Elm Creek Series Results
Conditions: Air temp. 28F; very little wind; mostly man-made snow; great racing condition!
Race course: 2 laps of 2.5K for skate; 3 laps of 2K for classic, Valley Trail Loop. The race course was nicely groomed for both skate lanes and classic tracks with great depth of snow coverage. Race distance: 5K skate; 6K classic, mass start.
Commentary: Tonight’s races were blessed with nice warm weather and beautifully man-made snow and groomed man-made trails. As the Xmas holiday is less than a week away, every racer (including the 6 year old Siri Stolen) wanted to go for more distances!!! Race director finally called the races as being a 2 lap of 2.5k Valley Loop (5k skate race) and 3 laps of tracked 2k Valley Loop (6k classic race). Coach Jorgenson brought his St. Olaf xc ski squad and charged to the front of the pack during the second lap and took the crown in the 5k skate race. A pack of 18 racers hammered from the start, and 9 did not separate much until the last lap and the last donut hill climb. Craig’s 6th year old Siri Stolen had an unbelievable double pol start with everyone else and hung on her confident pace and had a very impressive finish. In the classic race, some sections of the tracks were slower due to the constantly added man-made snow blown onto the skate deck and tracks. The classic race was a total battle between Will Olstad and Karl Holmb. Karl kicked in another gear in the 3rd lap and just edged Will at the final stretch crossing the finish line. Will skied very impressive as the run-up finisher in both races. Congratulations to all of your great efforts. Merry Christmas and happy holidays.
Freestyle(F)/Classic(C) Tom Jorgenson 11:53 (F) – male winner of the skate race Will Olstad 11:56 (F)/17:22 (C) Adam Johnson 12:00 (F) Craig Stolen 12:01 (F) Clayton Keim 12:01 (F) Kai Olstad 12:02 (F)/19:36 (C) John Hopkins 12:10 (F) Paul Ellis 12:11 (F) Cole Hendrickson 12:44 (F)/18:45 (C) Karl Holmb 12:52 (F)/17:21 (C) – male winner of the classic race Paul Schoening 12:58 (F) Miles Broske 12:59 (F)/20:00 (C) Emma Lee 13:44 (F)/20:56 (C) – female winner of both stake and classic races Christi Nowak 13:52 (F) Tim Hieb 15:18 (F) Andrea Potyondy-Smith 16:08 (F)/26:43 (C) Adam Cich 16:56 (F) Siri Stolen 17:38 (F) (finish without the Donut Hill) Ralph Bovard /23:17 (C)--Amy Xu (Timer/Results), Melinda Silbernick (Race Director)