April 8, 2010

Congratulations to Josiah Nicholai, winner of the 2010 Junior Classic held Wednesday, April 7th!  Josiah, age 13 from Napaskiak represented Johnnie Evans’ Spark Plug Kennel.  Josiah finished the 18 mile race with an elapsed time of 1:30:13, winning $150 for first.

1st Place 2010 Junior Classic, Josiah Nicholai. Photo by JoJo Prince.

There was a great turn out for this years’ event.  Eleven youth between the ages of 13 and 17 participated in the 5-dog minimum, 7-dog maximum race.  Teams from Bethel and 4 villages (Napaskiak, Kwethluk, Akiak and Akiachak) were represented.  The youth teams traveled from the mouth of the Bethel Small Boat Harbor nine miles upriver to Hoffman Fish Camp.  During a 30 minute layover at Hoffman Fish Camp, participants and volunteers enjoyed hot dogs and soup provided by the James and Dorothy Hoffman Family and Crowley.

Teams finished back at the Boat Harbor with unexpected fast times.  The first place team finished 15 minutes and 16 seconds faster then the 2009 time.  The last team in finished 11 minutes and 6 seconds faster than the 2009 last team in.  Full race results are listed below.

The Junior Classic aims to encourage youth to get involved with sled dog care and sled dog racing to promote the future of mushing in our region.  The 2010 race was sponsored by the Kuskokwim 300 Race Committee, The K300 Feed Store, the James and Dorothy Hoffman Family, and Crowley.  The K300 paid $500 in prizes to the top five finishers.  All participants received a 2010 K300 T-shirt and pin for finishing the race.

Congratulations to all our 2010 Junior Mushers!  Quyana to our sponsors and volunteers, with a special thanks to Bev Hoffman, for continuing to promote youth mushing.

2010 Junior Classic Mushers. Photo by Jackie Klejka.

More Junior Classic Photos.