Team USA skier Michael Earnhart of Anchorage takes freestyle 10K win at Besh Cup

Racers in the open men's 10-k race climb a hill during the combined Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Anchorage’s Michael Earnhart took the final race of the Winterstart Super Tour ski race series on Sunday at Kincaid Park, winning the freestyle 10K in a time of 24 minutes, 27.8 seconds.

Earnhart, who skis for the APU Elite team and Team USA’s developmental team, edged out a packed field for the victory in the open division of the Besh Cup, which is incorporating the Super Tour this weekend.

Earnhart was especially fast on the last lap (11:55.8) and topped podium placers Reid Goble (24:28.1) and Sasha Masson (224:28.2) by less than a second at the finish line.

“These races definitely matter a fair bit for later this season, to make sure things are successful and just to win on home turf (is great),” Earnhart said.

Michael Earnhart of APU won the men's open 10-k during the combined Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Men's Open winner Michael Earnhart of APU, third from left, on the podium during awards ceremony for the combined Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Earnhart was the top American on the Super Tour entering Sunday’s race, and he believes the victory will vault him into the overall lead on the tour. The points he earns on the tour will allow him options for competing in World Cup races later in the season.

While he doesn’t plan to race in the second period of World Cup, he is planning to compete in the U.S. Cross Country Ski Nationals in Midway, Utah, early next year.

“I’ll try to retain my status as Super Tour leader and try to compete for a national title,” he said. “If that goes well, then I’ll look to do some World Cups in period three of four, so in that February window. That’ll be the goal.”

After seeing Canadians win the races on the first three days, he was happy to break through not only individually but for the Americans.

“I’m competing against the Americans for World Cup spots, but especially here in Anchorage, you still want to see your country up on top of the podium and the Canadians had won the first three days,” he said.

Julian Smith of Canada led the pack halfway through the combined 10k freestyle Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Sonjaa Schmidt of Canada, center, sprints to the finish en route to winning the Women's Open 10-K freestyle during the combined Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Women's open podium from the 10k freestyle Super Tour and Besh Cup races at Kincaid Park on Sunday, Dec. 17, 2023. (Bill Roth / ADN)

On the women’s side, Sonjaa Schmidt broken the stranglehold Samantha Smith had on Besh Cup open races by winning the 10K in a time of 28:09.5. Schmidt, from the Whitehorse Ski Club, finished 0.6 of a second ahead of runner-up Anna-Maria Dietze.