With an eye to the sky, the Besh Cup ski races got a green light for Saturday and Sunday. The weekend weather offered a little bit of everything. Skiers and spectators dealt with a little rain, a little sunshine and a lot of snow.

That did little to dampen enthusiasm, however. More than 200 skiers signed up for the event. Cars filled the parking lot at the Lookout Mountain Trails, with the overflow of vehicles lining Ohlson Mountain Road. 

“The Besh Cups are kind of above and beyond for most high school skiers,” said Eric Groth, head coach for the Homer High School cross country ski team. “There were a lot of really good skiers there … Some of the top skiers were coming off of National Championship podium placements recently held in Utah. Pretty exciting.”

Participating locals in the qualifying event kicking off Saturday included:

Jacob Davis, under 16 for males age division;

Ben Kettle, under 14 for males age division;

Jeremy Kupferschmid, under 14 for males age division; 

Caleb Rauch, under 14 for males age division;

Brian Rowe, under 20 for males age division;

Seamus Scholz, under 14 for males age division;

Tadhg Scholz, under 16 for males age division.

On Saturday, with 25 competing in the U14 males event:

Sixth place: Jeremy Kupferschmid;

15th place: Caleb Rauch;

22nd place: Ben Kettle;

25th place: Seamus Scholz.

On Saturday, with 68 in U16 males event:

45th place: Brian Rowe

On Sunday, the total time for the U14 males included:

Fourth place: Jeremy Kupferschmid,   

   0:09:14.5;

20th place: Caleb Rauch, 0:11:43.5;

24th place: Ben Kettle, 0:13:52.7.

On Sunday, the total time for the U20 males included:

Eighth place: Brian Rowe, 0:36:10.3.

The three-part Besh Cup series are qualifying events for the Junior Olympics and the Arctic Winter Games. This year’s round began in the Anchorage area on Dec. 21-22 and wrap up with Fairbanks Feb. 1-2.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.