Reich Dethrones Berryman after Five Year Reign

SEELEY LAKE – After two years of following 50K winner Missoula's Orion Berryman to the finish line, Henry Reich of Missoula finally beat his toughest competitor. Reich finished in 2:33:59 with Berryman nearly five minutes behind him. They were joined by 125 other racers in the 50K, 20K, 10K and 5K 36th annual OSCR Nordic ski races Jan. 27 at the Seeley Lake Nordic Trails.

Berryman has been the reigning 50K winner since 2013. His fastest time on the course was in 2015 finishing in 2:10:30.

Reich started racing the 50K OSCR in 2016. He took second overall finishing nine minutes behind Berryman in 2015. He closed the gap to two and a half minutes in 2017 and this year passed him.

Reich said he was able to relax more this year and then push on the long downhill on the backside after the big climb. Reich thought the hardest part of the course was joining back up with the ski trails and going against the tracks made by the 20K racers.

Berryman was obviously frustrated when he crossed the finish line commenting that this was not his best day to race.

Race Director Lynn Carey said the conditions were tough at the top of the 50K. While grooming conditions were great on the first half of the 50K heading up the hill, he said racers encountered snowmobiles marking the course for Race to the Sky sled dog race. Because the new snow was soft, the groomed trail was easily torn up by the snowmobiles.

"We did not know they were going to be out there and I suspect they did not know we were out there," said Carey.

Reich said it was really beautiful skiing through the Rice Ridge Fire scar. "It's a natural part of the landscape. It was beautiful, the views were great through the burn and out onto the mountains and the burn itself was really nice."

Many of the racers agreed that the course was slower this year and many of the times reflected it. However, the last person finished the 50K race in 5:11:02, faster than the last two years.

Missoula's Kellie Carim was the first female across the finish line in the 50K. She finished in 3:13:59.82. This was Carim's 10th year racing the 50K OSCR. She has placed in the top three for nine years and took first for the women in 2015 with a time of 2:41.28.

Missoula's Renee Morley finished first in the 20K women's race in 1:19:38.78. Bozeman's Tanner Visnick took the top spot in the men's 20K finishing in 1:04:41.31.

"The race went well," said Carey. "We had a lot of really nice door prizes this year, thanks to our sponsors: The Trail Head, Hammer Nutrition, Big Sky Brewing and SLE."

Local Finishers' Results

50K Men

3. Tim Swanberg, Ovando, 1st in age group; 2:58:41.37

39. David Batchelder, Seeley Lake; 10th in age group; 4:28:51.25

50K Women

17. Brie Guilmette, Seeley Lake; 6th in age group; 4:27:24.27

20K Men

2. Darren Zellman, Seeley Lake; 1st in age group; 1:07:21.14

20K Women

19. Anne Dahl, Condon; 3rd in age group; 1:50:05.65

10K Men

1. Owen Hoag, Seeley Lake; 1st overall; 35:52.73

10K Women

1. Madeline Swanberg, Ovando; 1st overall, 35:22.68

5K Men

1. Will Batchelder, Seeley Lake; 18:03.27

2. Klayton Kovatch, Seeley Lake; 2nd in age group; 18:32.57

3. Eric Lorentz, Seeley Lake; 1st in age group; 19:07.27

4. Malachi Nicholas, Seeley Lake; 2nd in age group; 20:30.27

5. Noah Stone, Seeley Lake; 1st in age group; 22:09.27

9. Sam Ayers, Seeley Lake; 4th in age group; 36:26.80

10. Kimber Hanson, Seeley Lake; 4th in age group; 50:04.64

5K Women

1. Ella Batchelder, Seeley Lake; 20:45.94

2. Cora Stone, Seeley Lake; 1st in age group; 21:01.52

3. Sadie Smith, Ovando; 2nd in age group; 21:44.77

4. Mia Nicholas, Seeley Lake; 1st in age group; 25:05.35

5. Hattie Batchelder, Seeley Lake; 3rd in age group; 26:21.30

6. Aspen Derry, Seeley Lake; 4th in age group; 28:20.15

7. Kilty Hanson, Seeley Lake; 2nd in age group; 28:31.71

For 36 years of OSCR results visit http://www.seeleylakenordic.org