January Jaunt, The Real Story
All, right, the NewsMinus, tried. I really do appreciate that they print the results and do a write up for almost any race here, but their typical boilerplate can be pretty weak.
Meanwhile, the ski club has been doing a nice job this year, but it looks like they might be too busy to write something more than the few sentences that they have.
Here's the Newsminer's print-up:
Pitney, Coleman outdistance ski foes
Staff Report
Published January 21, 2008
West Valley High School senior Crystal Pitney and University of Alaska Fairbanks student William Coleman led the way in Sunday’s Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Series Nordic ski race Sunday at the Birch Hill Recreation Area.
Coleman topped a field of 39 men in the 20-kilometer classic technique January Jaunt, finishing almost 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. He posted a winning time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 36 seconds.
Mike Kramer and David Arvey waged a battle for second place with Kramer earning the runner-up spot in 1:11:34.8, while Arvey finished in 1:11:51.0. On Saturday, Arvey edged Kramer by .1 seconds in a 10K interval start race that was part of the Flint Hills Town Race Series at Birch Hill.
Rounding out the top five finishers in the men’s class on Sunday were Roger Sayre in 1:12:09.9 and Kent Slaughter in 1:17:24.9.
Pitney ran away from the field in the women’s 20K event, posting a winning time of 1:22:57.3 that would have placed her 12th overall.
Christine Matson took second in 1:29:19.9, Erica Blake (1:32:21.6), Brandy Berkbigler (1:35:06.4) and Tina Devine (1:38:57.1).
Bruce Miller won the men’s 10K race in 37:14.2 and Karin Gillis was the women’s winner in 39:06.1.
And here is what the ski club had, followed by the results list:
Will Coleman and Crystal Pitney asserted their youth in winning the men's and women's 20Km distance respectively in the 10th Annual Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Race Series Race #2, the January Jaunt, presented by Raven Cross Country.
Story posted later - I hope.
Here's my byline
Temperatures crept into the uncharacteristic above-freezing zone on Sunday, allowing 59 skiers to bask in the warmth and perfect snow for the annual January Jaunt 10 and 20k classic technique races on Sunday at Birch Hill. The tracks were firm, in spite of the 10 inches of fresh snow that fell earlier in the week.
Will Coleman, a sophomore at UAF, had a breakthrough race to easily win the 20k in 1:09:36. Coleman and local endurance athlete Mike Kramer established an early lead on the challenging course that winds through world class Birch Hill trails system. The two completed the first 10k loop in just under 35 minutes, about 30 seconds ahead of yesterday's Town Series winner Dave Arvey.
Coleman, who has trained in the shadows of his international caliber teammates at UAF, and a before that top junior-level skiers Lathrop High School, broke away from Kramer and never looked back to win by 2 minutes with nearly even 10k splits. Arvey, who beat Kramer by 0.1 seconds on Saturday, mounted a serious challenge at 17k, pulling to within 10 seconds of second place. However, Kramer managed to fend off Arvey through the rolling hills of Moilanen's Meadow to and finished in 1:11:35, with Arvey holding onto third in 1:11:51. Master's skier Roger Sayre skied the 2nd fastest second loop of the day (36:00) and completed the course in 1:12:10. Kent Slaughter, another master's skier, skied a to a steady and strong 5th place in 1:17:24.
The women's race was dominated by high school running phenom, Crystal Pitney, who won in 1:22:57, which was 12 overall comfortably ahead of the next woman, masters skier Christine Madsen who raced to a 1:29:19. Junior (under 20) racer Erika Blake took third in 1:32:21, and she was followed by former UAF racer Brandy Berkbigler in 1:35:07 and masters skier Tina Devine in 1:38:57.
Former UAF All Americans and Olympic Trials Qualifiers Bruce Miller (37:14) and Karin Gillis, both masters skiers, easily won their respective divisions in the 10k.
Meanwhile, the ski club has been doing a nice job this year, but it looks like they might be too busy to write something more than the few sentences that they have.
Here's the Newsminer's print-up:
Pitney, Coleman outdistance ski foes
Staff Report
Published January 21, 2008
West Valley High School senior Crystal Pitney and University of Alaska Fairbanks student William Coleman led the way in Sunday’s Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Series Nordic ski race Sunday at the Birch Hill Recreation Area.
