Nordic teams third at Skadi Cup

Molly Blust held off a state champion runner to win the girls division at the Skadi Cup 5 kilometer freestyle race at the Tea Cup Nordic Center near Mt. Hood Saturday, January 31.

Blust defeated runner-up Alyssa O'Connor of Summit, who has won track and cross country titles during her running career at the Bend school. Blust had a 10-second margin.

"Molly expected more of a challenge from Bev Schlegel of Redmond, but it was Alyssa, who hadn't raced yet this year, who we had to worry about the most as it turned out," said coach Tom Blust.

Schlegel ended up third, 21 seconds behind Blust.

"It was a beautiful day for racing and the conditions were very good," said Molly Blust. "Since I started last in the interval start it was a little hard to tell how I was doing compared to the other racers."

Courtney Blust finished second for the Outlaws in 20:28 in 12th place and Amity Calvin completed the scoring for the team in 21:34 to place 16th. Janelle Hjelmstad also finished in the top 20, placing 19th in 22:33.

Summit dominated the team scoring with just 12 points, while Redmond edged Sisters for second 28 to 29.

"The team race was very close, with only 30 seconds separating sixth place from 15th," said Tom Blust.

Other finishers for Sisters were Shennan Chick (25:30) and Jenna Rheuben (27:48).

A total of 64 girls from nine different schools competed in the race.

Parker Bennett couldn't bust into the top trio from Summit, but still had a fine outing, finishing fourth to lead the boys team in 17:06, 1:20 behind champion Mike Widmer of Summit who finished in 15:36.

Alex Yinger placed 14th (19:05) and Andy Thomas 16th (20:05) to help Sisters to a third-place team finish behind Summit (6) and Redmond (16).

Wesley Ford, typically the team's number two skier, was out of town on a college visit and did not compete.

"Both of the teams still have lofty goals to push Summit when the state meet comes around in three weeks," said Blust.

Jake Lasken (20:16) and Remington Bruce (22:07) also represented the Outlaws with strong performances according to Blust.

"Jake was in the top half of the field and Remington held his own as a freshman," said Blust.

The Outlaws help host the Hoodoo Night Race on Thursday, February 12, which begins at 6 p.m.