Michael Earnhart continued his stellar season by collecting plenty of hardware at the U.S. Junior National Cross Country Ski Championships.

Earnhart, the 2021 Alaska prep Skimeister from Chugiak High School, added three gold medals to his season haul at the recently concluded Junior Nationals in Minneapolis. Earnhart, now representing Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center and competing in the Under 20 division, won the 10K individual start freestyle, the classic sprint, and the 15K classic mass start and skied a strong leg for Team Alaska’s silver-medal winning mixed relay.

Earnhart, 19, had considered racing the OPA Cup finals in Italy but opted instead to stay stateside.

“Since it is my last year as a junior, I wanted to enjoy one last trip with my friends chasing a couple more titles,” Earnhart wrote in a blog post.

Alexander Maurer (left) and Michael Earnhart (center) celebrate their 15K podium. Photo by Erik Maurer

Earnhart sported a new look for the races March 7-12 at Theodore Wirth Park.

“Junior nationals typically marks the beginning of spring for skiers and spring season is a great time to have a mullet so part of my race prep was a haircut,” he wrote.

Earnhart traveled to Minnesota directly from Lygna, Norway, where he placed a team-best 10th in the 30K freestyle at the Junior World Championships while also winning bronze in the boys’ relay. He also posted stellar results after upgrading to the senior races at U.S. Nationals in Utah in January.

Anchorage’s Murphy Kimball of Alaska Winter Stars also earned an individual win, taking the U16 sprint after posting the fastest qualifying time and winning his quarterfinal, semifinal and final heats in convincing fashion.

Anchorage’s Alexander Maurer, who represented Alaska Winter Stars and also currently skis for Colorado University, was another big winner from Alaska after pocketing three silver medals.

Earnhart (left) leads the 15K, followed by Peter Hinds (center) and Alexander Maurer (right). Photo by Erik Maurer

Plenty of other Alaskans performed well at Junior Nationals as the team took fourth place in the overall “Alaska Cup” standings. In addition, Service High School, which included 2022 Skimeisters Marit Flora and Aaron Power, won the Roger Weston Award as the top high school at the championships. Last month, the Service boys and girls also won the 2022 state team titles at Birch Hill in Fairbanks.

Individual Start Freestyle
U20 boys: 1)Michael Earnhart; 2)Alexander Maurer
U16 boys: 2)Murphy Kimball
Classic Sprint
U20 boys: 1)Michael Earnhart; 3)Peter Hinds
U16 boys: 1)Murphy Kimball
Classic Mass Start
U20 boys: 1)Michael Earnhart; 2)Alexander Maurer
Mixed Relays:
U18: 3)Alaska (Liam Chisholm/Aaron Power/Abigail Haas/Meredith Schwartz)
U20: 2)Alaska (Michael Earnhart/Alexander Maurer/Marit Flora/Katie Houser)

Murphy Kimball wins the U16 sprint.

UAF and UAA excel at NCAA Championships

The University of Alaska Fairbanks posted its best-ever team results at the NCAA Ski Championships March 9-12 at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.

The Nanooks placed seventh overall, the top result for any school that lacked an alpine team.

The University of Alaska Anchorage, which does field an alpine team, took fifth overall. JC Schoonmaker, a 2022 Olympian, led the way with third place in the 20K freestyle.

Separating out just the Nordic results, UAF was the third-ranked team, behind only national champion Utah and runner-up Vermont, and ahead of traditional Nordic stalwarts like Denver and Colorado.

Led by top-six finishes from Christopher Kalev and Mike Ophoff in the classic races and freshman Joe Davies in the freestyle, the UAF men placed second in the men’s rankings. The women were fifth, paced by Kendall Kramer of Fairbanks’ fourth place and Mariel Pulles’ fifth in the mass start freestyle 15K. Astrid Stav of UAA placed ninth.

Kramer, Pulles and Davies were all in the hunt for podium positions — and earned All-American finishes — in the freestyle mass starts won by 2022 Olympians Sophia Laukli of Utah and Ben Ogden of Vermont.

“We are ecstatic! Everything went just perfect today,” UAF coach Eliska Albrigtsen said in a UAF press release.

Espen Person of UAA also earned All-American status with ninth in the 20K freestyle while Luke Jager of Anchorage (and the University of Utah) placed 14th and Kai Meyers of Anchorage (and Montana State University) was 22nd.

U.S. wins World Cup Relay in Falun

Scott Patterson and Rosie Brennan of Anchorage helped the U.S. win the first-ever World Cup mixed relay on Sunday in Falun, Sweden.

After Brennan skied a strong opening leg 5K leg, Zak Ketterson and Patterson kept the U.S. near the front. Then American star Jessie Diggins secured gold with a lethal finishing kick that put the U.S. 3.8 seconds ahead of Finland, followed by Norway, Sweden and Germany.

“I think our goal today was to stay out of trouble and stay in the pack, and then let Diggy do her thing,” Rosie told FIS after the race. “And that worked out really well.”

Added Patterson via email: “It’s really cool to win the last World Cup and especially awesome to be part of the team. The mixed gender event was extra special as the guys were finally able to tap into the relay energy the women have cultivated over many years,” he said.

A day earlier, Patterson secured the best World Cup result of his career, placing seventh in the 15K interval start freestyle. Brennan also had a good day with 8th in the 10K freestyle.

With the cancellation of the World Cup Finals originally scheduled for Tyumen, Russia, Patterson, Brennan and Rosie Frankowski — all members of the Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center — will contest the Birkebeinerrennet ski marathon in Sjusjoen, Norway, this weekend.

For most North Americans, the competition ski season will end at the Canadian Ski Championships (doubling as the U.S. SuperTour Finals) from March 20-27 in Whistler, British Columbia.

Oosik Classic

The Oosik Classic was shortened due to moose challenges amid deep snow in Talkeetna.

For hundreds of skiers, that didn’t dampen the festival-style atmosphere on Saturday on an 11-kilometer route with multiple loops (typically the course has 25K or even 50K loops).

Shalane Frost of Fairbanks dominated the four-lap women’s 50K in 2 hours, 56 minutes, about 38 minutes ahead of runner-up Tsaina Mahlen.

In the men’s 50K, Forrest Mahlen of Anchorage (2:14:48) edged Derek Deuling by one second and early leader Sigurd Roenning by six seconds.

In the 25K, Ari Endestad (1:17:18) nipped Olympian Gus Schumacher by one second. Anna Engel edged Helen Wilson in the women’s 25K.

Claire Smith and Lance Smith, age 11, won the 10K.

Ski marathon season is now well underway in Alaska, with the Kachemak Bay Nordic Ski Marathon on top this Saturday and the Sonot Kkaazoot in Fairbanks scheduled a week later.

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