Koch and Powell win 50k Vasa!

Michigan Cup

Sat, Feb  12, 2011 - By Mike Muha

Although the temperatures were mid-to-upper 20's, the snow sure acted colder at the 2011 North American Vasa. With a week of new dry lake effect snow, and low humidity, many racers waxed much colder than the temperatures called for. Start Green, Toko HF Blue, Swix CH6 were the choice of a number of skiers.

There was a bit of wind. Fortunately, most of the course is in the trees. The sun popped out during the race for a beautiful day of racing.

At the finish line, it was two local favorite who took the day.

50k Freestyle and Classic

The 50k was won by Jeff Koch of Traverse City in 2:26:12, with Milan Baic of Williamsburg (2:30:56) in second. Dan Packman from Bend, OR was third in 2:32:20. (The previous results had an error)....

Amy Powell of Lake Ann was the top women, finishing in 2:50:41. Mary Kuhn of Traverse City was second in 3:15:29. Third was Fern Spence of Traverse City (3:15:55).

In the Classic, Rob Fox from Negaunee finished first in 3:01:53. In second and third were Randy Bladel from Granger, IN (3:08:20) and Tomas Linden from Stevensville (3:11:22).

Lorraine Lund from Harbor Springs was the top 50k Classic women (4:28:07), followed by Susan Easlink from Benzonia (4:33:03) and Sara Cockrell (4:38:48) of Grawn.

First wave start

27k Freestyle and Classic

Andrew Nadler of Chicago (1:25:21) won the 27k Freestyle. Ryan Halstead of Grayling was a close second in 1:25:39, with Cliff Onthank of Traverse City finishing third in 1:26:03.

Cassidy Edwards of Cedar was the top women in the 25k Freestyle, winning in 1:31:18, Laura Webb and Susan Vigland, both of Traverse City, were second and third in 1:34:28 and 1:41:32.

In the 27k Classic, Jukka Lyly-Yrjanainen of Elk Grove Village, IL was the top man, winning just ahead of Jim Harrington of Petoskey, 1:40:18 to 1:40:27. Sean Kelly of South Bend, IN took third in 1:47:56.

Cedar's Marnie Sutter was the fastest women with a time of 2:24:19. Carole Mueller-Brumbaugh took second in 2:30:18, a minute and a half in front of Kerri Finlayson of Petoskey (2:31:48).

12k Freestyle and Classic

In the 12k Freestyle, Evan Cover and Lauren Pflughoefdt were the top man and women. Cover finished first in 38:19. Second and third in the men's race was Ryen Keenan and Andrew Bruning in 42:56 and 43:55. All are from Traverse City.

Plughoeft was first in 51:41, followed by Einr Lipp and Keylee Can Dommelen in 53:49 and 54:27. All were also from Traverse City. 

Charles Needham of Traverse City won the 12k Classic in 1:01:15. Barry O'Brien (Traverse City) and Al McInally of Midland fought for second and third, crossing the line in 1:05:16 and 1:05:54.

Traverse City's Kennedy Cullen won the women's 12k Classic in 1:04:19. Emily Steffke and Alyssa Padden were second and third in 1:06:29 and 1:08:57.

Eli Brown leads up the first hill at the 2011 North American Vasa