Five women from Fairbanks ranked among the top 10 Sunday in the 50-kilometer freestyle at the Tour of Anchorage. Melissa Lewis was second in 2 hours, 37 minutes and 53 seconds, Alaska Nanook redshirt Raphaela Sieber placed third in 2:38:43, Nanook Julia Pierson was fourth in 2:41:13, Davya Flaharty placed sixth in 2:44:53 and Elisabeth Angeles took ninth in 2:49:38. Also, Jane LeBlond placed 15th and Heather Best was 21st. Kate Fitzgerald of Alaska Pacific University won in 2:34:22.

In the mens 50K, Tyson Flaharty took eighth in 2:19:47 and Alex Morris of the Nanooks was 10th in 2:22:52. Fairbanks Cody Priest (13th), Karl Schauer (16th), Will Coleman (19th) and Mike Kramer (23rd) also cracked the top 25. Lars Flora, a two-time Olympian from Anchorage, edged Brent Knight by a one second in 2:11:23. More than 120 of the 1,731 entrants were from Fairbanks.

The Tour is the largest ski race in Alaska, and as part of the American Marathon series, it is one of the more prestigious large-scale Nordic events in the United States. Each year the event features 50K, 40K and 25K freestyle races, as