Hanson Hills Classic Gets the Snow
Sun, Jan 11, 2004
Snow conditions turned unexpectedly for the better at the season's first classic Michigan Cup cross country ski race at Hanson Hills Recreation Area near Grayling on Sunday, January 10. As of noon the day before, it appeared that, at best, only a shallow track could be set for the race. Several inches of snow over night and expert grooming by Dick Fultz of the Cross Country Ski Shop turned things around and racers were treated to a nice set of tracks over the vast majority of the course. The entire course was double tracked and in wider areas, a packed area to the left of the tracks was set for herringboning.
The previous day's weather reports had suggested the temperature at the start of the race would be in the low to mid-20s and most racers waxed accordingly. The temperature turned out to be much higher - closer to 30 - and racers spent much of the pre-race warm-up period trying to figure out the right kick wax for the hilly course. Toko Carbon Yellow worked great, as did Swix VR60. It was apparent, however, that many if not most people missed the wax - the uphills were a mass of herringbone marks, nearly wiping out all the tracks. Racers with good technique and the right wax were still able to successfully diagonal stride most hills.
Forty-three men, 9 women, and 6 juniors participated in the race. The juniors raced 6km, and Cassidy Edwards, Glen Arbor, was the overall winner in 21:02. Miles Kaufman, Traverse City, was second overall in 27:07.
Dennis Paull, Cheboygan, won the adult's 12km race in 38:11, with Andy Triebold, Spring Arbor in second in 39:16.
Rachel Knott narrowly beat Team NordicSkiRacer.com new-comer Julie Houle by only 2 seconds in the women's 12k m race. This was Julie's second-ever cross country ski race, and the first one she did was 10 years ago. Says Julie, "Everybody said that Rachel winning was a foregone conclusion, so I decided to see how long I could hang on. At the end of the first lap, I was right on her tail. Toward the end of the second lap, she started gaining on me on the last five meters of every uphill, and I just couldn't reel her in on the last downhill and flat. I don't think I've ever worked that hard! This was really fun!"
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| Bib # | Name | Sex | Age Group |
Time | Overall by sex |
Age Group Place |
Overall |
|
Junior 6 km Classic Race | |||||||
| 16 | cassidy edwards | f | 17-19 | 0:21:02 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18 | miles caufmann | m | 14-16 | 0:27:07 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | catrina gulledge | f | 14-16 | 0:30:58 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | rebecca barton | f | 14-16 | 0:31:07 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 17 | john pulcipher | m | 14-16 | 0:33:17 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 12 | zach laprad | m | 13 | 0:45:07 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| Bib # | Name | Sex | Age Group | Time | Overall by sex |
Age Place |
Overall (Men & Women) |
| Women's 12 km Classic Race | |||||||
| 147 | rachel knott | f | 18-25 | 0:51:59 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
| 148 | julia houle | f | 31-35 | 0:52:01 | 2 | 1 | 24 |
