March 10, 2008
Alaska Girls Take Two of Three Sprint Titles
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Warming up for the sprints. |
By Dean Woodbeck
The girls of Team Alaska came up big on the first day of the 2008 Junior Olympics, taking two of the three sprint titles up for grabs. Amy Glen from Anchorage won the J1 title over the 1.3k sprint course, while Alaska Pacific University’s Becca Rorabaugh, also from Anchorage, won the OJ title. New England’s Kristin Halvorsen took the title in the girl’s J2 category.
The Junior Olympics divides competitors into age categories that span two years. OJs are 18 and 19, J1s are 16 and 17, and J2s are 14 and 15.
Warm temperatures and recent rain made the large stadium at Kincaid Park unusable and organizers moved both the start and finish lines for the first day of competition.
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The Kincaid Stadium rendered unplayable by the weather. |
Skiers in the morning qualifiers reported that the klister was working well, although the tracks were icy for the classic event. Anchorage saw 40 degrees and sunshine during the afternoon, which softened things up for the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
On the boy’s side, Alaskans dominated the J1 category, placing four skiers among the six in the finals. However, Minnesota’s state high school champ Joe Dubay took home the title for the Midwest Division. Steve Mangan from Mid-Atlantic won the J2 division, while Alex Howe, skiing for New England, was the top OJ sprinter.
Anchorage has been plagued by the “Pineapple Express,” a local term for weather fronts that shoot up the Pacific from the direction of Hawaii. Theses weather systems brought rain for several days.
While the rain stopped over the weekend, course planners and groomers continue to battle unseasonably warm weather. Sunday’s high was 44 and thermometers in downtown Anchorage read 40 degrees today.
Pooling water in the stadium has turned to ice and forced organizers to change the sprint course and move both the start and finish lines and abandon the stadium for today’s races. The start line was out of sight for spectators and accessible only to coaches and races. The finish was on the very outskirts of the stadium.
While highs are expected to reach the mid-30s over the next two days, nighttime temperatures will drop below freezing. Groomers hope the lower temperatures will allow them to use the park’s new Pisten Bully to transform icy trails into transformed snow.
Skiers have a training day on Tuesday and return to competition on Wednesday with the classic event. OJ and J1 boys will ski 15km, OJ and J1 girls go 10km and all J2s will ski 5km.
For schedules and information about the 2008 JOs, go to http://www.anchoragenordicski.com/jo2008.
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