Pritchard & Houle Win Crystal Highlander 18K Classic

Michigan Cup

Sun, Feb  19, 2006 - By Mike Muha

It was a small field, but the Crystal Highlander was held on some of the nicest snow of the year! The 18K course was divided into three main sections: a flat 5K or so, some serious ups and downs as skiers climbed to the top of Crystal Mountain, then another 5K or so of flat back to the finish. Many skiers were feeling their arms by the end from all the doublepoling.

Although it was also one of the colder races this year, the lower than normal humidity made it feel warmer. The race was held under mainly cloudy skis. The sun peaked out once then was gone. (Of course, once the race was over, the sun came out in full force).

The Team NordicSkiRacer.com dynamic duo of Hugh Pritchard and Julie Houle won the men's and women's 18K classic race. After skiing with Christian Byar (Grand Rapids Nordic) through the first part of the race, Hugh took the lead and steadily added to his advantage. His winning time was 1:01:05, 2:27 ahead of second place Byar's time of 1:03:31. Bill Brundage (Cross Country Ski Shop)was only a little behind Christian, with a time of 1:03:53.

Julie Houle won with a time of  1:12:16, besting Daniela Gebhart (Straits Striders) by 30 seconds. Daniela's teammate Tracy Hardin followed in 1:13:53.

The tracks were firm but the snow outside the track was soft. The softness made downhills much easier to negotiate for many people.

In a change from previous years, the awards ceremony was held at the Laughing Horse Saloon in Thompsonville rather than at Crystal Mountain. Every race participant won a door prize - some more than one!

Thanks to Roger Putman and team from Crystal Mountain for putting on an excellent race.