Elm Creek Series Results

Conditions: Air temp. 38F; windy; man-made snow; great racing condition!!!

After the solid fall training and high altitude racing at WYS, Ben Saxton was at his top shape and took the skate and classic races’ winnings of tonight’s Elm Creek Time Trial Series Opener. In the skate race, a group of four (Ben Saxton, Zach Goldberg, Jake Brown, and Ryan Atwell) broke from the pack right after the shot gun mass start, and Ben hammered the last ½ K and crossed the finish line in a good margin. All the other racers also put out their best effort and set the tone for the rest of the season. In the classic race (right after the skate race), the same group of four took off from the start. This time, Ben had an extra gear, took an early lead, and widened the lead margin when he crossed the finish line. The rest of the gang worked their best effort and made a fun chase on Ben. Andrea took the both winnings for the women’s skate race and classic race. Congratulations. Tim Hieb who made it to all the races last year had a great start of the season.

Race course: 4 laps of 1.2K (shortened Valley Trail loop). The race course was nicely groomed for both skate lanes and classic tracks. Elm Creek Park Reserve did a great job to make as much snow as possible, and as quickly as possible. Thanks to our Park staff for making this happen for the skiers.

Race distance: 4.8K, both classic and freestyle, mass start.

Freestyle(F)/Classic(C) 
Ben Saxton                   12:09 (F)/13:45 (C) – male winner of the skate race and the classic race
Zach Goldberg                12:12 (F)/14:08 (C)
Jake Brown                   12:16 (F)/14:19 (C)
Ryan Atwell                  13:11 (F)/15:20 (C)
Wyatt Behrends               13:25 (F)
Joel Lafrance                13:26 (F)
Laszlo Alberti               13:34 (F)
Jesse Lang                   13:59 (F)
Adam Johnson                 14:16 (F)
Tom Camp                     14:38 (F)
Tim Hieb                     16:54 (F)
Andrea Potyondy-Smith        18:22 (F)/26:54 (C) – female winner of the skate race and the classic race
Jack Christensen             19:41 (F)
Clara Johnson                20:47 (F) – her 2nd race of her life!!! (congratulations, Clara)

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