Rollerski Race
 

To all of those naysayers:

July 26, 2003 - First Ever Boise Twilight Criterium Rollerski Sprint a

Success:

The first ever Rollerski Sprint Race held in Conjunction with Boise, Idaho's

famous Twilight Criterium drew several thousand spectators to the streets of

Downtown Boise. Despite an intense thunderstorm that delayed the start by

nearly an hour, 38 racers rolled up to the starting line at 8:10 pm. Strong

contingents from Boise and Sun Valley, along with top racers from Park City,

Minneapolis, Bend / XC Oregon, the Maine Winter Sports Center and the US Ski

Team made for an outstanding field and some exciting racing.

The Men's field broke open early, with Torin Koos of the US Ski Team quickly

establishing a solid lead and easily taking the one lap prime, a pair of

Italian Ski-Skett rollerskis. A pack of three, including Levi Hensel of XC

Oregon, Steve Scott from the Maine Winter Sports Center and junior Casey

Simons out of the Park City Nordic Team and the University of Utah gave

chase. Koos, however, proved strong to the end and took the win with a

comfortable margin, claiming the $500 first prize. Hensel and Scott

continued to battle for second and third, with Hensel finally prevailing in

a hard-fought sprint. Outstanding sprinter Simons held on for fourth

overall, and grabbed the Junior title (as well as a pair of 2004 Rossi

X-iums) by 9 seconds over local favorite Steve Rudzinski of Boise's' Bogus

Basin Nordic Team. Sun Valley / Dartmouth's Mike Sinott rounded out the top

three for the Junior Men.

On the Women's side, the race came down to the wire, with Maine Winter

Sports Center's Haley Johnson leading after the first lap, closely followed

by junior skier Sara Studebaker of the Bogus Basin Nordic Team and

Dartmouth, and another junior, Sun Valley's Kaelin Kiesel, skiing for the

Colorado Rocky Mountain School. A second lap battle saw Studebaker move to

the front in the last 100 meters to take the win (as well as the skis) for

both the Junior and Open Women, followed closely by Johnson in second and

Kiesel third in Open Class and second Junior. Sun Valley Ski Education

Foundation's Margii Driscoll rounded out the top 3 for the Juniors and

finished fourth in the Open.

Next year's event is already in the works, with the possible addition of

hill climb, distance, and sprint relay events.

A Big Thanks to our sponsors: Wells Fargo, Rossignol, Tamarack Resort, Bogus

Basin Mountain Resort, the BBLSEF Nordic Group, World Cycle and Idaho

Mountain Touring.

Most of all, we'd like to thank everyone that made the trip to Boise - we

hope to see you next summer!



Travis Jones

Nordic Director

Bogus Basin Mountain Resort


--
Nathan Schultz
http://nsavage.com
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