The Juneau Nordic Ski Team’s Katie McKenna leads Annika Schwartz, left, and Linnea Lentfer up a hill during the 5-kilometer high school girls mass-start classic race during the second day of the Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational in Palmer on Saturday. McKenna took 21st with a time of 24 minutes, 19.2 seconds. Schwartz placed 22nd and Lentfer placed 27th. Anna Iverson (25th), Melia Lu Trousil (28th) and Lindsay McTague (20th) also competed in the race for Juneau. (Courtesy Photo | Merry Ellefson)

The Juneau Nordic Ski Team’s Katie McKenna leads Annika Schwartz, left, and Linnea Lentfer up a hill during the 5-kilometer high school girls mass-start classic race during the second day of the Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational in Palmer on Saturday. McKenna took 21st with a time of 24 minutes, 19.2 seconds. Schwartz placed 22nd and Lentfer placed 27th. Anna Iverson (25th), Melia Lu Trousil (28th) and Lindsay McTague (20th) also competed in the race for Juneau. (Courtesy Photo | Merry Ellefson)

Three Juneau teens podium at Palmer ski races

Ellefson-Carnes second fastest in 5K freestyle

Three Juneau teens made the podium of the Government Peak Cross-Country Ski Invitational on Saturday.

The Juneau Nordic Ski Team sent just under 20 high school and middle schoolers to the two-day race series held on the Government Peak Recreation Area winter trails near Hatcher Pass outside of Palmer.

Arne Ellefson-Carnes, Clem Taylor-Roth and Finn Morley posted the top-10 fastest cumulative times in a pair of 5-kilometer races: an interval-start freestyle on Friday and mass-start classic on Saturday.

In the freestyle race, Ellefson-Carnes placed second with a time of 14 minutes, 46 seconds. Taylor-Roth finished in eighth in 15:21 and Morley was 10th in 16:13.

In the classic race, Taylor-Roth finished in fifth place with a time of 16:08, edging sixth-place Ellefson-Carnes (16:16) and 10th-place Morley (17:25).

“It’s just been pretty fun to race just in general, to race with more people of similar ability,” Ellefson-Carnes said.

Taylor-Roth said he struggled with his pacing more in Friday’s race.

“We weren’t ranked in a certain order, so I was just in the middle of a group of slower skiers,” he said. “It’s a lot tougher to push yourself to the max when you aren’t skiing with other fast skiers. In the mass start today, I just stuck with the lead pack from the start and even as they started to pull away from me, I could keep my eyes on them, and have that be my goal to stick as close as possible.”

Morley said he thought Saturday’s race was more of an adjustment.

“I think the classic race was hard to pace today because it was a mass start so everyone was going at it and we were all hyped up,” Morley said.

For the girls freestyle, Anna Iverson placed 24th in 24:15. Katie McKenna was the first on her team in the classic race, coming in 21st in 24:19.

Palmer, Kenai, Grace Christian, Soldotna and Seward also competed in the meet.

The Juneau Nordic Ski Team is in its ninth season together and includes almost 30 youth. Mo Michels heads up the team as the head coach and coordinator.


• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.


Juneau Nordic Ski Team members (from left) Finn Morley, Arne Ellefson-Carnes and Clem Taylor-Roth pose for a photo after earning medals for their top-10 finishes at the Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational in Palmer on Saturday. Awards were given to the top-10 skiers based on the cumulative time of a 5-kilometer interval-start freestyle race on Friday and 5-kilometer mass-start classic race on Saturday. Ellefson-Carnes finished fifth, Taylor-Roth sixth and Morley 10th. (Courtesy Photo | Merry Ellefson)

Juneau Nordic Ski Team members (from left) Finn Morley, Arne Ellefson-Carnes and Clem Taylor-Roth pose for a photo after earning medals for their top-10 finishes at the Government Peak Recreation Area Invitational in Palmer on Saturday. Awards were given to the top-10 skiers based on the cumulative time of a 5-kilometer interval-start freestyle race on Friday and 5-kilometer mass-start classic race on Saturday. Ellefson-Carnes finished fifth, Taylor-Roth sixth and Morley 10th. (Courtesy Photo | Merry Ellefson)

More in Sports

Photos by Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire
Sitka junior Grady Smith slides safely into home plate during the Wolves 13-7 win over the Ketchikan Kings for the Region V Baseball Championship on Saturday at Adair Kennedy Field.
Sitka baseball boys win regions

Wolves defeat Kayhi for title, JDHS still state bound

This combination image shows Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Etta Eller, Thunder Mountain High School senior Mallory Welling and Ketchikan High School senior Jason Lorig competing during the Region V Track & Field Championships Saturday May 20. All three fared well at the state championships. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Southeast Division I track stars battle at state

Ketchikan’s Lorig, JD’s Eller and TM’s Welling place high

The JDHS Crimson Bears pose with their Region V Championship on Saturday at Sitka's Moller Field. (Courtesy Photo)
JDHS wins Region V softball Tournament

Crimson Bears defeat home field host Sitka Lady Wolves.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears boys soccer team pose with their championship trophy after defeating Soldotna 4-0 for the ASAA DII Boys Soccer State Championship, Saturday, at West Anchorage High School (Courtesy Photo / JDHS Soccer)
JDHS boys win state soccer crown

Crimson Bears own pitch against Soldotna

The TMHS Falcons pose with their Sportsmanship Award at the Region V Softball Tournament on Saturday in Sitka. (Courtesy Photo)
Falcons fall from softball region tourney

TMHS leaves bases loaded for next season.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears girls soccer team line up before their third/fifth place game against North Pole in the ASAA DII Girls Soccer State Championships, Saturday, at West Anchorage High School. (Courtesy Photo / JDHS Soccer)
Crimson Bears soccer girls finish fifth at state

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé falls to North Pole.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé base runner Finn Kesey steals second base as Sitka’s Brett Ross awaits the throw and base umpire Keith Perkins watches the action during the Wolves 9-2 win over the Crimson Bears during the Region V Baseball Tournament, Friday, at Adair Kennedy Field. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS falls to Sitka in region baseball semifinal

TMHS eliminated from tournament by Ketchikan

This file photo shows Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears senior softball players Amira Andrews, Carlynn Casperson, Anna Dale, Gloria Bixby, Mariah Schauwecker, Zoey Billings and Bailey Hansen. JDHS plays in a semifinal against Sitka at 6 p.m. Friday in the Region V Tournament on Sitka’s Moller Field. (Courtesy Photo / JDHS Softball)
TMHS softball stays alive, at regions, JDHS stays undefeated

Lady Falcons eliminates Kayhi from Region V tournament, Crimson Bears top Wolves.

In this file photo from last week Juneau Douglas’s Peyton Wheeler (5) runs downfield with the ball during Juneau-Douglas and Kayhi’s 1-1 tie at Fawn Mountain. JDHS fell to Kenai in the state semifinals 2-0 on Friday. (Courtesy Photo / Christopher Mullen, Ketchikan Daily News)
JDHS soccer girls tumble in state semifinals

Crimson Bears fall to Kenai Kardinals

Most Read