Hood River News

After a mad dash at the starting line, racers thinned out across the course in what would prove to be a fast and glorious day of racing at Mt. Hood Meadows.

The race last Saturday was the third in MHM’s annual Nordic Series, held on the groomed trail network at the resort’s lower Hood River Meadows area. With sunny skies and spring-like conditions, the event was a Pursuit format, in which competitors start with skate-style racing and switch skis and boots at the halfway point and finish in the Classic style.

For the high school and middle school divisions, the race was 10K and came down to a one-two finish between Hood River Valley High School Nordic teammates Mason McDowell and Petra Knapp, both of whom posted sub-30 minute times. Jesse Wiley won the middle school division with an impressive time a minute behind Knapp’s 29:41 finish.

In the 20K adult race, men’s 30-39 division winner Sam Cordell posted a 40:41 time to take the overall win in dominating fashion. The second-fastest 20K time came from HRVHS 10th-grader and team racer Sam Wiley, who came in at 44:33 and is racing this weekend at the Junior National qualifier in Bend for a chance to chase national accolades later this spring.

The course was a challenging mix of flat terrain, sharp corners and steep up and downhill stretches that tested both athleticism and endurance. With sunshine and T-shirt temperatures, racers enjoyed a good dose of vitamin D before heading back down the mountain and into the gloom.

The fourth and final race of the season is a 20K skate race on Feb. 23. HRVHS racers will be on course this weekend at Teacup Lake for their next OHNSO race of the season against close to 200 high school skiers from around the state.

Race highlights

Combined 5K skate and 5K classic

High school class:

Mason McDowell, 1st

Petra Knapp, 2nd

Delia Dolan, 3rd

Miranda Starr, 4th

Junior class:

Jesse Wiley, 1st

Valerie Fischer, 2nd

Elkin Parker, 3rd

Joey Slover, 4th

Dylan Chambers, 5th

Combined 10K skate and 10K classic

29 and under class:

Sam Wiley, 1st

Carina Hamel, 2nd

Benjamin Pratt, 3rd

Daniel Fischer, 4th

Robert Heinz, 5th

30-39 class:

Sam Cordell, 1st

Noel Johnson, 2nd

Mark Thomas, 3rd

James Bradley, 4th

Kelly Ryan, 5th

40-49 class:

Paul Blackburn , 1st

Kathleen Welland, 2nd

Greg Gohman, 3rd

David Novak, 4th

50-59 class:

Peter Miksousky, 1st

Johnathan Walpole, 2nd

Greg Talbert, 3rd

Bob Williams, 4th

Jeff Knapp, 5th

60-69 class:

Mike Ivie , 1st

Tom Usher, 2nd

Stephen Schneider, 3rd

Oriol Sole-Costa, 4th