Austin Meng and Beth Thomas captured respective wins in the 10-kilometer distance of the Silver Sage Center Pursuit at Auburn Ski Club this past Sunday and Monday.

The Snowshoe Thompson Classic marked the first of the two races in the Pursuit, while Paco’s Freestyle Race concluded the action the following day.

A cold morning made for great classic conditions for the 120 racers in the Snowshoe Thompson Classic. Callum Watson won the men’s 10-kilometer race with a time of 27:51.2, Meng finished second in 28:36.8 and Alex Hamilton was third in 28:38.1. Alex Taylor was fourth in 30:32.1 and Peter Holmes rounded out the top five in 30:48.2.

---

---

On the women’s side, Beth Reid took the win in a time of 32:11.9. Farm Team racer Holly Whitney was second in 34:31.0 and Beth Thomas was third in 38:44.4, followed by Julie Young in 39:14.8 and Carolyn Tiernan in 39:27.1.

Sam Zabel won the 5K in a time of 15:21.5 and was trailed by Peter Carroll in 15:21.9 and Julien Bordes in 15:46.5. Annika Taylor claimed the win in the women’s 5K, posting a time of 15:16.6, while Hannah Halvorsen was second in 16:42.7 and Cassidy Cichowicz was third in 16:55.3.

---

---

Haydn Halvorsen won the 2K race in 21:54 and was followed by Bjorn Halvorsen in 24:41 and Nikolas Burkhart in 26:26, while in the girls’ race, Kianna Mullings was first in 28:53, Natalie Lang-Ree was second in 33:47 and Natalie Andersson was third in 33:52.

The Snowshoe Thompson was the second Junior National Qualifier and the first Fischer Cup race of the season.

Paco’s Freestyle Race on Monday featured more cold conditions, but with sunshine as 80 racers participated, 57 of whom completed the Pursuit.

Taylor won the men’s 10K in a time of 24:20.4, Noah Brautigam took second in 24:36.3, Meng was third in 25:17.6, Hanson fourth in 26:46 and Jeff Schloss fifth in 26:50.0.

Cichowicz won the women’s 10K in a time of 29:01.2. She was followed by Thomas in 30:36.0, Cathy Howard in 31:57.8, Mischel Twining in 33:01.3 and Laura Stern in 33:09.0.

Peter Carroll won the 5K in 13:17, while Brandon Herhusky was second in 13:18.4 and Hannah Halvorsen was third overall and the first female in 14:23.4. In the youth 2K race, Haydn Halvorsen was first in 9:38.4 and Mullings was first among female racers in 10:30.5.

Carroll and Hannah Halvorsen claimed the overall 5K Pursuit, while Haydn Halvorsen and Mullings won the 2K Pursuit.

For photos from the races, go to http://www.macbethgraphics.com.

– Information for this article was used from http://www.farwestnordic.org.