Nordic skiers perform well in pursuit

Molly Blust came from behind to claim first place in the Oregon High School Nordic Organization Pursuit race at Hoodoo Mountain Resort on Saturday to lead all Outlaw skiers in their first league competition.

In pursuit racing, skiers compete in two separate events, The first race is typically conducted in classic style and the second using the skating technique. It's a bit like the fox and the hounds as the starting order of the second race follows in the order of the finish of the first race, with the finishing time gap between skiers in the first race determining the starting intervals of the second.

The finishing order of the second race determines a skier's overall finish.

Blust finished the three-kilometer classic race eight seconds behind Sarah McKenzie and six seconds behind Bev Schlegel, both of Redmond, but Blust made up the starting interval and battled Schlegel throughout the 4.5-kilometer course, finally taking the lead for good on the final uphill to win in a combined time of 25:59 to Schlegel's 26:07.

"It was a very exciting race in general because girls and boys skied the second race together and with everyone trying to close the gap in front of them and improve their overall finish position, it was wild," said Coach Tom Blust.

Sisters skiers Amity Calvin (30:23), Janelle Hjelmstad (30:57), Courtney Blust (31:00) and Jenna Rheuben (39:20) finished 11th, 14th, 15th and 36th respectively among the 48 girls in the race, which included teams from Summit, Redmond, St. Mary's, Corvallis and Crook County.

Parker Bennett and Wesley Ford came through as the top placers for Sisters in the boys' field, finishing seventh (23:54) and eighth (24:21) behind a slew of Summit racers lead by Tosch Roy who won in 21:23. Alex Yinger (25:55) and Jake Lasken (27:17) were next for the Outlaws, followed by Andy Thomas (28:44), Remington Bruce (30:16) and Mason Calmettes (33:15).

"It was good to see Parker and Wesley really go after the Summit boys and break up Redmond's top skiers," said Blust. "All the kids showed great efforts on a beautiful day for skiing."

Team scores were not posted for the race, but it was clear that Summit placed first for both boys and girls. The team concludes the month with an OHSNO race at the Teacup Nordic Area at Mt. Hood on January 31.