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Show Sooshiime, noirdic pace bring out the best by Nan Chalat Nordic races used to be like small town meetings. Everyone knew everybody and pretty much the same group would turn up week after week. But the nordic scene is changing. More and more athletes are realizing that track skiing is excellent training for a variety of sports from cycling to running: run-ning: Last weekend 74 people including some of Utah's top athletes registered for the Wasatch Citizens Series race in Midway, i The seven-and-a-half kilometer kilo-meter track wound around the Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course over fairly moderate rolling terrain and then crossed the Snake Creek I road for a short climb and a I short but challenging des-f des-f cent. The sun was out and the track was hard but not icy. Most of the racers used a universal klister wax. Not surprisingly, the men's expert division was dominated by several Norwegian Nor-wegian members of the University of Utah nordic team. John Aalberg finished three laps (22.5 kilometers) around the course in 71 minutes and 59 seconds. Dag Mobakken was second with a time of 75.26 and Per Kaarby was third with a time of 75.48. Eivind Sordie was fourth and one of the country's top biathlon racers, Rusty Scott, was fifth. Among the local conten- ders, Wally Chambers was g the leader with a time of g 82.42. Jim Miller was right I behind Chambers with 82.56. Ken McCarthy was next in 7 " -:- f -f--":-tV - - V7 '. A - v i v '7 J: S ... ... . ... ., .,,:!;,.,(,:,.. ' jri ' VA David Hanscom (61) closed in on Jeff Stuart (33) at last Saturday's nordic race in Midway and went on to win his division. ranking with a time of 84.10. Norwegian teammate Tone Jahren topped the expert women, who also raced three laps. Jahren's time of 89.13 beat her nearest competitor, Mary Dern, by 16 minutes. Bette Wise Steffen, Utah's top woman cyclist, was third with a time of 107.19. Ellen Gibson placed fourth and Laura Howatt was fifth. The novice men and women and the veteran women each ran one lap around an abbreviated five-kilometer five-kilometer version of the track. Jane Southey had the fastest women's novice time (25.20) and Tom Hamilton won the men's novice division divi-sion with a time of 24.08. In the women's veteran division, divi-sion, Lee Straley easily topped her only competitor, Louise Hollander. Straley's time was 23.16 and Hol lander's was 48.41. The youngest entrants, 13 years old and under, also ran the shorter five kilometer loop. Greg Hanscom won the boy's division with a time of 32.14 and Cori Groth, the only girl in her class, finished in 30.09 minutes. In the boys 14-18-year-old class, Travis Tenney was the only entrant and he completed complet-ed eight kilometers in 46.33. Among the 19-29-year-old men, Jim Booker took first place. He skied two laps around the full course (15 kilometers) in 58.22. Jeff Stuart was second with a time of 59.28 and Gary Wallin (66.41) was third. Hanne Mette Eriksen won first place in the 19-29-year-old women's division. Local racer Kathy McCarthy finished finish-ed the two laps in 57.25 for second place. Marie Schwartz (61.56) was third and Jeri Nolting (63.53) was fourth. Parkite David Hanscom won first place in the men's 30-45-year-old division narrowly nar-rowly defeating fellow local Christoph Schork. Hanscom' Hans-com' s time for 15 kilometers was 56.13 and Schork's was 59.32. Noel Olsen (56.42) finished third and Jock Glidden (57.50) was fourth. Another Parkite, Richard Groth, helped to sew up the top standings with a time of 58.56 for fifth place. In the corresponding women's wom-en's class, Karen Korfanta ran 13 kilometers in 59.15 minutes for first place and Rebecca Felton (62.15) was second. Six minutes back was Marsha Groth who finished in 68.05 for third place. The veteran men also ran 13 kilometers. Jim Straley continued the family's winning win-ning streak with a 52.55 finish for first place. Ted Sundquist (64.18) was second, sec-ond, Frank Bird (71.16) was third and Bob Woody (73.59) was fourth. There is only one more flat-track race in the Wasatch Citizen's series. It will be held March 3 at the Brighton Touring Center. |