XC JOs: Intermtn. girls, Alaska boys score freestyle sweeps

The Intermountain girls and the Alaska boys each scored a sweep in freestyle competition at the 2008 Junior Olympic cross-country ski championships in Anchorage.
The Intermountain girls and the Alaska boys each scored a sweep in freestyle competition at the 2008 Junior Olympic cross-country ski championships in Anchorage.
    Intermountain OJ girls went 1-2-3, led by Mali Noyes, then Ase Calrson and Erika Flowers. While temperatures were below freezing at the start, Noyes said the course was sluggish.
    “I thought it was sort of slow,” she said, “but I tried to focus on skiing where other people had skied it in,” she said about the course conditions.
    Jessie Diggins, the Minnesota state champ, won the J1 category, while New England’s Tara Geraghty-Moats won the J2 race.
    Members of the Anchorage-based Alaska Winter Stars took all three podium spots in the boys J1 race: Max Treinen, Eric Packer and Cole Talbot. Another Winter Star, Scott Patterson, won the J2 race and Noah Hoffman, from the Intermountain team, won the OJ boys contest.
    The freestyle race, originally scheduled for Friday, switched places with the classic race, which is a mass start. Organizers hope the forecast for cooler nights comes true.
    “We pumped water out of the stadium until last night,” said Mike Miller, chief of course. “It got cold enough last night so the tiller could take care of it.”
    Wednesday's race benefited from a little less than 2 inches of snow that fell overnight. The girls had the advantage of going first. By the time the last group started – the J1 and OJ boys, groups that did two laps – the temperature had risen above freezing and conditions had softened considerably.
    Thursday is a training day at the JOs, the mass start classic race is Friday, and the event concludes Saturday with team sprints.