Koch and Powell win again at Gran Travers

Michigan Cup

Mon, Feb  14, 2011 - By Mike Muha

Skiers arrived at Timber Ridge Resort with some trepidation: It's around freezing. Waxing around 32F has always been difficult. And a fresh inch of damp snow had fallen overnight. What kick wax to use for the 2011 Gran Travers 6/16k Classic?

At 7:30am, Eli Brown from Brick Wheels had already been testing waxes and was busily helping racers apply kick wax in his waxing tent. His recommendation: Swix VR50 (28-34^o for moist to dry snow around freezing). When Toko Rep Nick Baic showed up, the recommendation was Toko Carbon Red  for just under freezing.

As skiers tested waxes, things got even weirder. As race time approached, a number of skiers reported a bit of icing, meaning the wax was too warm! Should I wax colder?

Turns out that all the folks skiing around the start/finish were mixing the newer wetter snow with the colder dryer snow underneath, causing the surface snow temperature to drop. But out on the course, the snow was not mixed because racers had yet to ski over the immaculate double-tracked trails.

16k Classic Podium

Exactly 50 minutes after the start, North American Vasa 50k Freestyle winner Jeff Koch took his second victory of the weekend, beating up and coming star Dan Yankus by 1:22. Always a contender Denny Paul was third in 52:10.

Amy Powell also repeated her Vasa 50k Freestyle win, crossing the finish line in 1:02:43. Tracy Hardin was second in 1:04:53, with Ann Wager rounding out the podium in 1:06:30.

6k Classic

In the 6k Classic, 17-year old Josh Lance was first in 3:22. Ian Duran (age 12) was second in 26:01, tieing with  Sean Brownell (age 14).

There was a third weekend repeat-winner: 15 year-old Lauren Pflughoeft, winner of the Vasa 12k Freestyle, also won the Gran Travers 6k in 29:03. Sarah Goble (age 13) was second in 31:29, beating out Heidi Schwab's 31:48 (age 12).

