Defending Rondy champ Ellis tops at Tozier

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From: Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

Two weeks before he is due to defend his Fur Rendezvous world championship, Egil Ellis and a team of 14 dogs turned in a torrid run Sunday for a come-from-behind victory in the Exxon Mobile sled dog sprint championships at Tozier Track.

Ellis blazed to a time of 55 minutes, 47 seconds in the 16.8-mile run. He was the only musher to crack the 56-minute mark. That vaulted him past Ken Chezik, the first-heat winner who started with a two-second lead over Ellis on Sunday but dropped to third overall, more than a minute behind the winner. Arleigh Reynolds, last year’s Exxon champion, claimed third place. He had the third-fastest time Saturday and the second-fastest Sunday. Ellis pocked a $2,880 check for first place. Reynolds won $2,160 and Chezik $1,800. The 39th annual race featured a purse of $30,000, with $18,000 going to open-class mushers and the rest to limited-class racers.

Open class (16.8 miles each day)
1) Egil Ellis 57:04 Saturday time, 55:47 Sunday, 1:52:51 total time; 2) Arleigh Reynolds 57:11-56:15–1:53:26; 3) Ken Chezik 57:02-56:56–1:53:58; 4) Greg Sellentin 1:00:27-57:56–1:58:23; 5) Jeff Conn 58:32-59:56–1:58:28; 6) Michael Tetzner 58:43-59:55–1:58:38; 7) Nathan Sterling 59:38-1:00:13–1:59:51; 8) Kevin Cook 1:01:04-58:56–2:00:00; 9) Rob Peebles 1:01:21-1:00:44–2:02:05; 10) Don Cousins 1:01:43-1:00:32–2:02:15 11) Bill Kornmuller 1:01:30-1:01:42–2:03:12; 12) Marvin Kokrine 1:02:04-1:01:09–2:03:13; 13) Erik Renneberg 1:01:42-1:01:35–2:03:17; 14) Marie-Anick Elie 1:03:01-1:02:06–2:05:07; 15) Randy DeKuiper 1:04:00-1:04:42–2:08:42; 16) Eddie Dayton 1:03:38-1:05:07–2:08:45; 17) Rob Worden 1:04:16-1:05:15–2:09:31; 18) Jennifer Sterling 1:05:01-1:06:42–2:11:43; 19) Mari Wood 1:03:59-1:11:37–2:15:36.

Scratched — John Bunderson. Disqualified — Luke Sampson.

8 dogs, 10 miles each day
1) Christian Taveau 1:00:27 two-today total time; 2) Jennifer Probert 1:01:27; 3) Evelyn Beeter 1:03:18; 4) Michael Tetzner 1:03:54; 5) Kris Rasey 1:04:35; 6) Dori Hollingsworth 1:06:19; 7) Dalton Baines 1:06:36; 8) Jennifer Sterling 1:07:46; 9) Jeff Conn 1:07:56; 10) Shane Goosen 1:10:58; 11) Jim Arnd 1:11:34; 12) Miriam Osredkar 1:19:02.

6 dogs, 8 miles each day
1) Ryan Reddington 53:54 two-day total time; 2) Steve Cole 54:12; 3) Kourosh Partow 55:12; 4) Kim Wells 55:19; 5) Kathie Barnhart 56:37; 6) Christian Taveau 57:47; 7) Rob Worden 58:28; 8) Yelenna Cavens 59:59; 9) Deborah Baines 1:00:11; 10) Susan Anderson 1:00:28; 11) Tabitha Nardini 1:01:45; 12) Cris DeKuiper 1:04:12.

4 dogs, 6 miles each day
1) Bev Stevens 38:01 two-day total time; 2) Kourosh Partow 40:10; 3) Evelyn Beeter 40:33; 4) Jennifer Probert 40:42; 5) Pat Hnatuik 41:00; 6) Amy Maclean 42:09; 7) Jennifer Sterling 42:38; 8) Debora Summers 46:14; 9) Nathan Sterling 48:29; 10) Dori Hollingsworth 49:17; 11) Jim Arndt 50:43; 12) Kathy Faryniarz 51:22. Scratched — Kathie Barnhart.