Coleman topped a field of 39 men in the 20-kilometer classic technique January Jaunt, finishing almost 2 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor. He posted a winning time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 36 seconds.
Mike Kramer and David Arvey waged a battle for second place with Kramer earning the runner-up spot in 1:11:34.8, while Arvey finished in 1:11:51.0. On Saturday, Arvey edged Kramer by .1 seconds in a 10K interval start race that was part of the Flint Hills Town Race Series at Birch Hill.
Rounding out the top five finishers in the men’s class on Sunday were Roger Sayre in 1:12:09.9 and Kent Slaughter in 1:17:24.9.
Pitney ran away from the field in the women’s 20K event, posting a winning time of 1:22:57.3 that would have placed her 12th overall.
Christine Matson took second in 1:29:19.9, Erica Blake (1:32:21.6), Brandy Berkbigler (1:35:06.4) and Tina Devine (1:38:57.1).
Bruce Miller won the men’s 10K race in 37:14.2 and Karin Gillis was the women’s winner in 39:06.1.
And here is what the ski club had, followed by the results list:
Will Coleman and Crystal Pitney asserted their youth in winning the men's and women's 20Km distance respectively in the 10th Annual Chest Medicine Fairbanks Distance Race Series Race #2, the January Jaunt, presented by Raven Cross Country.
Story posted later - I hope.
Here's my byline
Temperatures crept into the uncharacteristic above-freezing zone on Sunday, allowing 59 skiers to bask in the warmth and perfect snow for the annual January Jaunt 10 and 20k classic technique races on Sunday at Birch Hill. The tracks were firm, in spite of the 10 inches of fresh snow that fell earlier in the week.
Will Coleman, a sophomore at UAF, had a breakthrough race to easily win the 20k in 1:09:36. Coleman and local endurance athlete Mike Kramer established an early lead on the challenging course that winds through world class Birch Hill trails system. The two completed the first 10k loop in just under 35 minutes, about 30 seconds ahead of yesterday's Town Series winner Dave Arvey.
Coleman, who has trained in the shadows of his international caliber teammates at UAF, and a before that top junior-level skiers Lathrop High School, broke away from Kramer and never looked back to win by 2 minutes with nearly even 10k splits. Arvey, who beat Kramer by 0.1 seconds on Saturday, mounted a serious challenge at 17k, pulling to within 10 seconds of second place. However, Kramer managed to fend off Arvey through the rolling hills of Moilanen's Meadow to and finished in 1:11:35, with Arvey holding onto third in 1:11:51. Master's skier Roger Sayre skied the 2nd fastest second loop of the day (36:00) and completed the course in 1:12:10. Kent Slaughter, another master's skier, skied a to a steady and strong 5th place in 1:17:24.
The women's race was dominated by high school running phenom, Crystal Pitney, who won in 1:22:57, which was 12 overall comfortably ahead of the next woman, masters skier Christine Madsen who raced to a 1:29:19. Junior (under 20) racer Erika Blake took third in 1:32:21, and she was followed by former UAF racer Brandy Berkbigler in 1:35:07 and masters skier Tina Devine in 1:38:57.
Former UAF All Americans and Olympic Trials Qualifiers Bruce Miller (37:14) and Karin Gillis, both masters skiers, easily won their respective divisions in the 10k.
posted by Roger at
12:34 PM
2 Comments:
Yours is a nice write-up, Roger. Between the N-M version and yours, it comes down to an editor deciding what most rank-and-file readers might want to know (probably just who was first, second, etc.). For people who care about skiing, however, yours is far superior. Since skiers are likely the majority of people who will read that story, however, my suggestion is that the N-M hire/contract a ski writer to cover the local Nordic scene, which is obviously very active. That way, the N-M would have a more expert/experienced voice conveying skiing news; as opposed to a random editor or writer who may, or may not, know a thing about skiing. It'd give the paper more credence to have a regular ski writer, as opposed to someone just trying to push copy out the door on tight deadline.
Grambo
We have been spoiled for years, and there seems to be a change lately. They
usually cover every race--sometimes it's better than others, but there's
always been an article. Alas the past few weeks, they've had results with no
article, or a very brief forumalatic article without results for everyone.
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