NOME, Alaska — Trey West is the overall champion of the 2016 Nome-Golovin. West won the 200-mile snowmachine race on Saturday with a time of 2:07:09.
On the 50th anniversary of the Nome-Golovin snowmachine race, Quinn Schaeffer was the first competitor to the hit the trail along the clear, sunny coastline of Nome’s East Beach.
“I know there were good riders behind me,” said Schaeffer. “I’m a good rider myself, and I just didn’t want anyone to catch me.”
But just 10 spots behind Schaeffer came his biggest competition: Trey West on a Skidoo MXZ-800.
Schaeffer and West raced in the C Class, along with 21 other riders on 800-level snowmachines. Officials released them from the start line in 30-second intervals to speed from Nome to Golovin and back. While Schaeffer was the first to start and the first to finish in the C Class, West finished second after leaving in 12th position.
“I knew it was going to be a close time with Quinn Schaeffer because he came across a couple minutes before me,” said West. “So I knew it was going to be close, and I just hoped for the best.”
After officials accounted for the staggered start times and calculated the official results, West was declared the race’s overall winner with a time of 2:07:09. That was just two minutes and 20 seconds faster than Schaeffer.
West said he was excited about his strong finish, especially on a rough and bumpy trail.
“I tried to be calm and just keep collecting myself — not get ahead of myself or override my machine or push myself too hard,” he said. “It was awesome to be out there riding.”
But neither West nor Schaeffer was the first overall racer to cross the finish line. That honor went to a rider from the Women’s Class, which raced from Nome to Topkok and back.
A 10-year veteran of the race, Dora Hughes was the first finisher and the Women’s Class Champion, clocking a time of 1:47:03 — about three-and-a-half minutes faster than second-place finisher Katie O’Connor.
Still seated on her Polaris snowmachine, Hughes shook off her helmet and said she had plenty of energy.
“I feel like I could still go,” she said.
The women’s course is about 40 miles less than the one male riders follow in the Open Classes. Hughes said she hopes that someday all women will race the full trail, but she’s happy this year’s course was extended beyond the short jaunt from Nome to Safety that it has been in years past.
Hughes also said she was pleased to see six women in the race this year.
“This last couple of years, there hasn’t been a whole lot of interest in the women’s class. But this year, I’m very proud of all these ladies that came out to race,” she said. “It seems like it’s growing and there’s a lot more interest, and I’m pretty happy for it.”
Aaron Loyer won the B Open Class for 600-level snowmachines, Wally Carter Jr. won the Fan Cooled A Open Class, and Bubba McDaniel was the sole racer in the Junior Class. Lucas Bauman was named rookie of the year, and Robert Lane received the sportsmanship award. Nineteen racers scratched in total. Click here for full race results.
