Holt, Steele win classic sprint races

| February 5, 2009 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

The Glacier Nordic Ski Team's Stella Holt and Jack Steele took first place in the J2 (ages 14-15) classic technique sprint division at a Super Qualifier competition at Soldier Hollow, near Park City, Utah.

Holt, the girls division winner, and Steele, the boys winner, competed against 90 racers on Jan. 30-31.

Carl Talsma, a rookie skier with the Glacier team, placed 29th. He competed in the sprint quarterfinals. Teammate Marshall Opel, J1-OJ division, placed fifth overall out of 110 skiers.

Holt, recovering from a knee injury, did not compete in the skate technique, which was held on the second day. Steele placed fourth in the 5K event.

Opel finished eighth in the 15K event, while former Whitefish skier Ian Mallams, a redshirt at the University of Colorado, placed third.

Glacier's Anne Miller finished 35th in a field of 888 in the 10K race.

More than 600 skiers from four regions competed.