Thousands of nordic skiers traveled to Hayward, Wisconsin, for the 2023 American Birkebeiner from Feb. 22-25, 2023. Among those thousands was a chunk of skiers with Alexandria connections.
The Alexandria area is host a lot of talented skiers, and that was shown at the competition in Wisconsin.
Current Alexandria high schooler Jaelyn Miller placed sixth overall and second amongst the women in the Prince Haakon competition with a time of 54:03, while Lars Dahl placed 26th (17th amongst boys) with a time of 1:20:56.
Current Alexandria high schoolers Sullivan Rooney, Cyler Coautte, Madeline Hochhalter, Meredith Sundby, and Emma Hochhalter were among the competitors of all ages.
Among the top finishes, Rooney placed 130th overall (1:38:48) out of nearly 2,000 competitors in the kortelopet skate, while Coautte placed 170th (1:42:37) and Chad Bergerson, 58, placed 360th (1:56:23).
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Noah Struck’s time of 2:41:34.07 in the birkie skate was 198th best out of the over 3,500 competitors.
Taylor Ellison, 33, a former Alexandria coach, posted a time of 3:34.49 in the classic, which placed her 12th amongst the women, 148th overall, and third in her age group.
In the skate race, Dalton Struck, a 2015 AAHS alum, placed 318th overall, 287th amongst men, and 49th in his age group with a time of 2:49.57.
A fellow 2015 AAHS alum, Carl Branch, placed 125th overall, 119th in men, and 20th in his age group in the classic with a time of 3:31.37.
ALEXANDRIA AREA NATIVE/ALUMS TIMES -
BIRKIE SKATE - Noah Struck, 2:41:34.07; Dalton Struck, 2:49:57; Bethany Miller, 4:09:11.81; Amanda Bittmann, 4:21:06.31; Casey Call, 4:28:45.42; Samuel Maier, 4:36:08.78; Christian Schlosser, 4:38:40.56; Jack Struck, 5:00:34.94; JeAnna Miller, 5:01:12.03; Teresa Bitzan, 5:11:03.56; Ryan Rooney, 5:24:02.09; Bryant Johnson, 6:16:08.62; Brady Wolkow, 6:47:11.46; Michael New, 2:52:15.45
BIRKIE CLASSIC - Carl Branch, 3:31.37; Taylor Ellison, 3:34.49; Emma Reineke, 4:20:56; Matthew Johnson, 5:58:50;
KORTELOPET SKATE - Sullivan Rooney, 1:38:48; Cyler Coauette, 1:42:37; Chad Bergerson, 1:56:23; Madeline Hochalter, 2:38:09; Meredith Sundby, 2:40:00; Meredith Sundby, 2:40:00; Emma Hochhalter, 2:41:31
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PRINCE HAAKON - Jaelyn Miller, 54:03; Lars Dahl, 1:06:55; Hans Dahl, 1:20:56;
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