| 144 | roxanne barton | f | 46-50 | 0:56:31 | 3 | 1 | 31 |
| 152 | sarah cockrell | f | 51-55 | 0:57:27 | 4 | 1 | 32 |
| 146 | amy todd | f | 31-35 | 1:00:31 | 5 | 2 | 35 |
| 145 | gussie peterson | f | 51-55 | 1:02:06 | 6 | 2 | 39 |
| 149 | carole mueller-brumbaugh | f | 46-50 | 1:02:44 | 7 | 2 | 42 |
| 151 | gini breidenbach | f | 31-35 | 1:09:57 | 8 | 3 | 47 |
| 150 | beth caldwell | f | 61-up | 1:35:33 | 9 | 1 | 52 |
| Men's 12 km Classic Race | |||||||
| 521 | dennis paull | m | 36-40 | 0:38:11 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 489 | andrew triebold | m | 26-30 | 0:39:16 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 492 | greg worsnop | m | 46-50 | 0:40:34 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| 501 | randall blandel | m | 46-50 | 0:41:58 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 506 | bill brunday | m | 51-55 | 0:41:59 | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| 488 | tim triebold | m | 46-50 | 0:42:25 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 498 | chris weingartz | m | 46-50 | 0:43:02 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| 507 | mike muha | m | 46-50 | 0:43:28 | 8 | 5 | 8 |
| 511 | don camp | m | 51-55 | 0:43:38 | 9 | 2 | 9 |
| 493 | curt peterson | m | 51-55 | 0:44:07 | 10 | 3 | 10 |
| 496 | jamie green | m | 41-45 | 0:44:57 | 11 | 1 | 11 |
| 502 | jeff laprad | m | 41-45 | 0:46:30 | 12 | 2 | 12 |
| 508 | william kaltz | m | 56-60 | 0:47:29 | 13 | 1 | 13 |
| 487 | steve smigiel | m | 56-60 | 0:47:50 | 14 | 2 | 14 |
| 495 | dell todd | m | 36-40 | 0:48:01 | 15 | 2 | 15 |
| 525 | bike'n bob smith | m | 26-30 | 0:48:22 | 16 | 2 | 16 |
| 516 | mike seaman | m | 36-40 | 0:48:23 | 17 | 3 | 17 |
| 528 | dick fultz | m | 51-55 | 0:48:31 | 18 | 4 | 18 |
| 509 | ed clary | m | 61-up | 0:50:29 | 19 | 1 | 19 |
| 505 | lloyd anderson | m | 56-60 | 0:50:34 | 20 | 3 | 20 |
| 526 | robert fairman | m | 46-50 | 0:50:37 | 21 | 6 | 21 |
| 491 | mark madorski | m | 46-50 | 0:50:51 | 22 | 7 | 22 |
| 529 | tom baron | m | 46-50 | 0:52:10 | 23 | 8 | 25 |
| 497 | bob eifler | m | 41-45 | 0:52:22 | 24 | 3 | 26 |
| 486 | bob west | m | 51-55 | 0:52:31 | 25 | 5 | 27 |
| 503 | ernie brumbaugh | m | 56-60 | 0:53:20 | 26 | 4 | 28 |
| 500 | peter johnson | m | 56-60 | 0:53:38 | 27 | 5 | 29 |
| 517 | douglas cale | m | 56-60 | 0:53:42 | 28 | 6 | 30 |
| 494 | anthony kooney | m | 41-45 | 0:57:38 | 29 | 4 | 33 |
| 504 | spencer ruffner | m | 51-55 | 0:58:23 | 30 | 6 | 34 |
| 510 | jeff manss | m | 26-30 | 1:00:35 | 31 | 3 | 36 |
| 499 | george gambert | m | 51-55 | 1:00:35 | 32 | 7 | 37 |
| 513 | rick neier | m | 46-50 | 1:01:11 | 33 | 10 | 38 |
| 524 | greg worrel | m | 46-50 | 1:02:16 | 34 | 11 | 40 |
| 530 | max johnson | m | 56-60 | 1:02:32 | 35 | 7 | 41 |
| 512 | john caldwell | m | 61-up | 1:06:40 | 36 | 2 | 43 |
| 514 | ray drysdale | m | 61-up | 1:07:23 | 37 | 3 | 44 |
| 520 | tom kuhn | m | 41-45 | 1:08:55 | 38 | 5 | 45 |
| 490 | john sturtevant | m | 61-up | 1:09:28 | 39 | 4 | 46 |
| 522 | kurt dingman | m | 41-45 | 1:20:23 | 40 | 6 | 48 |
| 523 | dan sutherland | m | 46-50 | 1:22:55 | 41 | 12 | 49 |
| 519 | marvin stevenson | m | 61-up | 1:25:25 | 42 | 5 | 50 |
| 527 | ned rambo | m | 61-up | 1:32:07 | 43 | 6 | 51 |