Elm Creek Series Results

Conditions: Air temp. 28F; very little wind; man-made snow mixed with some natural snow fell a week ago; great racing condition.

Race course: 5K for skate and classic races (Valley Trail, Thicket Trail and Northern Light Trail). The skating lanes are groomed and packed solid with some loose snow on top; classic tracks are set very nicely with a few washed-away spots in the Thicket and Northern Light trails (by skiers) on the entire 5K distance.

Race distance: 5K skate; 5K classic, mass start.

Commentary: 24 skiers raced tonight’s 5K skate race, while 7 raced the 5K classic race (6 of 7 skiers also classic raced back to back after the skate race). Anders Bowman dominated tonight’s skate and classic races. In the skate race, Anders Bowman pulled away from the rest of the field and crossed the finish line in a large margin, while the run-up Thomas Kendrick and the rest of the first chase group (Per Lundmark, Craig Stolen, Joel LaFrance, and Ethan Everson) set the eyes for the 2nd and 3rd place finish. Everyone raced very hard knowing warm weather and rain is in the forecast. Hope the warm weather goes away and rain turns into snow just in time for the core racing season. Also, it was great to have more female racers at tonight’s races. Eleanor Magnuson is no stranger to the skiing community in the Twin Cities after she completed her 4-year college degree (time flies) and started her job in the Twin Cities. Jill Troutner (the New Yorker/returnee) definitely knows why she decided to move back to MN (she loves the wintery MN and xc skiing!!!). Andrea Potyondy-Smith came back from her serious endurance training week. Great efforts tonight!!! In the classic race, it was again between Anders Bowman and Thomas Kendrick in a much closer time margin. Also, Osseo’s Kevin Curwick held off Adam Johnson’s final charge and took the third place. Back to back, Andrea Potyondy-Smith raced the classic race and collected the win in the women’s field.

Freestyle(F)/Classic(C) 
Anders Bowman                   11:36 (F)/13:50 (C) – male winner of both skate and classic races
Thomas Kendrick                 11:49 (F)/13:52 (C)
Per Lundmark                    11:59 (F)
Craig Stolen                    12:05 (F)
Joel LaFrance                   12:09 (F)
Ethan Evenson                   12:15 (F)
Clayton Keim                    12:32 (F)
Erik Hendrickson                12:33 (F)
Paul Ellis                      12:36 (F)
Adam Johnson                    13:04 (F)/15:07 (C)
Paul Olson                      13:08 (F)
Kory Freeberg                   13:11 (F)/15:56 (C)
Eleanor Magnuson                13:27 (F) – female winner of the skate race
Mike Fleming                    14:02 (F)
Christi Nowak                   14:05 (F)
Blaze Fugina                    14:06 (F)
Jesse Longley                   14:08 (F)
Bill Hamilton                   15:17 (F)
Tim Hieb                        15:37 (F)
Jill Troutner                   15:54 (F)
Joel Benton                     15:59 (F)
Andrea Potyondy-Smith           16:07 (F)/23:12 (C) - female winner of the classic race
Ralph Bovard                    16:10 (F) – late start)
Christopher Smith               16:54 (F)
Kevin Curwick                            /15:05 (C)

--Amy Xu (Results/Timer), Melinda Silbernick (Race Director)