Pursuers right on Chezik’s heels in Exxon Open

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From: Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

Ken Chezik will be pursued by two champion mushers today when the second run of the 39th annual Exxon Mobil Open sprint sled dog race begins at 2 p.m. at Tozier Track.

Chezik set the pace in Saturday’s 16.8-mile heat but the top three mushers are separated by only nine seconds. He drove his team of 14 dogs to a time of 57 minutes, 2 seconds.

Egil Ellis, the reigning Fur Rendezvous champion, trailed by two seconds (57:04) and Arleigh Reynolds, the Exxon Mobile defending champion, clocked 57:11. Ellis and Reynolds both had 16 dogs in harness.

Twenty-eight mushers entered the open-class competition, which is a tuneup for the Fur Rondy championship in two weeks.

Limited-class racing begins today at 11 a.m. at the Tudor Road track.

Exxon Mobil Open

Tozier Track

First-day results

Open class (16.8 miles)
1) Ken Chezik 57:02, 2) Egil Ellis 57:04, 3) Arleigh Reynolds 57:11, 4) Michael Tetzner 58:43, 5) Nathan Sterling 59:38, 6) Greg Sellentin 60:27, 7) Kevin Cook 61:04, 16) Rob Peebles 61:21, 17) Bill Kornmuller 61:30, 18) Erik Renneberg 61:42, 19) Don Cousins 61:43, 20) Marvin Kokrine 62:04, 21) Marie Anick Elie 63:01, 22) Eddie Dayton 63:38, 23) Mari Wood 63:59, 24) Randy DeKuiper 64:00, 25) Rob Worden 64:16, 26) Jennifer Sterling 65:01, 27) John Bunderson 83:40. Disqualified — Luke Sampson (dog got loose; was caught by trail sweep).

8 dogs, 10 miles
1) Jennifer Probert 30:20, 2) Christian Taveau 30:21, 3) Evelyn Beeter 30:48, 4) Michael Tetzner 30:53, 5) Kris Rasey 32:05, 6) Jennifer Sterling 32:35, 7) Dori Hollingsworth 32:36, 8) Dalton Baines 33:14, 9) Jeff Conn 33:47, 10) Jim Arndt 34:23, 11) Shane Goosen 34:54, 12) Miriam Osredkar 39:02.

6 dogs, 8 miles
1) Steve Cole 26:26, 2) Ryan Redington 26:57, 3) Kourosh Partow 27:13, 4) Kim Wells 27:48, 5) Kathie Barnhart 28:20, 6) Christian Taveau 28:47, 7) Rob Worden 28:48, 8) Susan Anderson 29:46, 9) Tabitha Nardini 29:59, 10) Yelenna Cavens 30:24, 11) Deborah Baines 30:50, 12) Cris DeKuiper 31:20.

4 dogs, 6 miles
1) Bev Stevens 19:22, 2) Kourosh Partow 19:38, 3) Jennifer Probert 19:45, 4) Jennifer Sterling 20:12, 5) Evelyn Beeter 20:17, 6) Amy Maclean 20:29, 7) Pat Hnatuik 20:33, 8) Nathan Sterling 21:51, 9) Dori Hollingsworth 22:01, 10) Debora Summers 23:10, 11) Kathue Barnhart 23:42, 12) Jim Arndt 25:09, 13) Kathy Faryniarz 28:53.

Top Brass charity race (3 dogs, 3 miles)
1) Thomas Katkus 9:28, 2) William Miller 10:24, 3) Jason Fosdick 10:25,4) Lee Johnson 10:27, 5) Joel Jungeman 10:34, 6) Michael Warner 10:55.