Baic repeats as White Pine champ

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Douglas Tesner
Douglas Tesner
Douglas Tesner
Douglas Tesner

February 6, 2010

It's his 11th -- or 10th, depending on who you ask

BY MIKE DUNN The Record Eagle Sat Feb 06, 2010, 11:00 PM EST

BELLAIRE -- Officially, this was victory No. 11 for Milan Baic.

To Baic, though, it was really his 10th.

Baic crossed the finish line first Saturday in the 34th annual White Pine Stampede cross country ski race, completing the very fast 40K course extending from Mancelona to Shanty Creek in a breakneck speed of 1:34:47, five minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.

The last time the 50-year-old Williamsburg resident won the event two years ago, the distance had been shortened to just 10K by lack of snow and, even though Baic won, he didn't count it among his previous nine victories.

"This one is really my 10th," Baic said with a smile following his dominant triumph. "I was racing in Europe last year and wasn't able to be here but it's nice to be back. It's always a great event to be part of."

Baic easily outdistanced the rest of the 40K field, including his training partner Jeff Koch of Traverse City, who was runner-up in 1:39.47.

"The course was really fast today," Baic said. "The conditions were perfect and the course was in excellent shape. There were some thin spots here and there but they were easy to get around. Ninety-five percent of the course was great."

The veteran racer, who received feeds along the route from his wife Carrie and father Vojin, was not looking to win Saturday as much as to stay healthy and reap the benefits of the competition. He will be taking part in the World Masters in Falun, Sweden, in late February and then the famed Vasaloppet 90K race, also in Sweden, in early March. Consequently, he is using the White Pine race and the upcoming Vasa event in Traverse City to prepare for what awaits him overseas.

"My strategy today was just to sit in there, see what's going on and stay out of trouble," he said.

He had no trouble at all, though he did see some surprised faces among the volunteers at the various street crossings along the way.

"I don't think they expected to see any of the 40K racers that soon," he said with a chuckle.

Todd Vigland of Traverse City (1:44:31) came in third behind Baic and Koch, followed by Randy Bladel of Granger (1:44:38), John Gravlin of Linwood (1:44:41) and Glenn Goodman of Bellaire (1:44:43) in fourth through sixth.

Cheryl Darnton of Ann Arbor was the overall female winner in 2:02:23, good for 41st overall, with Tracy Hardin of Cheboygan (2:03:38, 43rd) and Brenda Carlson of Grayling (2:04:27, 44th) in second and third.

Hardin, 53, was the only female among the 15 skiers in the lead pack who were accidentally directed to the wrong course a year ago. Though the mishap may have cost her the chance to win last year's race, she was happy to be back and has no hard feelings.

"Everything was wonderful this year; the course was clearly marked and set up perfectly and it was very fast," she said. "It's been a tough year for me so far, so to get second today felt pretty good. The way the course was, you could relax on the flats and glide effortlessly in some places. You still had the atrocious uphills at the end but it was a lot easier to deal with today. The course and the conditions were excellent."

This was Carlson's second time competing the White Pine and the first time in 10 years. She was surprised and happy with her third-place finish.

"I was hoping for top six, so getting top three was great," Carlson said. "I was impressed with how nice the trails were. I really enjoyed the course and the camaraderie. Everybody was real polite."

Race veterans Steve Smigiel of Cedar Springs and Mike Seaman of Mt. Pleasant were also complimentary of the long course.

"It was very well organized and they did a great job of grooming," Seaman said.

Ross Williams of Williamsburg, a junior at Elk Rapids High School, won the 20K race in 48:07 with grizzled veteran Cliff Onthank of Traverse City (48:58) close behind. Onthank, 56, normally competes in the longer race but trimmed the distance because he will also be taking part in the World Masters in Sweden later this month.

"It was young against old and young won out today," Onthank said with a smile. "The 20K course is a little flatter (than the 40K course) so it didn't play to my strong suit. You have to give the young kid credit, though. I guess it's about time those younger guys started beating us older guys."

Susan Vigland of Traverse City (56:45) was the 20K female champion, coming in 19th overall.

Evan Cover of Traverse City (25:30) topped the 10K field with Marie Frick of Traverse City (26:08) the top female finisher.

There were 509 skiers who competed in Saturday's White Pine event. There was concern just a week ago that the field would be smaller than usual because of the iffy weather conditions, but the numbers grew over the final days, with more than 200 racers registering between Wednesday and Friday.

"A lot of the skiers wanted to see what the weather was going to be before they registered, so we got a whole lot of late entries," said Jack McKaig, who has been the White Pine race director all 34 years.

Even with the influx of late entries, everything went smoothly. McKaig credited race steward Pug Sliger, who oversees the 250-plus volunteers, and course chief Bill Fleet, who oversees the grooming of the course, with doing "a magnificent job."

Fleet and his staff were working on the course from 6 p.m. Friday until 5:30 a.m. Saturday to make the final preparations. "Brad Stillwell has been our groomer-driver for over 20 years and he does magic," Fleet said.

Each year, a portion of each entry fee for the White Pine race is designated for the Children's Hospital of Michigan.