16k Classic

Overall Men	Age Group	Name	Town State	Age	Time
15 - 19
4	1	Andrew Nadler	Chicago IL	16	52:16
20 - 29
2	1	Daniel Yankus	Walled Lake MI	29	51:22
34	2	John Paul	Traverse City MI	29	1:05:17
30 - 39
1	1	Jeff Koch	Traverse City MI	39	50:00
15	2	Yensen Schwab	Williamsburg MI	37	57:43
22	3	Than Dykstra	Traverse City MI	38	1:00:22
29	4	Melzar Coulter	Grand Rapids MI	31	1:02:20
31	5	Jan Merka	Laurel MD	38	1:04:44
53	6	Chris Maltby	Mount Pleasant MI	38	1:12:44
40 - 49
3	1	Denny Paull	Cheboygan MI	46	52:10
10	2	Todd Vigland	Traverse City MI	41	56:14
12	3	Gunnar Lovhoiden	Berrien Springs MI	47	56:55
13	4	Yvon Dufour	Brighton MI	47	56:56
16	5	Dell Todd	Grand Rapids MI	43	58:14
17	6	Randy Smith	Williamsburg MI	49	58:37
18	7	Kip Knight	Elk Rapids MI	47	58:54
21	8	Glenn Goodman	Bellaire MI	44	59:32
23	9	Michael Seaman	Mt. Pleasant MI	46	1:00:31
24	10	Allen Sorgenfrei	Bloomfield Hills MI	46	1:00:31
25	11	Craig Hughes	Hancock MI	44	1:00:48
26	12	Robert Nadler	Chicago IL	47	1:01:44
28	13	Jukka Pietila	Rockford MI	46	1:02:07
32	14	Stephen Karlsen	Breckenridge MI	49	1:05:01
38	15	Steve Steffke	Weidman MI	48	1:06:29
39	16	Bob Triebold	South Bend IN	48	1:06:44
44	17	Mike Temkin	Troy MI	47	1:08:26
55	18	Adam Danes	Northville MI	43	1:14:13
59	19	Nickola Baic	Walloon Lake MI	49	1:19:30
60	20	Brad Plymale	Northville MI	42	1:19:38
63	21	Chris Steffke	Cedar MI	40	1:24:47
74	22	Greg Mills	Bellaire MI	49	1:40:40
50 - 59
5	1	Clifford Onthank	Traverse City MI	57	52:17
6	2	Robert Fairman	Ann Arbor MI	53	53:11
7	3	Randal Bladel	Granger IN	55	55:11
8	4	Doug Heady	Ann Arbor MI	53	55:12
9	5	John Gravlin	Cheboygan MI	56	56:07
11	6	Mike Muha	Wixom MI	53	56:19
14	7	Jamie Green	Gaylord MI	50	57:36
19	8	Don Camp	Grand Haven MI	58	59:10
20	9	Chris Weingartz	Petoskey MI	55	59:27
27	10	Steve Seager	Grayling MI	52	1:02:05
30	11	Robin Luce	Central Lake MI	59	1:04:08
37	12	Dan Nolan	Holland MI	59	1:06:24
40	13	Devan Thielfoldt	Selfridge MI	54	1:06:59
41	14	Jeffrey Moore	Northville MI	54	1:08
43	15	Frank Rynalski	Bay City MI	56	1:08:23
49	16	William Danly	Muskegon MI	55	1:11:15
50	17	Karl Trost Sr	Cheboygan MI	52	1:11:16
56	18	Bob Vande Kopple	Pellston MI	59	1:14:43
62	19	Robert Kuszmaul	Richmond MI	55	1:24:18
64	20	Dave Clary		51	1:24:50
69	21	Brett Hood	Lake Ann MI	55	1:32:03
71	22	Jerry Suminski	Williamsburg MI	51	1:32:28
76	23	Bill Holland	Traverse City MI	54	1:45:28
60 - 69
36	1	Steve Smigiel	Ada MI	65	1:05:58
42	2	Larry Timm	Bay City MI	61	1:08:04
47	3	Lee Ries		63	1:10:56
51	4	Vince Call	Alpena MI	60	1:11:40
52	5	Ray Schmeilel	Traverse City MI	62	1:12:33
54	6	Ernie Brumbaugh	Rockford MI	64	1:13:16
57	7	Dave Whitlock	Mancelona MI	64	1:14:50
58	8	Greg Merwin		64	1:14:51
61	9	Duane Amato	Suttons Bay MI	60	1:23:32
65	10	Richard May	Charlevoix MI	64	1:25:03
66	11	George Gambert	Bellaire MI	63	1:26:50
67	12	Dale Arbour	Grand Ledge MI	60	1:29:01
68	13	Daniel Sagady	Bellaire MI	61	1:31:24
70	14	Mike Schaeffer	Traverse City MI	62	1:32:11
72	15	Fred Schaafsma	Traverse City MI	63	1:32:44
73	16	Richard Wells		65	1:39:28
75	17	Michael Haley		61	1:44:59
78	18	David Fisher	Saginaw MI	64	1:57:19
70 - 79
33	1	Tom Anderson	Big Rapids MI	70	1:05:11
35	2	Bill Haefner	Clarkston MI	73	1:05:46
45	3	Patrick Tobin	Traverse City MI	72	1:08:57
46	4	Ed Clary		70	1:10:02
48	5	Jim Woodburne	Traverse City MI	70	1:10:58
77	6	John Caldwell	Ann Arbor MI	75	1:51:32
Overall Women	Age Group	Name	Town State	Age	Time
30 - 39
8	1	Hilary Witbrodt	Auburn MI	30	1:15:24
18	2	Erika Vanengen	Mattawan MI	32	1:37
20	3	Renee Bancroft	Mount Pleasant MI	30	1:44
40 - 49
1	1	Amy Powell	Lake Ann MI	42	1:02:43
3	2	Ann Wagar	Gaylord MI	45	1:06:30
4	3	Susan Vigland	Traverse City MI	42	1:06:40
5	4	Amy Todd	Grand Rapids MI	41	1:07:18
7	5	Tracy Goble	Harbor Springs MI	48	1:14:30
9	6	Karen Kirt	Lake Leelanau MI	43	1:16:16
11	7	Dagmar Merkova	Laurel MD	40	1:16:37
14	8	Laurie Padden	Traverse City MI	46	1:21:16
19	9	Gwenn Stevenson	Oxford MI	44	1:40:17
50 - 59
2	1	Tracy Hardin	Cheboygan MI	54	1:04:53
12	2	Linda Weeks	Lansing MI	57	1:16:47
13	3	Brenda Carlson	Grayling MI	50	1:17:32
16	4	Carole Mueller-Brumbaug	Grayling MI	56	1:25:09
17	5	Linda Allen	Grosse Pointe MI	58	1:30:49
21	6	Kim Steffes	Traverse City MI	55	1:45:27
24	7	Barb Slovisky	East Lansing MI	55	1:51:18
25	8	Christine Fowler	Mount Pleasant MI	59	1:52:10
60 - 69
6	1	Gussie Peterson	Traverse City MI	61	1:13:44
10	2	Lorraine Lund	Harbor Springs MI	62	1:16:31
15	3	Vickie Putnam	Gaylord MI	62	1:21:17
23	4	Carole Merwin		64	1:48:33
26	5	Amy Wilks	Mancelona MI	63	1:52:37
28	6	Cheryl Timm	Bay City MI	61	1:55:42
29	7	Donna Sagady	Bellaire MI	61	2:02:05
70 - 79
22	1	Jean Murray	Mt Pleasant MI	73	1:48:02
27	2	Beth Caldwell	Ann Arbor MI	73	1:54:08

