FAIRBANKS — The young kids stole the show from the upperclassmen during Friday’s girls 7.5-kilometer classic race at the ASAA State High School Nordic Ski Championships.

On a day when juniors and seniors were expected to dominate the podium, it was a freshman and two sophomores who stole the show at the Birch Hill Recreation Area.

Dimond freshman Marion Woods won the event on the Jim Whisenhant Ski Trails, while West Anchorage sophomore Celia Haering and West Valley sophomore Hannah Boyer took second and third.

“It was a blast,” Jones said of the hotly-contested race in which the top three finishers were separated by just 5.1 seconds. “The plan today was to have a good race, and it turned out to be a great race.”

Woods completed the 7.5K course in 26 minutes, 39.7 seconds, with Haering posting a 26:41.4 and Boyer at 26:44.8. South Anchorage’s Tristan Ramey (26:51.4) and West Valley’s Marisa Rorabaugh (26:58.5) rounded out the top five.

Those results boosted Boyer to the top spot in what turned out to be the closest girls Skimeister finish since 1994, according to records posted on the ASAA Web site.

Boyer had a two-day time of 43:09.5, followed by Woods at 43:15, Haering at 43:15.3, Rorabaugh at 43:18.2 and Kenai’s Kailey Mucha at 43:25.6.

The 1994 Skimeister, when Service’s Teresa Hunt beat Dimond’s Jessica Smith, was decided by just three seconds.

“After last year, it just seems so amazing to get a fifth and a third this year,” Boyer said. “Yesterday was amazing, today is sweet.”

“I don’t think it can get any better,” she said.

A year ago, Boyer was angry that she just missed qualifying for the Junior Olympic National Championships, so she used that as motivation during her meteoric rise to the top of the girls prep skiing ladder in Alaska.

“Everything just keeps getting better,” Boyer said. “I can’t wait for JOs.”

The Junior Olympics are a week away in Presque Isle, Maine.

Boyer said she liked the course that was picked for Friday’s race.

“I really liked the hills on this course,” she said. “There was enough recovery time so you could just hammer away at the hills, and (I) had to hammer if I wanted to be up there with Marion and Celia.”

West Valley coach Greg Whisenhant was beaming when asked about the performance of Boyer and Rorabaugh.

“Hannah was really psyched for today’s race because of the slow snow, and she does very well on a technical course like the one that was set up today,” Whisenhant said. “I think the slower snow and the fact that we’ve been training on the course for the last three weeks was also to their advantage.”

Friday’s mass-start race was full of drama right from the start as a lead pack of more than a dozen skiers pushed its way to the front of the field of 120 competitors.

That group double-poled its way through the stadium before the top three skiers made their break on the next hill.

“I was just going to hang with the pack,” Woods said. “We found a great pace and then on the second loop we were able to pull away.”

Once the top three broke away, it became a matter of who would win and by how much to determine which would be named the girls Skimeister.

“Marion really kicked it in at the end,” Boyer said. “She and Celia had the legs today. It’s crazy having two young kids beat me.”

South Anchorage pulled away in the team standings with a two-day total of

2 hours, 44 minutes, 52.5 seconds. There’s a close battle for second between Service (3:02:17.2) and West Valley (3:02:22.9).

The three-day competition concludes today with the girls relay at 11 a.m. and the boys at 12:30 p.m.

Contact Sports Editor Bob Eley at 459-7581.