Seward mushing team unleashes two wins

Published on December 22nd, 2009

By SEWARD PHOENIX LOG STAFF

Think Seward sports and you'll probably envision runners, skiers or football players. But some of the area's top athletes have four legs.

Yep, that's four.

And 14 of Daryl Hollingsworth's four-legged athletes raced to victory Dec. 12 and 13 at the Montana Creek Dog Mushers first two races of the season.

The sprint series typically starts the first weekend of December. Due to insufficient snow cover this year, however, the first race was canceled and rescheduled last weekend for a two-day, back-to-back competition.

Hollingsworth won the open division both days, covering the 10-mile course in 29:46 and 30:14.

He also holds the course record for the nine-mile time of 24:23 from December 2003.

The weather was perfect for speed-racing, hovering around zero all day.

"The dogs were excited to be racing again after training in 30- to 40-degree weather," said wife Dori Hollingsworth. "The cool temperature was a huge relief."

Hollingsworth drew the coveted No. 1 spot the first day and he got off to a clean start, with leaders Balder and Yogi at the helm.

"He had a near perfect run on a rather bumpy trail," Dori said, adding that he kept the team slowed the first half and then began to let them out.

"They came roaring around the final corner and across the finish line with plenty of energy left in the tank," she said.

Hollingsworth finished 21 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Teams were permitted to make changes for the second race day and many brought in fresh leaders. There were also new teams that hadn't raced the previous day. Hollingsworth, however, made no changes to his team and once again drew the No. 1 slot.

"One leader was a bit slower getting off the start as it was hard to hear the countdown, but then they rolled around the trail in perfect symmetry," Dori said.

Hollingsworth's team hit the finish line 9 and 10 seconds ahead of the second- and third-place winners.

The series continues through December, followed by the Montana Creek Championship on Jan. 9-10, offering a $3,000 purse, and the Su-Valley Championship on Jan. 23-24, with $7,000 in prize money.