Brutal. That’s about the only way to describe the conditions for racing at Auburn Ski Club for the CNISSF Relay Competitions this past Friday.

With air temperatures in the teens and wind chill factors below zero, racers were exposed to weather conditions more suitable for North Dakota than California. The fact that these young racers were out there, striving for their best times in what was the first race of the season for many of them, was a testament to the fortitude of these cross country skiers.

Rescheduled from the low-snow situation of last month, these relays are designed as a preliminary test before the real racing season begins in Mammoth on Jan. 12.

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The relays are for team points only for the high school league and serve as a no-points “pre-season” event for the middle schools.

With some of the schools from the southern half of the league missing because of school vacation, these were predictably a Truckee affair, with Truckee High winning both the boys and girls races and taking three out of the top four places in each.

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The team of Lucy Ferneyhough, Sophie Aaron and Kelsey Dion took a resounding first place for varsity girls, while Daniel Gelso, Alex Ferneyhough, and Spencer Wood easily dusted their nearest competition from North Tahoe in the boys varsity division.

The best finish-line competition of the day was put in by anchor racer Winston Krauss of North Tahoe, who barely held on for second place in front of a hard-charging Russell Kennedy from Truckee.

In the JV division, North Tahoe took first in both the boys and girls races, with the team of Morgan Paulson, Heather McNair and Sage Clark taking fifth place overall for the girls, and Joey Griffo, James Daly and Logan Greenwood taking sixth place overall in the boys division. Top overall times were put in by Spencer Wood and Kelsey Dion of Truckee.

In the middle school race, Alder Creek was able to take the top four spots in the girls race, with the team of Annika Taylor, Emma Carroll and Kaelyn York getting the top spot. For the boys, the North Tahoe team of Sean Lovely, Ryan Hackbarth and Patrick McElravey took the overall team prize. Top times of the day were put in by Justin Ondry and Annika Taylor, both of Alder Creek.

Next week’s event in Mammoth is the first Classic technique race of the season. For full schedule and results, go to http://www.farwestnordic.org.

High School girls

Team Total Bib

(TR) Fernyhough, Aaron, Dion 0:31:06 51

(TR) Stewart, Krauss, Raso 0:34:15 52

(NT) Mills, Cullen, Griffo 0:34:55 34

(TR) Clark, Zusy, Bath 0:35:45 53

(NT) Paulson, McNair, Clark 0:36:27 35

High School boys

(TR) Gelso, Fernyhough, Wood 0:25:10 56

(NT) McElravey, Heapes, Krauss 0:27:07 31

(TR) Benier, Deurlington, Kennedy 0:27:08 57

(TR) Nadell, Hardy, Aldridge 0:28:54 58

(NU) Greiner, Taylor, Brennan 0:31:00 67

Middle School girls

(AC) Taylor, Carrol, York 0:21:26 5

(AC) Deurlington, Habibi, Foster 0:21:27 9

(AC) Kennedy, Cardoza, Nadell 0:22:03 2

(AC) Mahoney, Watson, Larusson 0:22:03 8

(NT) Forsyth, Nall, Doyle 0:22:20 29

Middle School boys

(NT) Lovely, Hackbarth, McElravey 0:17:28 23

(AC) Theis, Brixey, Rohlf 0:19:09 13

(AC) McMullen, Schiessl, Bush 0:19:10 21

(NT) Funicella, Adams, Clark 0:19:13 24

(AC) Dion, Jones, Lowder 0:19:26 12