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It's a sign of the times, particularly in the era of NIL and the portal. College sports as we knew it is a thing of the past. It's about as embarassing as having to replace the better part of your team each year with one-and-done mercenaries, which seems to be more the norm than the exception.

Combination of the analyst interview, interview with Paige when she was in Unalakleet and an article posted by someone further back in the race.

Paige noted that she is looking forward to seeing the sunset as she leave Unalakleet and heads up into the Blueberry Hills. Sadly, no mention of any pizza :-(. Reporter noted that she did catch up to Jessie at a cabin between Kaltag and Unalakleet and he asked what they talked about. She said she had to sleep and really didn't speak much with him. He left when she went to sleep. She did note that the trail was windy and it led to some ground storms. Not snowing, but the wind blowing the snow made it like a storm. During the interview, you could hear that it was a still breeze at Unalakleet, but the sky was clear and the day looked nice.

Asked her about catching Jessie and she said that the team might be able to do so, but it takes some ego from the musher to try it. If the perfect opportunity arose, she would be in a position to take advantage of it and go for the win, but otherwise no. Winning is not that important and she is not going to try and push the dogs beyond what they can comfortably do. I say, thumbs up to that. She then, point blank, said an "event" would need to happen for Jessie not to win. Think the interview was before Travis barreled through. She discussed the dog's diet and said they need 15,000 calories a day - something she joked would give your family dog pancreatitis if you fed them that much. Feeding them beef fat, then pork belly, then a premade meal cut into snack size, then chicken skin, then something else she could not even remember in her sleep-deprived state.

Speaking of Travis Beals, analyst Bruce Lee said that his team looked the best of the top group and that he looked focus. If anyone is going to challenge Jessie, he may be the one. Bruce noted that there are really only 4 more runs for the top teams to make:

Unalakleet to Shaktoolik
Shaktoolik over the sea ice of Norton Sound to Koyuk
Koyuk to White Mountain, where you have a mandatory 8-hour layover to make sure no one pushes a team too hard near the end
White Mountain to Nome

Not many runs for a team to make up a gap of 2+ hours. He noted that the average speed of Jessie, Paige and Travis was pretty similar, so catching up could center on being able to trim 10 or 15 minutes off of rest breaks if your team has enough gas in the tank. Seems like Travis' team has had that recently. We will see if that pace can continue or not.

Question submitted to Greg and Bruce on the analyst interview was when they thought the winner would arrive. They guessed Tuesday afternoon or early evening Alaska time, so Tuesday evening or Tuesday night east coast.

Sunday night, ~10:25 PM east coast/6:25 PM Alaska.

Jessie Holmes continues to lead, but Travis Beals' team has surged up into second place. Jessie and Paige both rested their teams extensively in Unalakleet (kind of surprising for Jessie as he said he likes to rest at a cabin in the Blueberry Hills past Unalakleet and had mentioned that earlier in the race). Jessie rested his team for 6 hours there and Paige rested her team for 5 hours. Travis' team blew right through. He'll have to rest them on the trail to Shaktoolik at some point, but the team is really surging. Analyst interview and Bruce Lee noted that Travis' team looked to be the most alert of the top 3 and he seemed really into it. Current standings are:

1. Jessie Holmes running 13 dogs 732 miles in/243 to Nome
2. Travis Beals running 13 dogs 729 miles in/246 to Nome
3. Paige Drobny running 12 dogs 718 miles in/257 to Nome
4. Mille Porsild resting in Unalakleet with 15 dogs, 714 miles in/261 to Nome
5. Riley Dyche resting in Unalakleet with 15 dogs, 714 miles in/261 to Nome
6. Wade Marrs resting in Unalakleet with 11 dogs, 714 miles in/261 to Nome
7. Jeff Deeter running 13 dogs 712 miles in/263 to Nome (actually, Jeff is now in Unalakleet. Was on the trail when I captured the location, but by the time I got done typing, the GPS said he was in Unalakleet
8. Ryan Redington running 12 dogs 704 miles in/271 to Nome
9. Matt Hall resting on the trail, 695 miles in/280 to Nome
10. Michelle Phillips running 11 dogs 683 miles in/292 to Nome

Red lantern position is held by Grayson Bruton, running 10 dogs 559 mile in/416 to Nome

Not someone who is actually in the race, but someone that was acting as an Expedition musher and watching over Kjell Rokke has dropped out at Unalakleet. From the Iditarod website:

"2026 Iditarod Expedition musher Thomas Wærner (bib #13) of Torpa, Norway, has chosen to conclude his Iditarod Expedition at the Unalakleet checkpoint after several dogs on the team showed symptoms of kennel cough. After consulting with their veterinarians, Wærner and the team are prioritizing the well-being of his dog team as the guiding factor in his decision."

Shit's weak. Wizzeak.

Glad they made a good showing. Stressful as a #9 seed w what they got,... but... they're in!
Let's! Go!

Go JMU

IYKYK

Lotta story lines in this region.

Take 5 or 6 women's sports to balance Title IX

RBI single

10-2

Chatfield RBI single

7-2

ABROMOVAGE 💥 💥 💥

Three run bomb

5-2 now