63	15	3:36:20	110	Wells	Richard	Hamtramck	MI	Cross Country Ski Headquarters
74	64	16	3:40:10	157	Bray	Paul	Alpena	MI
75	65	17	3:44:28	121	Johnson	Max	Brutus	MI
M70-79
36	34	1	2:33:18	178	Haefner	Bill	Clarkston	MI	Nordic Ski Racer
M80+
47	44	1	2:46:15	105	Borgnes	Arne	Bloomfield	MI