Salcha veterinarian Arleigh Reynolds held off hard-charging Egil Ellis of Willow to post a three-second victory in the Open class of the Su-Valley Championships sprint sled dog races on Sunday.

Reynolds built up a 39 second lead on the first day of the two-day event sponsored by the Montana Creek Dog Mushers Association on the Parks Highway north of Willow.

Reynolds wasn’t the only Interior musher to post a top finish.

Fairbanks mushers Jennifer Probert and Amanda Byrd finished first and second in the eight-dog class, and Ami Gjeston, Bev Stevens and Probert took second through fourth in the six-dog class.

Reynolds completed his first trip on the 12.3-mile trail in the Open class in 36 minutes, 19 seconds, while Ellis clocked in at 36:58.

Ellis posted the fastest run of the weekend on Sunday when he turned in a 35:59, while Reynolds checked in at 36:35.

Reynolds had a two-day time of 72:54 and Ellis notched a 72:57. Christian Taveau of Salcha was third in 75:16.

The weather conditions were just about perfect for sprint race on Sunday with temperatures right around zero, no wind and sunny skies. The trail was firm with a quarter inch of loose snow on top.

Probert charged out to a big lead en route to winning the eight-dog class and watched Byrd post the fastest time on Day 2 to move up from fourth to second place in the final standings.

Probert had a lead of almost two minutes after Day 1 in the eight-dog class when she posted a time of 30:01. Brenda Burge was second in 31:58, with Helen Lundberg in third at 32:01 and Byrd in fourth at 32:07.

However, Byrd had the hottest team on Sunday, posting a run of 30:29, while Probert took the runner-up spot on Sunday in 30:52, followed by Burge and Lundberg.

The eight-doggers raced 10 miles each day.

Probert’s two-day total was 60:53 and Byrd finished in 62:36.

Kris Rasey captured the six-dog class with a two-day total of 49:31, followed by Gjeston in 49:55, Stevens in 50:46 and Probert in 52:59.

The six-dog class went eight miles each day.

Other winners on the weekend were Kim Wells in the four-dog class, Rebecca Knight in the skijoring class and Adeline Berry in the Junior one-dog class.

Complete race results will be posted in Tuesday’s Daily News-Miner.