 

6k Classic

Overall Men	Age Group	Name	Town State	Age	Time
1-14
2	1	Ian Durand	Interlochen MI	12	26:01
3	2	Sean Brownell		14	26:01
5	3	Mark Smith	Petoskey MI	14	27:19
8	4	Connor Hansen	Williamsburg MI	14	28:54
9	5	Ryan Clulo		14	29:16
10	6	Reid Goble	Harbor Springs MI	11	30:11
12	7	Jacob Myers	Traverse City MI	14	36:13
15	8	Michael Klettner	Traverse City MI	13	37:24
15-19
1	1	Josh Lance	Traverse City MI	17	23:22
4	2	Stefan Pfeiffer	Traverse City MI	17	27:01
6	3	Mike Siciliano	Traverse City MI	15	27:46
7	4	Freddie Liederbach	Petoskey MI	18	28:24
13	5	Levi Gourdie	Traverse City MI	18	36:31
14	6	Peter Jacobson	Traverse City MI	15	37:20
40-49
11	1	Chuck Klettner	Traverse City MI	44	34:15
16	2	Robert Garrow	Rapid City MI	40	37:52
70-79
17	1	Marvin Stevenson	Rochester Hills MI	76	54:50
Overall Women	Age Group	Name	Town State	Age	Time
1-14
2	1	Sarah Goble	Harbor Springs MI	13	31:29
3	2	Heidi Schwab	Williamsburg MI	12	31:48
5	3	Emma Schwab	Williamsburg MI	9	39:19
15-19
1	1	Lauren Pflughoeft	Traverse City MI	15	29:03
4	2	Stasha Yancho		17	37:36
6	3	Katie Cooney	Traverse City MI	15	39:49
30-39
10	1	Dulce Kiessel	Traverse City MI	32	54:18
40-49
8	1	Wendy Icard	Williamsburg MI	46	51:44
9	2	Rhonda Richards	Traverse City MI	43	54:12
50-59
7	1	John Kostrzewa	Traverse City MI	57	49:50