Trollhaugen/Finn Sisu Chili Bowl Equinox XC Ski Race
Saturday, March 22, 2003
Summary by Greg Weier, Finn Sisu
Bright sunshine and some warm temperatures made for a beautiful day of racing. With a season of doing races in a deep freeze, this was a great way to wrap up the year.
This years event consisted of a Pursuit race (5km classic/5km skate) with a single elimination, head to head hill climb in between.
The mass start classic leg saw a great battle with Fred Kueffer and Alex Onysko fighting for the 1st spot and unable to shake the pesky youngster from Central HS, Rody Lageson. At the end of the race, only 26 seconds separated the top three places. For the women, it was Corey Coogan coming in 8th place overall. (Where are all the women racers?)
In the skate pursuit it was again an exciting battle with Kueffer adding to his lead with Onysko and Lageson remaining second and third. Macalester star Jesse Crandall turned in the second fastest skate leg of the day, but was unable to move up from his 4th place position. Local (Osceola, WI) favorites Kevin Rogers and Tom Krenz showed the group that they were there to race. Krenz had some equipment trouble in the classic race then came back to post the 4th fastest skate time, while Rogers skied to a 5th place overall finish.
The Hill Climb race saw a mix of skaters and classic skiers trying to find the right technique to get to the top first. The final heat of three had one skate and two classic skiers going for the win, with Fred Kueffer in first, Rody Lageson second and Kevin Johnson in third.
Special thanks to Rollie Westman and Trollhaugen for giving us a ski season! They are planning additional trails for next year! Also, now is the time to get your season pass for next year before the price goes up. (Guaranteed skiing!) And thanks to Ahvo Taipale and FinnSisu for their support of Nordic skiing.
AND, congratulations to Trollhaugen's Pedro, for securing his employment for next year with a courageous effort in the skate race, and a win over Rollie in the Hill Climb.
See you next season at the Winter Solstice race in December.
Results
Overall Name Classic Pl Skate Pl
Male
1 Fred Kueffer 18:00 1 17:08 1
2 Alexander Onysko 18:16 2 17:35 3
3 Rody Lageson 18:26 3 18:24 5
4 Jesse Crandall 19:41 4 17:34 2
5 Kevin Rogers 19:51 5 18:53 8
6 Kevin Johnson 20:12 6 18:57 7
7 Tom Krenz 22:29 9 17:39 4
8 John Swain 20:44 7 24:10 10
9 Aaron Blazar 23:36 11 18:42 6
10 Greg Mikunda 22:30 10 20:51 9
Pedro 33:37 11
Female
1 Corey Coogan 22:05 8 DNS
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