The 2010 Minnesota Skinnyski Series (MiSSeries) returned once again to the beautiful city of Duluth this past weekend to partake in the Nordic Spirit, our second newcomer to the series this year.  Close to 200 skiers braved the starting temperatures of zero and a nice wind chill to compete in the 25k freestyle race on the challenging and beautiful Magney-Snively trail system.

In the women’s competition, Mary Beth Tuttle skated to another victory for the season, staying in front of Johanna (JoJo) Winters and Elaine Nelson.  For the men, Tyler Kjorstad dominated the field by nearly three minutes, with Nathan Porath and Matt Ryan following.

The MiSSeries age group competition also saw some major shuffling around this past weekend.  For the women, Elaine Nelson moved to the front for the 30-34 age group, Jessica Wilson took the lead in the 35-39 age group, while Maddie McAlister jumped up to take over the 55-59 age group.  On the men’s side, Nikolai Anikin holds a slim three point lead over Nathan Porath in the 25-29 age group, Grant Nelson (Elaine's husband!) jumped up to take command of the 30-34 age group, and Rod Raymond now leads the 40-45 age group.  In the men’s 70-74 age group there is currently a three-way tie for the lead by Dwight Beavers, Patrick Lanin, and Monte Miller.  

The overall competition didn’t see any change this week as both Cheryl DuBois and David Christopherson continue to hold their respective divisions.  In the Skier of the Year category, Michael Meehlhause broke the tie that was in place to take sole possession of first place, though the competition is still close.

Finally, the vaunted team competition continued to live up to its hype after a nail bitter of a weekend.  When the wind calmed down and the snow settled, Peter’s Cheaters continued to retain their lead over their hated rivals Finn Sisu Vakava, but only by ONE point heading into next weekend.  Behind the rivals are Muven-Gruven, Skinnyski.com, Hoigaards Breadsmith, Cheaters Too!, and More Cheaters ;).  With the biggest races coming up, expect this year’s competition to go down to the wire.

Next weekend the MiSSeries heads back to the Twin Cities to take part in the City of Lakes Loppet 25k Classical race.  With registration closed for the classic portion due to the demand, expect a fiercely competitive race through the heart of Minneapolis.

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